Author: Serkadis

Still running a PowerPC Mac and hurting for some serious browser speed, up-to-date security and web standards compatibility? Being open-source applications, Mozilla’s web browsers and Thunderbird email client are open to being breathed on by third-party developers, several of whom specialize in optimization of particular versions of the Mac OS — such as Chris Latko’s Mac Intel-optimized variants of Firefox.

Terrific Results

However, for us PowerPC holdouts, a reader recently tipped me to some PowerPC-optimized Mozilla web browsers plus Thunderbird by R.P. Mozely, noting that he’s been getting terrific results and highly recommends these tweaked apps.

That sounded promising, as I’m still using two G4-upgraded Pismo PowerBooks for production work, and haven’t found the latest Mozilla gecko-based browsers to be particularly happy campers on the old laptops running OS 10.4 .11. So I keep reverting to old Netscape Navigator 9, which works nicely, but is getting long in the tooth, beginning to encounter some limitations content-compatibility wise. Of course it hasn’t had any security updates for nearly two years, since development was terminated.

Squeezing Every Bit of Speed Potential Out

Now this R.P. Mozely cat doesn’t just provide a one-size-fits-all PowerPC generic optimization, but discrete dedicated versions for G3 PowerPC 750, G4 PowerPC 7400, G4 PowerPC 7450, and G5 PowerPC 970, presumably all the better to squeeze every bit of potential speed out of each respective processor. My hot-rodder Pismos have 550 MHz G4 7400 CPUs, so last weekend I proceeded to download the G4 7400 optimized builds of Firefox 3.5.6, Camino 2.0.1, and the SeaMonkey 2.0.1 Internet suite application.

Worth the Effort?

So was it worth the effort? I think so. These browsers are definitely faster than the stock builds, performing remarkably well on the old Pismo, even when it really needed a restart to clear the memory heap, dipping into virtual memory swapfiles on the hard drive routinely.

I had been especially hopeful that the PPC-optimized Camino would work well, and it does. My seat-of-the-pants assessment is that it’s the fastest browser I’ve used on the Pismo — livelier even than Opera 10, which is no slouch speed-wise itself.

Sluggishness Banished

I’ve found recent versions of Firefox, Camino and SeaMonkey a bit sluggish on the old G4 machines, which is a big part of why I keep using Navigator 9. But that complaint is pretty much eliminated with these PowerPC optimized builds of the current Gecko browsers, at least in their G4 7400 iterations. However, for what it’s worth, I think the Camino variant is the pick of the litter.

If you’re still hanging in with a PowerPC Mac, I think you’ll thank yourself for taking the trouble to download one or more of these PowerPC-optimized browser versions.

YouTube isn’t exactly new, it’s been the largest video site for years, so it’s a bit surprising that it’s releasing a ‘safe video’ tool of sorts only now. Dubbed Safety Mode, it does what you’d expect, it filters out videos which may be too graphic or contain objectionable content which you may not want to see or have your family members exposed t… (read more)

Apart from a few unannounced Wii and PS3 titles (qjnet/news/level-5-working-on-unannounced-ps3-and-wii-titles.html), Level 5 has something else in mind to hit Western shores. Following the footsteps of their own White Knight Chronicles, the publisher is suiting up and going

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Honda

We were kinda hoping that 2010 would be the year of auto industry recovery, but instead it’s becoming increasingly obvious that it is turning into Year Of The Recall. This time, Honda is up to bat with another 378,758 recalls for an apparent airbag inflator issue. The nearly 400,000 units have been added to the already announced 440,000 vehicles red tagged back in August. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that certain airbags in the affected vehicles can deploy so violently that the inflator will rupture. When the bag is deployed, NHTSA reports that metal shards from the excessive explosion could act like shrapnel, shoot through the bag and possibly injure vehicle occupants. Ouchie.

Honda said in a statement on the automaker’s website that there were 12 reported incidents of this happening, with one fatality. The original recall back in November, 2008 was for only 4,000 2001 Accords and Civics but in July, 2009 Honda added more makes of the 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic and some 2002 Acura TL models. The newly updated list includes 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, and selected 2002 Acura TL vehicles.

NHTSA announced that it was investigating the timing of the Honda airbag recall back in November. The government agency was curious as to why the Japanese automaker needed eight months to add an additional 440,000 vehicles. Hit the jump to read over the Honda press release, which includes directions for owners of affected vehicles.

[Source: Honda]

Continue reading Honda extends airbag shrapnel recall to 378,758 U.S vehicles

Honda extends airbag shrapnel recall to 378,758 U.S vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The bulk of the snow has fallen, but blowing and drifting could make the morning rush a bit tricky.

Plows were out overnight on expressways and this morning began the process of cleaning side streets.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has hundreds of trucks on the roads, clearing snow and spreading salt.

The city had the entire fleet of 275 snow plows and salt trucks out overnight trying to keep the streets clear.

Drivers should give themselves extra time this morning to compensate.

More than a foot of snow fell in the city, with possible record snow totals.

Crews have also been working overnight to plow all the runways at Chicago airports after hundreds of flights were cancelled at both O’Hare and Midway.

Southwest Airlines planned to start flying again Wednesday out of Midway starting at 10 a.m. They canceled all of their flights there starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Flights to places like New York, Washington, and Philadelphia remain cancelled due to the weather on the East Coast.

Getting back on track at O’Hare will be tough; nearly 600 flights were cancelled Tuesday. The airport is reporting 15 minute delays for most flights Wednesday morning.

Flights to the East Coast from O’Hare are also having difficulty getting out, and most have been cancelled.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

from euyouthspeak, 7 February 2010: “By Grattan Puxon – 07/02/2010 – The bloke who wanted to tear down our community centre and chapel at Dale Farm as an illegal structure is up in court now as an alleged thief and liar, one of four parliamentarians so far charged in Britain’s current furore that could see some Westminster politicians go to jail…” more

CHICAGO – A Chicago Fire Department lieutenant was charged with DUI after allegedly driving onto someone’s lawn and plowing over a fire hydrant — breaking it completely off — before hitting a tree, driving over a stop sign and leaving the scene on the Southwest Side Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Gary Podlasek, 53, of the 2600 block of West 99th Street, was charged with misdemeanor driving while under the influence and misdemeanor leaving the scene of a traffic accident.

He was also ticketed for failure to keep in lanes, according to police.

Podlasek was arrested at 4:19 p.m. in the 4700 block of West Marquette Road [67th Street] after allegedly driving a 2008 Dodge Ram pickup truck onto the front lawn of a residence at 4235 W. 67th St., damaging evergreen shrubs and landscaping, police said.

A witness told police they saw him also allegedly strike a fire hydrant — breaking it completely off — before plowing into a tree, driving over a stop sign and then leaving the scene, police said.

During the wreck, a bumper with his license plate attached fell off the pickup  truck, according to police who said he came back to the scene possibly to get the bumper and was identified while sitting in traffic and arrested at the Marquette Road address.

Podlasek was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn when he complained of chest pains but no other injuries were reported.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Google definitely generated some buzz with Buzz though most people are optimistic but cautious about the company’s latest social product. Worse yet, some of the buzz is downright negative, but considering who it’s coming from, it’s not much of a surprise. Not long after Google announced its latest social network / social aggregator, most of i… (read more)

CHICAGO — A small pre-dawn earthquake has hit northern Illinois, startling sleepy-eyed residents as far away as Iowa and Indiana, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the 4.3-magnitude earthquake hit about 50 miles northwest of Chicago at 4 a.m. Wednesday.

USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan says such quakes are rare in northern Illinois. She says the agency received reports from Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana about feeling the ground shake.

Sheriff’s dispatchers near the epicenter in Kane County say they’ve been flooded with calls from startled residents. But spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler says no injuries or damage have been reported.

Residents reported being tossed out of bed and finding books and tools scattered across the floor.

U.S. Geological Survey: usgs.gov.

Read the original article from Herald & Review.

Weeks after a small dog had to be put to sleep after it was seriously injured in a coyote attack, Wheaton officials have agreed to take steps to cull the city’s coyote population.

City council members decided Monday to seek prices from several licensed trappers to begin a citywide effort to capture and euthanize coyotes.

Traditionally, Wheaton and other municipalities have used public awareness campaigns to educate residents on how to coexist with coyotes.

The biggest piece of advice has been to never feed or get close to the animals.

But Wheaton officials say the number of coyotes has risen significantly. And despite efforts to educate the public, the coyote problem has reached “a nuisance level” in the city.

City Manager Don Rose said he believes a culling program “might go a long way toward reducing the nuisance factors.”

“I am not convinced that it’s going to cure the problem and remove all the coyotes from the community,” Rose said. “But it should help in reducing the number of some of the problems that we’ve been experiencing.”

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Sedan, Hyundai, South Korea

Things are looking good for Hyundai. Not only has the brand been named the most fuel efficient automaker in the country, but they are releasing lots of new-and-improved metal. In a market where product is king, that’s a good thing. First we saw the 2010 Tuscon and the just about-to-be-released 2011 Sonata. This morning, despite no official Hyundai press conference here at the Chicago Auto Show, we get a freshened 2011 Azera.

The big news are its two engines. The mid-cycle Azera will still use either a 3.3-liter or 3.8-liter V6, just like the outgoing car. However, both Lambda engines now use DCVVT (Dual Continuously Variable Valve Timing) instead of CVVT. Translation: instead of only the intake valves getting varied, the exhaust valves’ timing can be manipulated, too. In English that means more power and better mileage.

The 3.3-liter V6 makes 260 horsepower and 233 pound-feet of torque while the big 3.8-liter V6 cranks out 283 ponies and 263 units of torque. Much more impressive than that are their mileage numbers. An Azera equipped with the 3.3-liter mill gets 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway, increases of 11 and 8 percent, respectively. The 3.8-liter motor allows the Azera to achieve 19 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, increases of 12 and 4 percent.

Part of this frugality is no doubt assisted by Hyundai’s all-new, built-in-house six-speed automatic transmission that we got to experience in the Tucson. On the outside, the Azera gets new headlights, taillights, a new grille, new fog lights, bumpers and wheels. Oh, and for those of you that doubted the accuracy our Kia Optima spy shots, the joke is on you. Full press release after the jump.

Live photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Hyundai]

Continue reading Chicago 2010: Hyundai sneaks revised-for-2011 Azera into Windy City

Chicago 2010: Hyundai sneaks revised-for-2011 Azera into Windy City originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For a while now, the EFF has been trying to get the White House to reveal information on who lobbied to get retroactive telco immunity for warrantless wiretapping. The “we’re all about transparency and openness” Obama administration has been stalling as much as possible, and while it released some info after a long fight, it still insisted that it was keeping some information private, claiming a heretofore unknown standard of “lobbyist privacy.” Yeah, that’s a good one. Turns out the courts don’t know what it means either, and an Appeals Court has said that it’s a bogus excuse, and the government needs to hand over the info:

“There is a clear public interest in public knowledge of the methods through which well-connected corporate lobbyists wield their influence.”

I’m still not sure what anyone expects to get out of these documents. We know who lobbied: the telcos did, like crazy. And the reason they did so is because they know they broke the law in assisting the administration in getting info outside the official process. In fact, the recent revelations suggest the telcos didn’t just accede to administration demands, but they eagerly assisted in explaining how to get around the rules. So of course they lobbied to get immunity.

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Housekeeping operations at Yahoo are in full throttle and yet another important service is being shut down in the coming days. Starting with March 11, 2010, Yahoo Tech will be shut down, content and traffic being redirected to Yahoo! News’ Technology section.

In a closure notice posted a few days ago on Yahoo! Tech’s main page, the company announced that all … (read more)

Wood Dale unveiled its newly reconstructed $1.27 million Metra station Tuesday with the hope it will spur retail and housing development in the city.

Roughly 50 elected officials, city employees, family members and residents trekked through Tuesday’s snowstorm to check out the metro-prairie-style station on the Milwaukee District West Line.

Inspired by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the brick and wood building contains a coffee and snack shop, bathrooms, art portraying historical images of the Wood Dale area, modern lighting fixtures and ornate piping and gutters.

A few signs alert commuters some finishing touches are missing, including power to an outdoor heater and benches inside the station.

But, ultimately, officials said the station turned out exactly as they wished.

“We are hoping this will be the keystone to downtown redevelopment, a kind of kickoff to the surge of development we hope to see in the next 10 years,” Mayor Ken Johnson said.

Downtown covers the half-mile radius around the depot. Johnson said city officials hope the station attracts builders to construct mid-rise residential buildings with commercial retail on the first floor, along with cafe-style restaurants.

Although the station took about seven months to reconstruct, the project originally was suggested 12 years ago by a former alderman.

It almost was delayed again last March when Johnson threatened to veto construction in hopes of delaying the project and waiting for possible federal funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Some city council members voiced skepticism about whether the project was eligible for the aid and approved the work last March with no veto from Johnson.

“The hardest part was getting past the politics,” said second ward Alderman John Kadela, who Johnson says was instrumental in the aesthetics of the redesign.

To help pay for the project, the council secured about $350,000 in 2006 from homebuilders working in the Wood Dale area. Taxpayers shouldered the remaining $900,000.

The city leases the station from Metra for $10 a year.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Microsoft has been pretty coy with their Mobile World Congress announcement, but has been forced to slowly come clean.

The latest is official confirmation that Steve Ballmer will in fact be hosting Microsoft’s Mobile World Congress press conference, with the details below:

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 10, 2010 —

What: On Feb. 15, 2010, Steve Ballmer will host a press conference to discuss Windows^® phones at Mobile World Congress 2010.

Who: Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corp.

When: 3–4 p.m. CET

Where: The Garden Room

Catalonia Barcelona Plaza

Plaza Espana 6-8

08014 Barcelona, Spain

How to View: The live webcast will run at www.microsoft.com/news/windowsphone. An on-demand version will be posted after the event concludes.

How to Access B-roll: Broadcast-quality footage from Mobile World Congress, including sound bites from Steve Ballmer and highlights of the press conference, will be available via satellite at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. EST.

U.S. Domestic Feed

Feed #1: 11:30–11:45 a.m. EST

Re-feed: 3:30–3:45 p.m. EST

Galaxy 19 Transponder 15 (C-Band, Analog)

Downlink Frequency – 4000 Vertical

Now Steve, please don’t disappoint us with an mPhone, else we might have to change our name to Android Power Users

Via MSMobiles.com

The bulk of this week’s snowstorm is over, but more might be coming. Two storm systems are expected to reach McHenry County on Friday and Sunday, dumping a total of between 3 to 5 inches more snow on the area.

An average of 7 to 9 inches accumulated from Tuesday’s local snowfall.

An inch more is expected before 6 a.m. today, when the National Weather Service planned to call off the winter storm warning.

This morning’s commute shouldn’t be as rough, although wind gusts of 25 mph to 30 mph could cause some driving hazards.

Dozens of vehicles were involved in non-serious crashes on slick roads Tuesday night.

“The only problems will be in exposed areas on east-west roads, with blowing and drifting of snow,” said meteorologist Paul Merzlock with the National Weather Service. “For the most part, the falling snow won’t be a factor anymore.”

As of Tuesday evening, Bull Valley had received about 6.7 inches of snowfall. In Island Lake, at least 7.5 inches fell.

As much as 11.5 inches accumulated in parts of neighboring Lake County, Merzlock said.

A high temperature of 23 degrees and a low of 8 degrees is expected for today, with temperatures reaching 25 degrees Thursday.

A new storm might bring an inch of light snowfall to the area on Friday afternoon or evening, with a second system developing by Sunday, Valentine’s Day. Merzlock predicted a maximum of 2 to 4 inches of precipitation during that storm.

“Neither one of those look anywhere near as significant as [Tuesday’s],” Merzlock added.

No schools were reported closed for today as of late Tuesday evening.

Faith Lutheran High School in Crystal Lake and St. Margaret Mary Catholic School in Algonquin were closed Tuesday. A few after-school activities and government board meetings also had been canceled.

Metra commuters traveling to McHenry County Tuesday night saw a 45-minute delay as a Crystal-Lake bound train on the Union Pacific Northwest Line struck a vehicle about 8:10 p.m. at River Road at the Des Plaines station. It had left downtown Chicago about 7:30 p.m. and originally was due to arrive in Crystal Lake at 8:55 p.m.

An unnamed woman riding in the vehicle died, and another person traveling with her was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge with unknown injuries.

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis did not have further details about the crash or those involved Tuesday night.

“I don’t know why the car was on the tracks,” Gillis said. “I don’t know if it’s weather-related.”

By AMBER KROSEL, [email protected]

Read the original article from the Northwest Herald.

A 51-y ear-old man has been charged with murder for the shooting death of a man on the street in the Woodlawn neighborhood Sunday night.

About 9:10 p.m. Sunday, Samuel Fullilove was standing on a sidewalk at 6112 S. King Dr. when someone shot him in the chest, police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Fullilove, 33, of 358 E. 60th St., was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m. Sunday, according to a spokesman for the medical examiner’s office.

Elliot G. Mayfield, 51, of the 6000 block of South Calumet, was apprehended by Grand Crossing District police Monday and he has been charged with first degree murder, police said.

Mayfield is scheduled to appear in bond court later Tuesday.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

Filed under: Car Buying, Motorsports, Racing

Few know how to raise a future Formula One driver like Anthony Hamilton. The father of 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton fostered his son’s development from birth through his F1 debut and world title the following year, and is still one of the most visible managers or family members in the sport. But Anthony isn’t only interested in getting his own son into the sport, he apparently wants to help others as well.

Hamilton Sr. is in the process of arranging for several teams to lease their 2009 cars to him through his new GP Prep Drivers Academy. So far McLaren, with which the Hamiltons obviously share the closest ties, has already agreed to provide two cars, and negotiations are reportedly under way with other teams as well.

The driving force, so to speak, behind GP Prep is a result of the mid-season test ban still in place in Formula One. Because testing has been so severely curtailed, many aspiring drivers don’t have a chance to get behind the wheel before their grand prix debut. Case in point Jaime Alguersuari, who incidentally backs the Hamilton venture, and who completed half a season with Scuderia Toro Rosso last year but couldn’t participate in a test session until just a couple of weeks ago. Or recuperating drivers like Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, who had to “borrow” old 2007-spec cars from Ferrari’s client services department in order to get back up to speed.

GP Prep will manage to circumvent the rules because it’s not part of any particular team, so who’s to say what they can and can’t do. The costs, however unbelievably, for a single day of testing will reportedly approach those of racing a full grand prix weekend. Still, there are more than a handful of drivers who’ll want to take the opportunity to get up to speed – literally and figuratively – and sponsoring teams anxious for them to get there.

[Source: Autosport | Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images]

Anthony Hamilton leasing fleet of F1 cars for GP Prep Drivers Academy originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metra trains on the Milwaukee District North Line will be delayed late Tuesday afternoon after a person was struck by an Amtrak train in north suburban Glenview.

The person was struck by an inbound Amtrak train near the North Glenview station at 3000 Old Willow Rd., according to Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile and Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.

The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. when Amtrak Train No. 8, the “Empire Builder,” headed into Chicago from Seattle/Portland, struck a “trespasser,”Magliari said. The person struck was not in a vehicle.

The person’s condition was not known as of about 3:50 p.m. No passengers on the train were injured, Magliari said.

Metra trains were not expereincing any delays as of about 3:50 p.m. since no Metra trains were in the area, but Reile said she expected trains later Tuesday afternoon to be affected by the incident.

The Amtrak train was still at the scene as of about 3:50 p.m., according to Magliari, who said the train was already running late before the accident.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has not been notified of a fatality as of about 4 p.m.

Glenview police were assisting at the scene but had no further information.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.