Category: News

  • [Polska] Zagraniczni przewoźnicy kolejowi w Polsce

    Od 1 stycznia w całej Unii Europejskiej obowiązuje wolny rynek przewozów kolejowych

    Quote:

    Powiozą nas niemieckie wagony
    DEUTSCHE BAHN ZAWALCZY O POLSKIE TORY

    TVN CNBC Biznes

    Jeszcze w tym roku podróżujących koleją czekają niemałe zmiany. Do wejścia na polski rynek przymierza się niemiecki konkurent PKP – Deutsche Bahn. Na początek Niemcy rozważają uruchomienie czterech tras pociągów: z Warszawy do Gdyni, Katowic, Krakowa i Poznania. To oznacza wojnę o polskiego pasażera – ocenia "Dziennik Gazeta Prawna".

    Od 1 stycznia w całej Unii Europejskiej obowiązuje wolny rynek przewozów kolejowych. Dzięki temu na polskich torach bez żadnych przeszkód może pojawić się zagraniczna konkurencja.

    Jako pierwszy wniosek do Urzędu Transportu Kolejowego o przyznanie licencji na przewóz osób złożył niemiecki przewoźnik, Deutsche Bahn Polska – donosi gazeta. Informacji tej jednak nie potwierdza oficjalnie polskie przedstawicielstwo spółki. Wiadomo, że przyznanie licencji firma może potrwać do marca. Oznacza to, że niemieckie wagony pasażerów będą mogły wozić jeszcze w tym roku.

    Niemcy stawiają na biznes

    Już sam wybór tras łączących główne polskie aglomeracje ze stolicą potwierdza informacje dziennika, że głównym użytkownikiem niemieckich pociągów ma być klient biznesowy.

    Oznacza to prawdopodobny spadek cen biletów (nawet o kilkanaście procent), oferowanych przez spółki, których pociągi obecnie kursują już na tych trasach. Jednak PKP Intercity i Przewozy Regionalne zapewniają, że konkurenta się nie boją, a wojny cenowej nie będzie. – Prędzej będziemy konkurowali ze sobą jakością usług, komfortem przejazdu i dostępnością systemów sprzedaży biletów – tłumaczy w rozmowie z "Dziennikiem Gazetą Prawną" rzecznik PKP Intercity, Paweł Ney.

    Niemcy nie potwierdzają

    Na razie jednak Deutsche Bahn nie potwierdza oficjalnie planów wejścia na polski rynek. – Chcemy oferować w Polsce coraz lepsze usługi. Skupiamy się na wzmocnieniu naszej współpracy z PKP Intercity. Nie mamy teraz w planach samodzielnej działalności w Polsce – twierdzi w rozmowie z TVN CNBC Biznes Andreas Fuhrmann z biura prasowego Deutsche Bahn.

    Firma przyznaje jedynie, że obecnie trwa przepisywanie na DB Polska licencji wydanej dla PTK Rybnik.

    Będzie cieplej, szybciej i wygodniej?

    Konkurencja na rynku kolejowym to także nadzieja dla pasażerów na poprawę warunków podróży. Świąteczno-noworoczne powroty w sposób szczególny dały się we znaki podróżnym. Wielogodzinne opóźnienia, brak ogrzewania i przepełnienie w wagonach – czy wejście do gry niemieckiego przewoźnika to zmieni?

    – Na pewno jest to nowe wyzwanie dla polskich przewoźników, ponieważ mogą się pojawić podmioty, które dysponują lepszym taborem, na przykład spełniającym lepiej wymagania klientów – uważa wiceprezes Urzędu Transportu Kolejowego, Mirosław Antonowicz.

    Źródło: tvn24.pl


    Na podanej stronie jest także krótki reportaż filmowy

    W skrócie pojawiają się informacje:
    – rzecznik DB zaprzecza jakoby planowali samodzielne działanie w Polsce (obecnie współpracują z PKP IC)
    – Kolej Czeska (ČD) planuje najpierw "przetestować" liberalizację na rynku słowackim
    – konkurencji cenowej nie należy się spodziewać, raczej wzrostu poziomu usług
    – stawki za dostęp do infr. w PKP PLK są jednymi z droższych w Europie
    – w 3 lata po liberalizacji rynku towarowego PKP Cargo straciło ok 30% rynku, jednak w przewozach pasażerskich może nie nastąpić to tak szybko

  • The Met Office Gives Us the Warmist Weather

    ‘Shortly after midnight
    on Friday morning, as 200,000 merrymakers were departing from the
    Thames after enjoying a spectacular fireworks show in sub-zero
    temperatures, flakes of snow began to fall on Whitehall. In light of
    the Met Office’s prediction that this would be a “mild” winter, with
    temperatures above average, it seemed an apt way to start the New Year.
    But hasn’t the time come for us to stop treating the serial inaccuracy
    of Met Office forecasts as just a joke and see it for what it is
    – a national scandal?

    The reason the Met Office
    so persistently gets its seasonal forecasts wrong is that it has been
    hi-jacked from the role for which we pay it nearly £200 million a
    year, to become one of the world’s major propaganda engines for the
    belief in man-made global warming. Over the past three years, it has
    become a laughing stock for forecasts which are invariably wrong in the
    same direction.’

    Read more…

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  • Threats Shut Yemen’s U.S., U.K. Embassies

    ‘The U.S. and Britain closed their
    embassies in Yemen on Sunday in the face of al-Qaida threats, after
    both countries announced an increase in aid to the government to fight
    the terror group linked to the failed attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner
    on Christmas.’

    Read more…

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  • Ultimate Irony: Snowstorm Squelches ‘Screaming’ Climate Change Protest

    ‘A downtown [Salt Lake City] protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday’s snowstorm. “Not
    many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions,” said
    organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the
    University of Utah.

    It didn’t take long for the six
    friends to pack up a bullhorn and posters they’d planned to use
    for their “scream-in,” an outlet for their frustration
    about the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks earlier this month to
    curb the pollution blamed for climate change.

    Read more…

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  • Australian Adept Unveiled World Satanic Control

    ‘In an explosive deathbed
    confession, a former head of the satanist “Alpha Lodge” in Sydney,
    Australia, revealed the pervasive  worldwide power of organized
    Satanism, which is synonymous with the Illuminati.

    “Things are not as they
    seem — and they have not been for a long, long time,” he wrote,
    describing a wholesale betrayal of society by its ostensible leaders.
    “Petor
    Narsagonan” aka “Frater 616″ died March 25, 2004. Recently, his
    executor, an “Aloysius Fozdyke” (their satanic names) sent the 15 pp.
    document by email to Arthur Cristian, webmaster of
    “loveforlife.com.au”  

    “I have felt it necessary
    to edit very little of this work,” “Fozdyke” wrote to Cristian,
    “although legal considerations have ensured that some names and details
    were excised. It was His intention to have this published in the
    popular media.” 
    What follows is a synopsis of this shocking document focusing on Satanic power and influence.’

    Read more…

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  • Unexpected, But Good: Justice Department Says FCC Should Free Up More Spectrum

    You don’t really expect the Justice Department to be involved in the question of spectrum allocation, but it has suggested that the FCC free up more spectrum for broadband efforts. The reason is that this is coming from the antitrust division of the DoJ, and the hope is that with more spectrum, it can be allocated to upstart competitors which will increase competition in the not very competitive broadband market (and don’t believe the telco lobbyists who claim otherwise).

    Still, if we’re talking about freeing up spectrum, shouldn’t things go a bit further? We still have a situation where the FCC doesn’t just allocate the spectrum, but also decides what it must be used for. We’d be much better off, and have a lot more competition, if companies were free to make use of spectrum in the way they felt could bring the best return — and that companies who were granted spectrum rights also had the right to then resell those rights. While I’m still hopeful that new technologies will make spectrum scarcity a thing of the past, we still haven’t seen enough evidence that the technology really works. So, in the meantime, the better solution is to get more spectrum on the market, and stop putting limitations on how it can be used.

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  • Pakistan: Over 700 Civilians Killed in US Drone Strikes

    ‘Of the 44 predator
    strikes carried out by US drones in the tribal areas of Pakistan over
    the past 12 months, only five were able to hit their actual targets,
    killing five key Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but at the cost of over
    700 innocent civilians.

    According to the
    statistics compiled by Pakistani authorities, the Afghanistan-based US
    drones killed 708 people in 44 predator attacks targeting the tribal
    areas between January 1 and December 31, 2009.

    For each Al Qaeda and
    Taliban terrorist killed by US drones, 140 innocent Pakistanis also had
    to die. Over 90 per cent of those killed in the deadly missile strikes
    were civilians, claim authorities.’

    Read more…

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  • Tony Blair’s £1m-a-year Paymaster Seeks Giant Iraqi Oil Deal

    ‘A Middle Eastern
    investment fund that pays Tony Blair about £1m a year as an
    international adviser is in talks to develop one of Iraq’s
    biggest oilfields.

    Mubadala, a United Arab
    Emirates investment firm, is in negotiations to join a consortium of
    western oil companies developing the Zubair oilfield in southern Iraq.
    More than £6 billion of investment is required for the project.

    Blair was accused of
    supporting the interests of the western oil companies with the invasion
    of Iraq in March 2003, but dismissed the allegations as a conspiracy
    theory. He proposed that oil revenues should be placed in a United
    Nations-administered fund for the benefit of the Iraqi people.’

    Read more…

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  • UK to Follow US Intervention in Yemen

    ‘The British premier’s
    office says that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack
    Obama have agreed to fight what they call terrorism in Yemen and
    Somalia.
    The UK and the US have agreed to fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the rising threat from the country.’

    Read more…

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  • US General Urges Strip Search of Muslim Men

    ‘A retired US general and
    member of Iran Policy Committee (IPC) says all 18 to 28 years old
    Muslim men should be strip searched at airports as “one of these
    bombers” will explode an airliner in the coming days.

    Thomas McInerney, a
    retired Lt. Genera with the US Air Force, told Fox News television on
    Saturday that within the next 30 to 120 days, “there is a danger of
    high probability” awaiting US airliners.

    “If you are an 18 to
    28-year-old Muslim man then you should be strip searched. And if we
    don’t do that there’s a very high probability we’re going to lose an
    airline,” he said.’

    Read more…

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  • All European Kias to Come with 7-Year Warranty

    From now on, every Kia model sold in Europe will be offered with a 7-year warranty! The offer was previously available on a limited number of models, including cee’d and Sportage, but, according to kia-world.net, it will be extended to the entire range starting with January 2010.

    We have already declared our intention to become the world’s No1 car maker for customer satisfaction and our new 7-Year Kia Warranty on all models is a major step towards achieving that goal, commented Pa… (read more)

  • ‘US Preparing New Psyops Campaign Against Iran’

    ‘The former head of Pakistan’s
    Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) says the United States is afraid of
    Iran’s nuclear capabilities and is trying to provoke other countries to
    wage a psychological war against Iran. 

    In an exclusive interview with IRNA on
    Sunday, retired general Asad Durrani said that although Iran has always
    insisted that its nuclear activities are totally peaceful, the West is
    trying to give the world the impression that Iran’s nuclear program is
    not peaceful.’

    Read more…

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  • Songbird Lands Deal With Philips, To Come Bundled With Millions Of Portable MP3 Players

    Don’t count Songbird out yet. The open source media player that’s increasingly positioning itself as an alternative to Apple’s iTunes has forged a deal with global electronics maker Philips. Under the agreement, which will be announced later today at CES, Songbird’s software will come bundled with the Philips line of GoGear portable music players, available worldwide. We first reported a partnership between Philips and Songbird back in September, but details were vague at that point.

    Songbird will be releasing a Philips-branded version of its software with a few key differences, most important of which will be the application’s native support for each GoGear device. While Songbird offers support for some portable music devices (they recently upgraded their support last week), the experience for users isn’t always as seamless as they typically get from the ubiquitous iPod/iTunes combo. The Philips-branded version of Songbird will be custom tailored for the GoGear devices, which means it will recognize exactly which device you plug in and which features that device supports (the same way iTunes knows if you plug in a Nano vs an iPhone). The application can be used for song purchases and playlist management, as well as firmware updates.

    The Songbird software will come as a self-extracting install with some devices (you plug the device into your computer and it will install onto your Windows machine automatically). For other products it will ship on a disk, or users will be directed to download the software from a website. The Philips-branded software is only available on Windows for now, but Macintosh support is in the works. The Philips devices should still be usable using the standard Songbird application on the Mac, but you won’t be able to install firmware updates.

    This is a big win for Songbird. The company had a very rough 2009, which included the departure of the company’s founding CEO Rob Lord and a struggle to raise new funding to remain afloat (though it eventually did complete a round at a significantly lowered valuation). Songbird’s core product, which offers song management alongside a deeper integration with web services than iTunes does, remains the same, but it’s now targeting a broader audience than it was before.

    The partnership with Philips is Songbird’s first major step in this area. And we’ll likely see more deals like this as Songbird tries to to appeal to electronics manufacturers as a content manager that isn’t owned by Apple.

    Songbird isn’t alone in this space though — another impressive product looking to offer an alternative to iTunes is doubleTwist.

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  • Facebook Turns to Its Users to Weed Out Offensive Content

    Facebook may not be the biggest site on the planet, but it’s certainly the most connected. It’s also the biggest place for user-generated content on the web. The problem with user-generated content is that it needs to be moderated in one form or another. But with 350 million users, it’s easy to understand the amount of work necessary to weed out the objectionable content. In order to help out with the gargantuan task, Facebook is turning to its most valuable asset, the users, and the social network is now testing a crowd-sourced model of content moderation.

    The social network has created the Facebook Community Council, which is currently in private testing, a feature which enables users to rate content reported by others as potentially objectionable by placing it into one of the eight categories available like, Spam, Drugs, Attacking (“direct attacks against non public figures”), Acceptable and so on.

    “The Facebook Community Council is a way for users to tell us whether reported content violates our policies. We’ve found that people aren’t shy about reporting content they come across that looks suspicious, and this is just another way of leveraging the Facebook community to help maintain the site’s trusted environment. It’s still in an experimental sta… (read more)

  • BMW 3 Series GT, PAC in the Making

    If you have been keeping an eye on autoevolution, you might know by now BMW is preparing a sequel to the controversial 5 Series GT launched in 2009. The soon-to-be Progressive Activity Coupe (PAC), as BMW likes to call it, is not quite the same as the 5 Series, as it will focus more on dynamics and performance rather than on more frugal aspects, like luxury.

    As we told you in our previous report, the new GT will take some of the features debuted by BMW with the 5 Series GT. Combi… (read more)

  • 2010 Predictions From Shiller, Blinder, Rajan and More

    The American Economic Association’s annual conference was held in Atlanta over the last few days. Some of the top economists in the country were in attendance. Here are some of their predictions for 2010:

    Robert Shiller, Yale University:
    “Strategic default on mortgages will grow substantially over the next year, among prime borrowers, and become identified as a serious problem. The sense that ‘everyone is doing it’ is already growing, and will continue to grow, to the detriment of mortgage holders. It will grow because of a building backlash against the financial sector, growing populist rhetoric and a declining sense of community with the business world. Some people will take another look at their mortgage contract, and note that nowhere did they swear on the bible that they would repay.”

    Edward Glaeser, Harvard University:
    “Construction levels will stay low and my best guess is that housing prices — the 20 city Case-Shiller average — will be within 5% of current level, one side or the other.”

    Alan Blinder, Princeton University:
    “U.S. interest rates will go up across the board. Probably more at the long end than the short end.”

    Michael Feroli, J.P. Morgan Chase:
    “We’ll have above-trend growth, low inflation, and the fed on hold through 2010″

    Don Ratajczak, Morgan Keegan:
    “The odds of a double dip have gone from 1-in-3 to 1-in-5.”

    Anil Kashyap, University of Chicago:
    “The Democratic Party of Japan will be in a shambles. The economic program in Japan will be a complete mess by December.”

    Raghuram Rajan, University of Chicago:
    “There’s going to be a lot more noise made about China and its exchange rate. I won’t stick my neck out farther than that.”


  • Fiscal year 2009 in review

    XIN SHIN/The Stanford Daily

    XIN SHIN/The Stanford Daily

    XIN SHIN/The Stanford Daily

    XIN SHIN/The Stanford Daily

    What a difference a year makes.

    Financial results from Stanford’s fiscal year 2009 (FY09) have made clear the extent of losses incurred by the University over 12 months of “economic turmoil.”

    FY09 lasted from Sept. 1, 2008 to Aug. 31, 2009. During that time, Stanford’s surplus from operations actually increased $62 million as compared to fiscal year 2008 (FY08), to $362 million. This positive result, however, was achieved largely through reaction to expected financial challenges and investment losses–losses that “overshadowed” the operating results, according to the 2009 Financial Review, a summary presented to the Board of Trustees in December.

    Over FY09, the University sustained losses across a range of categories in comparison to FY08. In addition to the widely-reported endowment loss of 27 percent, or $4.6 billion, the University’s net assets also declined 21 percent, or $4.7 billion. Investments as a whole declined $5.3 billion, or 24 percent.

    To address many of its needs, particularly for facilities and infrastructure projects, and to meet liquidity standards, Stanford also had to dramatically increase its debt. Stanford’s borrowings increased by $984 million, raising its total borrowings to $2.5 billion as of Aug. 31, 2009.

    The University’s operating revenues also declined across a number of areas, necessitating an increased draw upon resources from the University endowment, in the form of a 34 percent payout–up from 31 percent in FY08.

    Student income, which represents 11 percent of University operating revenues, is a particular area for concern. Despite increases in tuition, overall revenue from students dropped one percent in FY09 to a total of $401 million. Tuition rates increased 3.5 percent for undergraduates and an average 4.5 percent for graduate students.

    The decrease in revenue from students was due to increased financial need, which has increased the demands placed upon the University’s financial aid commitments. Expenditures on financial aid rose 19 percent to a total of $210 million, and the Financial Review states that the University expects “families of University students will continue to need increased financial assistance in the years to come.”

    Sponsored research support, which makes up fully 30 percent of University operating revenues, also declined by four percent, or $45 million, to a total of $1 billion. This decrease was due primarily to a decrease in federal funding for facility construction at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

    Special program fees and other income, which represent 10 percent of University operating revenues, also declined by a modest four percent, to $341 million. The financial report cited reduced participation in “travel study programs, professional education programs, other special programs and conferences”–likely a symptom of tighter budgets among those who pay for these offerings.

    Gifts and pledges to the University decreased by $384 million, a significant drop-off from FY08 levels. Still, the University received more than 104,000 individual gifts for a total reported amount of $542 million. The Financial Review states that the University anticipates “that gifts will not return to the strong levels of the past few years in the near term, as donors also feel the strain of declining investment portfolios.”

    In more positive news, the Stanford Challenge fundraising campaign has continued to achieve gains for the University, surpassing its $4.3 billion milestone. Over the course of FY09, Stanford established 11 new endowed professorships, 66 new funds for graduate fellowships and 30 new undergraduate scholarship funds, among other gains. The Financial Review states, however, that “many priority areas included in the original goal have not yet been funded, and new needs have been identified since the campaign began.”

    Health care service and hospital revenues were a bright spot for operating revenue, increasing by $57 million to a total of $429 million–12 percent of the University’s operating revenues. These results were due to the addition of MediCal Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) revenue, favorable contract rate increases, increased outpatient activity and other factors in FY09. From a long-term standpoint, the Hospitals are facing a significant need for expansion, with the Financial Review stating that “the Hospitals continue to be constrained by inpatient capacity, along with escalating costs. Construction of new facilities to meet community health care needs continues to be a priority. These new facilities are projected to cost more than $3 billion, representing the largest capital projects ever undertaken by the Hospitals.”

    NEWpolicy010510bwOn the expenditures side, Stanford also faced significant challenges. Staff layoffs, which exceeded 400 persons, had associated costs that reduced their positive impact on FY09 finances. The Financial Review states that “most of the staff reductions occurred during the second half of FY09, and the University incurred one-time severance expenses for terminated employees. In addition, health care costs and expenses associated with retirement plans drove FY09 benefit costs higher.”

    The cancellation or suspension of construction projects drove a four percent decrease in depreciation expenses. University budget cuts allowed for a decrease in other operating expenses by 14 percent, to $920 million. Finally, lower interest rates decreased interest expenses by $20 million.

    The results, related in a summary presented to the Board of Trustees, state that a return to full financial health for the University will be a long process, and that “it will take years of economic gains and continued vigilance of expenditure levels to restore the University and Hospital investment balances to the 2008 levels.” More detailed results for fiscal year 2009 are scheduled for distribution this month through the University’s annual report.

  • Sustail clockwork mouse concept

    Sustail mouse concept needs the user to provide power by winding the mechanism

    Designer Ahmet Bektes is proposing using centuries-old technology to provide the power for a familiar modern device. Rather than drawing energy from a computer or batteries, a user will need to remove a key from below the Sustail mouse and wind it up before being able to use it. It is hoped that the Bluetooth-connected input device would also encourage users to take regular breaks and have a more responsible attitude towards power consumption…

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  • Peterhansel Wins Stage 3, Takes Dakar Rally Lead

    Another day, another stage winner and yet another overall leader in the 2010 edition of the Dakar Rally. Following the action in Day 3 of the South American event, it is legendary driver Stephane Peterhansel to grab 1st place in the overall classification, after a smashing performance La Rioja to Fiambala.

    The 9-time winner of the event set the pace from the early beginning of the stage, completing the 182-km special in less than 4 hours. He was practically unbeatable on Tuesday, … (read more)