Category: News

It’s going on right now! Watch it live—and find out about the “surprises” they promised yesterday—on YouTube. More »

Just a few weeks ago, the USTR put out its infamous Special 301 report that tries to shame countries that don’t respect US intellectual property laws, but is put together using the rather scientific method of “what countries are the entertainment and pharmaceutical industries complaining about now?” to generate the list. Around the world — and even in the US gov’t — the list is mostly seen as a joke. No one takes it seriously.

But, apparently one ridiculous list isn’t enough. The RIAA and MPAA have convinced a group of US elected officials, who have dubbed themselves the “International Anti-Piracy Caucus” to put out a list of file sharing websites that it hates… and with it, an attempt to shame the companies where those websites are hosted. The timing on this is amusing, because, of course, just last week, you would have needed to put the US on the list, as LimeWire would have likely been seen as just as widely used for unauthorized file sharing as some of those sites.

But the larger point is that this list is effectively advertising these five sites as the best place to go to get unauthorized content:

China’s Baidu, Canada’s IsoHunt, Ukraine’s Mp3fiesta, Germany’s RapidShare, Luxembourg’s RMX4U.com, and Sweden’s The Pirate Bay.

You would think that, by now, the RIAA and MPAA would have recognized that every single time they’ve targeted a particular service for file sharing, the end result is to get that site significantly more publicity, so that its userbase increases rapidly. It happened when they sued Napster. It happened when they sued Grokster. It happened when they got the police to raid The Pirate Bay. It happened when they filed the lawsuit against IsoHunt. Putting out this list basically just pointed a bunch of people at these particular services as a good place to go to get access to content. Nice work by the caucus, who is made up of Reps. Adam Schiff and Bob Goodlatte along with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Orrin Hatch.

And, of course, the RIAA put out a statement supporting this free advertising for those sites. Honestly, people keep telling me that the RIAA really knows what it’s doing, but how can they possibly think that this is a good idea?

As a parallel, reader Hephaestus points out this historical bit:

“From 1559 to 1966 the catholic church had a list of prohibited books aptly named the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. One historical note about this list is that a very large number of the books on this list had an increase in sales and reading when they were placed on the list. The International Anti-Piracy Caucus seems to have not learned the simple historical lesson, To list or expose inappropriate subject matter shines a light on it and exposes it to a larger audience. This will undoubtedly lead to more people visiting this “list of notorious sites” quite the opposite of what they seem to be aiming for.

Nice work, RIAA and MPAA. You just boosted traffic to those sites.

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These boys are all dressed up with no place to go.

Two weeks from today, a team—made of three Russians, two Europeans, and one Chinese (with a Russian as an alternate)—will begin the longest trip to nowhere any of them has ever taken. These men will be locked in isolation for 520 days to simulate what astronauts would endure on a trip to Mars, part of a project called Mars500. It follows a 105-day test that the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) ran last year.

“The biggest risk of such an isolation is psychological,” said researcher Alexander Suvorov who is leading the experiment at the IBMP. “Of course relations between the crew will not always be harmonious, some will get on with others, others will not. But the priority is to be able to carry out tasks in spite of this” [AFP].

Five hundred and twenty days. By the time the team emerges from its five-module, 18,000-square foot cocoon located on the outskirts of Moscow, it’ll be early November 2011. Here in the United States, next year’s World Series will be wrapping up. The 2012 presidential candidates will be hitting the campaign trail in force. The isolation weary-crew may re-enter a world filled with high-pitched squeals as the new “Twilight” book and film come out.

The six-man crew of the Mars-500 project, which is partly funded by the European Space Agency, will spend the first 250 days in a mock spaceship to replicate the amount of time it would take to reach Mars with current technology. After reaching the [simulated] planet, three crewmembers will spend 30 days “exploring and colonizing” the planet before returning to the ship for the 240-day flight home, Belakovsky said [BusinessWeek].

The simulation will introduce other difficulties expected with a Mars mission, like communication lag. The crew members can email the outside world, but they’ll experience disruptions and delays of up to 40 minutes. Even inside the complex it won’t be easy.

All crew members have a varying command of English, but not all speak Russian, another working language during the trip. “If we fail to understand each other, we will employ body language,” quipped Russian crew member Sukhrob Kamolov [ABC News].

Nevertheless, 6,000 people from 40 countries applied to be test subjects; it doesn’t hurt that the “astronauts” will all make at least $99,000 for their troubles. However, none of the participants from last year’s 105-day mission applied for this one, so perhaps being locked in the isolation of pretend space once is enough.

Related Content:
80beats: After Three Months in a Tin Can, Three Men End Simulated Mars Mission
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DISCOVER: Russia’s Dark Horse Plan to Get to Mars
DISCOVER: For the Love of Mars explores the Mars Society’s frontier vision

Image: IBMP/Oleg Voloshin

So- you are passionate about the alleviation of global poverty and injustice and are looking for ways to inspire a new generation, but don’t know how to go about it…

Well look no further, Oxfam has the answer! Oxfam is launching a drive to recruit volunteers across the South East of England, particularly in High Wycombe, Chelmsford, Basingstoke, Winchester, Ashford and Canterbury.

‘But what wondrous task will these volunteers carry out?’ we hear you cry.

The answer is simple: they will inspire the younger generation to campaign for change through visiting schools and youth groups in their local communities.

Oxfam Speakers play an essential role in their local communities through raising awareness about Oxfam’s key campaigning issues amongst youth. From campaigns about climate change to the Robin Hood Tax, they envision and empower young people to get involved in making a difference globally.

By presenting workshops and talks about Oxfam’s key campaigning issues to young people aged between 8 and 18 Speakers really do have an incredible opportunity to be a catalyst for change. We find this very exciting.

‘It all sounds well and good’ you are thinking, ‘But I’ve never done anything like this before’

It’s a good point. But don’t let it put you off: all Oxfam speakers will be trained and supported by Oxfam’s regional youth and schools campaigners whilst being given the opportunity to be creative and bring their own ideas and experience to the role. We would love people with campaigns experience in working with young people but we are more bothered about your commitment, passion for global issues, and ability to impact the younger generation with your enthusiasm.

These voluntary positions are for the period of a year for one day a week, with the odd bit of extra planning. So, if you’re passionate about global issues, love working with young people and enjoy using your creativity to make a difference, then get involved!!

Do you want to motivate and inspire youth in your area to campaign for change?

Just remember: We couldn’t do it without you!

 Please contact Jeri Dash on 01865 473248 or [email protected] for an informal chat about the role and the application process. Alternatively full details and an application process are available at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/volunteer/latest.html#vos

The closing date is 31^st May 2010.

Saying no the right way — taking things away from people while keeping them on your side — seems like it’s becoming an increasingly crucial skill. Came across three bits in the last few days that echoed this idea…

1) Marco says, “Making a product better often requires removing features.”

Dealing with the negative feedback is tough. Every feature removal, even if minor, is greeted with an initial barrage of emails from people whose lives I have just completely ruined by this change to my free website or my $5 iPhone application…It’s especially tough with web and iPhone apps, for which there’s no good way, or no way at all, for the offended customers to just keep using the old version.

But the result, once the fire has died down, is a much better product for the majority of customers.

If I could never remove features, I’d never add any.

2) A day after reading that, I heard Thomas Friedman discuss how the next generation of political leaders will need to focus on taking things away from voters.

We’re entering an era where being in politics is gonna be, more than anything else, about taking things away from people.

You think it’s tough removing a feature from an iPhone app? Try being a politician that takes away a group’s pet entitlement program.

3) And here’s Yvon Chouinard in the trailer for 180south:

The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It’s so easy to make it complex. The solution for a lot of the world’s problems may be to turn around and take a forward step. You can’t just keep trying to make a flawed system work.

Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Retail Price: $369.99
Phone Price: $99.99
Hot Features: Android 2.1, Touchscreen, Full QWERTY, WiFi, 3.2MP camera

Noah is live from San Francisco at the Google I/O Day 2 Keynote. We’re expecting some Android, and maybe some Google TV, so stay tuned!

Depois de um grande crescimento em suas vendas, cerca de 219% em 2010, a Kia planeja uma estratégia ousada para o seu último lançamento, o Sorento, que foi anunciado nessa semana. O novo crossover começará a ser vendido no próximo dia 28 e já começa a ter sua divulgação na novela Passione da Rede Globo, sendo o veículo do personagem de Reinaldo Gianecchini.

A meta da Kia para vendas do Sorento são de 600 unidades por mês, que custam entre R$ 96.900 até R$ 124.900. Será um grande desafio vender uma quantidade assim mensalmente, mas um diferencial do Sorento é que a versão 4 cilindros estará disponível para nós, o que ajuda a aumentar o volume de vendas.

O presidente da Kia Motors do Brasil, José Luiz Ghandini, disse que a empresa tem a meta de vender 45 mil veículos da Kia durante esse ano, e está confiante de fechar o ano de 2010 com 57.600 vendas, um aumento que colocaria a montadora na frente da Mitsubishi na disputa do mercado. Outros veículos confirmados para entrar em nosso país são o Cerato hatch, o Magentis e uma nova versão do Picanto 2011.

Via | Blogauto

Apple wasn’t kidding around when it said it was going to become a mobile device company first and foremost. According to at least one analyst estimate, the iPad is now outselling the Mac by a fair margin, having almost caught up to its lucrative cousin, the iPhone. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Abramsky (via AllThingsD) thinks Apple is selling more than 200,000 iPads per week at this point.

Compare that to around 110,000 Macs per week, and about 246,000 iPhone 3GS handsets. For a device that originally looked like kind of an odd duck that would only appeal to a very niche market, that’s not too bad. Especially when it hasn’t actually launched in international markets as of yet (barring pre-sales to the first nine countries getting the device on May 28).

Sellouts in both Apple Stores and Best Buy locations in the U.S. continue to be a fairly regular occurrence, and at the time of RBC Capital Markets’ checks, which took place in mid May, roughly 25 percent of Apple Stores were sold out of 3G models of the iPad completely and only had Wi-Fi stock remaining. New units bought from the Apple website are at least a week out in terms of predicted shipping times. In other words, Apple is still selling the things as fast as it can make them.

Abramsky’s changed his 2010 global iPad sales estimate from five million to eith million in the wake of the device’s continued success at retail, and he’s not the only one who’s optimistic about the iPad’s selling power. Research firm IDC (via Bloomberg) predicts that the iPad’s success alone will account for a six-fold increase in the sales of tablet computers in general by 2014. If true, tablet sales would nab a fair chunk of global computer sales, which doesn’t bode well for the slowing netbook market.

It also doesn’t bode well for the Mac. Apple’s efforts will go where the money is, and all indications point to the fact that the money will be with the iPad and iPhone, not with MacBooks and iMacs. What changes will this prompt in Apple’s personal computer line-up? Well, in business silos that bring in less money inevitably face cuts and streamlining. Apple recently added more choices to its notebook lineup, but I predict we’ll see a reversal of that in the future. Look for fewer product configurations and simpler categories (one basic notebook, one pro, etc.) as Cupertino focuses on mobile.

I’m not too worried about this trend, because far out, I see a convergence of device categories. Mobile will be the default mode for consumer computing, and I suspect the iPad will look much more like that future than the MBP I’m typing this on now. Apple has always been good at the long-view, and this time around is no exception.

Related GigaOM Pro Research: Is The Age of the Web Tablet Finally Upon Us?

Peugeot ha decidido el regreso a los GTI y lo ha hecho con una nueva versión del 308, denominada 308 GTI y que se comercializará solamente en su variante de 5 puertas. Como antaño, el 308 GTI cuenta con su propio apartado de detalles exclusivos, además de llevar un motor completamente nuevo del grupo PSA, el mismo que porta el RCZ, pero con algún cambio menor.

A pesar de que este 308 no desentona demasiado de lo que sería un 308 no-GTI, está envuelto de modificaciones estéticas y del novedoso (para el 308) uso del carbono para la parte central del paragolpes delantero, aunque hay que decir también que este detalle solamente vendrá con los modelos que se vendan en Francia. En el interior se han incluido pedales, reposapié y palanca de cambio hechas de aluminio. Y en el exterior se ha colocado un alerón trasero en la parte alta, mientras que lleva los logos de rigor de GTI en el portón trasero y por los lados de la carrocería, rematando con un escape doble, cromado.

Llegamos al motor y nos encontramos con la planta motriz del RCZ, el 1.6, de inyección directa y distribución variable en admisión. Y precisamente ésta es la diferencia principal con el motor del RCZ, ya que en el GTI sólo actúa sobre las válvulas de admisión, pero no sobre las de escape, como ocurre en el RCZ. También compartirá con el RCZ el turbo Twin-Scroll, aunque con una presión diferente.

Las prestaciones y consumos que anuncia Peugeot son las siguientes: acelera de 0 a 100 km/h en 7,7 segundos y tiene un consumo medio homologado de 6,9 l/100 km. Esperamos tener acceso pronto a una unidad del 308 GTI para contarles nuestras impresiones sobre el coche y si es merecedor del título de GTI.

Peugeot 308 GTI

Vía | Motorward

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety, Toyota

Authorities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have finally determined the origin of the four suspicious packages that were mailed to various Toyota facilities last week. Turns out the boxes were filled with wires, relays and film canisters from a Nigerian engineer.

All four of the packages were sent without a return address, and bomb sniffing dogs reacted positively to the boxes when they were discovered. According to investigators, that’s probably due to the fact that film uses some of the same chemicals as common explosives. From what everyone can tell, the sender was simply trying to get his ideas for a new turn signal to Toyota R&D. He certainly got their attention.

According to the Charleston Gazette, the FBI has no intention of tracking the engineer down or charging him with anything. The agency said that the whole thing was a simple misunderstanding.

[Source: The Charleston Gazette | Image: Rusty Jarrett/Getty for NASCAR]

Followup: Toyota bomb scares due to… Nigerian turn signal inventor? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 May 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[JURIST] The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus [official website] on Wednesday released the 2010 International Piracy Watch List [text, PDF] naming China, Russia, Canada, Spain, and Mexico as the worst countries for protecting copyrighted information. The bipartisan caucus also released a list of the top websites hosted overseas [text, PDF] providing unauthorized access to copyrighted material. The report stressed the risk posed to the US economy [press release, PDF] when intellectual property is not protected. Committee co-chair, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) [official website], stated:

International piracy of American intellectual property weakens a segment of our economy that long has supported innovation and great American jobs. Congress must work on a bipartisan basis to protect the creative industries and the jobs they support. The United States has been on the losing end of the largest theft of intellectual property in history. This must be stopped, and soon.

The report also lists specific steps each country needs to take to ensure protection of intellectual property including increasing liability under the laws of the individual countries and implementing effective border measures to protect against illegal international distribution of copyrighted materials.

Earlier this month, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) [official website] placed Russia, China, and Canada [JURIST report] on its Priority Watch List [text, PDF] of 12 countries that are not adequately protecting intellectual property rights [press release]. In March, the Canadian government pledged to strengthen copyright laws [JURIST report]. Last year, the USTR placed Canada on its priority watch list [JURIST report] for the first time. In January 2009, a dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) [official website] found for the US [JURIST report] that large parts of China’s intellectual property scheme are inconsistent with its obligations under several international treaties, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) [text].

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ8m0kJJ5DM

At day one of Google I/O 2010 an AR Drone was showcased flying and being controlled by a Nexus One. We got the hint that this type of remote control technology was capable via smartphones even with the recent news of Android controlled OnStar system headed for GM’s new Chevy Volt.

[Via Android Police]

NEXT> If you feel like Christmas keeps creeping earlier every year, consider the companies who are trying to get their products ready for the holiday season. Yesterday, May 19, many companies showed off their wares at the Holiday Gift Guide Show in Times Square. There are plenty of new gizmos to buy when the calendar turn to December, don’t worry. But we wanted to bring you a few of the delightfully odd or unexpected entries now. Why wait? Some are old, some are new, some are resurrected, and one is, well, blue. Thanks to the Forever White headset by Beaming White, my dream has finally come true: I can listen to the White Stripes while I whiten my teeth, all without whitening strips. Just put the hydrogen peroxide gel on your teeth, then strap on the headset and subject the gel to blue LED. All the while you can be pumping music through the headset. NEXT>

Watching the Massachusetts health care reform unfold is like watching a tragic game of whack-a-mole.  As I noted before, the expected cost-savings have largely not materialized, pushing the thing way over budget, and despite the fact that it already had the highest rates in the country, the cost of insurance is rising at a brisk rate of roughly 10% a year.  The best you can say about this cost problem is the wan defense that I’ve now heard several times:  that by provoking a crisis, the system may now finally do real delivery service reform that will control costs.

Maybe.  That’s not actually what they’ve done so far; what they’ve done is appoint a commission, and attempt to control insurance prices.  Now that the providers are, predictably, losing money, the legislators are taking the mallet to the providers.  Hospitals that make too much money are going to have to make a “one time contribution” of $100 million to a fund to help small businesses buy insurance.

Even if you’re in favor of the healthy reform, this is a lousy, desperate way to go about it.  This kinds of mandatory “contributions” are essentially a punishment for past, legal behavior.  Practically, they tend to be vulnerable to regulatory takings challenges.  Economically, they dramatically ratchet up the risks of doing business in Massachusetts, which tends to do less than delightful things to your market as companies scale back their operations, transfer as much business as possible out of state, or decide to focus their efforts on things the government doesn’t care about so much, like plastic surgery.  And financially, the costs almost always come back at your consumers, as companies ratchet up their rates to make up the losses.

The quality of legislation coming out of Massachusetts on this stuff right now is really frighteningly bad.  There’s none of the technocratic fine tuning that we were assured was the greatest reward of this sort of program, just crude, blanket rules that do much reflect the realities of the market.  Rather, they’re a cathartic outlet for legislators frustration that any reality exists outside of the power of their pens.

Maybe the federal program will be different.  But I’m really not seeing how.  Ironically, the cash infusion from the Feds may save the Massachusetts program from bankruptcy.  But I don’t know who’s going to take care of the rest of us.

Massachusetts – Health care – Insurance – Massachusetts health care reform – United States

Witheringly described as a “A family-friendly Android phone with an awesome Sidekick-y keyboard, or, much like its name, a godawful conglomeration of disjointed parts,” the HTC myTouch 3G Slide was pegged early as a midrange, or even budget, phone (“Family friendly” being the official euphemism for such things). Nonetheless, it’ll be priced up with the big boys, at $180 on contract with T-Mobile, starting June 2nd. [AndroidGuys] More »