Archive for April, 2010
Gillian Duffy
Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks with resident Gillian Duffy (L) during a campaign stop in Rochdale, northwest England April 28, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised on Wednesday for being …
Poor Gordon Brown. Mocked by the media for only ever meeting Labour party stooges on the election trail, today he visited Rochdale and engaged with a normal person, grandmother Gillian Duffy, and did just about okay. And then he was caught saying …
Iran Election Watch
Shooting piece on UK election today, on trail with spoiler Nick Clegg. Standing rm only at town hall with univ students
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Source: Washington Post<br />
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A British voter has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Gordon Brown after he was caught on an open microphone calling her "a bigoted woman."<br />
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Brown was heard criticizing Gillian Duffy after he left a campaign stop in Rochdale in northern England, where he had s…
April 29th, 2010
Find out about the billions of pounds of hidden debt in the UK and let us know if you too are a secret spender More than a fifth (21%) of UK residents currently in debt are lying to their partner about the amount of cash they owe. A new report from …
… previous Greek governments, apparently facilitated at least in some measure by the unique financial engineering of Goldman Sachs, the true state of Greek fiscal reality is hidden by a thick … Clearly, the sovereign debt market is far from …
April 24th, 2010
This January, Apple announced their new iPad: A slim, sleek device that looks like a super-deluxe sized iPhone. It doesn't make phone calls, but it plays movies and runs iPhone apps, plus a new category of iPad-only apps including the iWork suite. And with unlimited AT&T 3G wireless (in the United States) starting at $30 a month, it might become the perfect way to connect to the 'net on the go.
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs says that the iPad represents a whole new category of devices, in between smartphones and notebook computers. So if this is a new category, and not just a new Apple-only device, who else besides Apple is best equipped to make their own version?
Enter Google
Google isn't a hardware company. They make websites and write computer software. But one of the things that they've helped make is Android, the software that powers many “iPhone clones” like the Verizon Droid. Because Android is open-source, anyone can use Android to make their own iPhone-style device without having to pay Google for it. But because Android is designed to work closely with Google's online services, like their search engine and Gmail web mail app, it's in Google's interests to get more phone companies to use it.
The problem with Android, besides its being closely tied in to Google's services (whether you want it to be or not), is the same as its strength: Anyone can use Android. And that means that Android devices run the gamut from the bulky-but-powerful Droid to the flimsy, plasticy T-Mobile G1 (which I panned in this review). So the question is not whether Google will make their own iPad; like I said, they aren't in the hardware business. The question is, how many people will use Google's Android software to make their own “Google iPads,” and will they be any good?
The winning combination
Apple already has a leg up on the competition, not just in terms of the iPad's release date but also in terms of their hardware design. Let's face it: Apple makes the best-designed electronics out there. The only way to “beat” Apple is to either undercut them on price (not a winning strategy) or make something that has features that their products don't.
Making something that has better features might be the easiest way to beat Apple, but what features are “better?” Well, look at what the iPad's limitations are, for starters. You need to sync it with a PC or Mac that has iTunes on it; you can't use the thing on its own. What if someone else made one where you can? Or what if they made one that was smaller, like the size of a paperback book instead of a hardcover novel?
The field is still new, and it's probably silly for me to speculate like this. I do have one prediction, though. Whoever makes the best “non-iPad tablet” isn't going to just throw the Android software at their machine and then call it done. They're going to customize Android and tailor it to become exactly what they want it to be. They'll design the hardware and software to work together, the way Apple does; they'll just start with the existing Android software, so that they don't have to write everything from scratch. And the end result won't be “a Google iPad,” “a tablet that uses Android,” or even “a tablet that's like the iPad.” It'll be its own device, its own brand name, perhaps even its own category.
The Upshot
Can anyone besides Apple do that? Can Google? HTC? Motorola? Who knows. I haven't seen too many others try, whether out of a lack of skill or a lack of ambition. The only “brand-name” device I can think of that competes with anything that Apple offers is the Verizon Droid (unless you count the Microsoft Zune, which few people bought). But Verizon's a large cellphone company, and they're pretty user-hostile … just look at their rates.
Does anyone else care enough about user experience? About the feel and fit and finish of a product, and not just how cheap it is and how many “features” it has? I don't know. Here's hoping we find out! And here's hoping that someone makes a Google iPad.
April 22nd, 2010
After the bank bailout that cost us all way too much money, a Europe-wide taxpayer-funded financial support scheme for the airline industry is being discussed in response to planes being unable to fly because of the Icelandic volcano eruption. British Airways is losing around £25m ($38m) a day. Easyjet is losing up to £5m ($7.6m) a day. They have access to borrowing and can cope with the financial hit just so long as it doesn’t last much longer.
Supermarkets have announced that supplies of imported flowers, fruit and vegetables are beginning to run low. Many businesses reliant upon air freight are losing money while perishable goods at home and abroad are rotting in warehouses.
Nobody really has any idea when the outpouring of ash and the volcanic activity will end. This crisis reveals the Achilles heel of globalisation: the more interconnected we are, the less self-sufficient as nations, the more reliant we are on specific forms of transport, then the easier it is for mother nature (or, for that matter, terrorists) to throw a spanner in the works. Countries untouched by the ash fallout from the volcano will suffer as well—for example, America cannot conduct much of its trade with Europe while the crisis continues.
Yesterday, Iceland’s Prime Minister could be heard on BBC Radio 4 expressing concerns that another volcano close to Eyjafjallajoekull may be stirred to eruption by its already active neighbour. If this happens, flights over Europe could stop for a month. The economic consequences of that would be disastrous across the whole world.
And before anyone thinks this might be good for the environment at least, with a massive drop in CO2 emissions while there are no flights operating, you’d be wrong to espouse this idea. Volcanoes pump lots of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, including methane which is said to be 100 times more impactful than CO2. Volcanoes have always had a hugely significant role to play in changing the Earth’s climate.
Volcanic activity should not be seen as putting the brakes on global warming; instead, it can accelerate the increase in temperatures in ways impossible to model and predict.
There’s something ironic (as well as scary) in the idea that a single natural event in a bankrupt country (that won’t yet pay back what it owes to the UK) could kill off the hope of a relatively quick recovery from the biggest planet-wide recession in history. Regardless, we can only pray that our governments don’t allow flights to resume until it is safe for them to do so. Contrary to popular mythology, it is possible to survive a financial nosedive but there’s no way back for anyone who dies in completely avoidable air disasters.
But what of all those hundreds of thousands of business travellers and tourists stranded around the world? Getting them back by boat should be the number one priority to arrange. My partner’s own parents are currently stranded in Bangkok and should have flown home on Saturday. As people run out of money they will turn to their embassies for help.
Something should be done today, right now, to avoid our citizens being individually bankrupted by this volcanic crisis, to make sure they are fed, given accommodation and brought back to their families as soon as possible—but a cruise ship from Bangkok, we’ve found, is a journey of two weeks. What happens when people don’t go back to work after their holidays because they can’t? Never mind the money the airlines and companies are losing, worrying though this is. It’s people who should come first. Bring them home. Now.
Source: The Spicy Cauldron
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April 19th, 2010
When you first pick up that guitar and start to learn a few chords, finding some easy guitar songs to learn is a natural ‘next step’ for most people to take. But where are they? And what are they? The hardest thing is to know which songs ARE easy! After all, if you are a beginner then you haven’t had a chance to find out yet. So realistically you are going to have to take the word of others who have actually been in your situation.
It is surprisingly simple to find easy guitar songs to learn online. Having a few songs that are not only considered easy, but that you like as well will make your practice sessions more interesting. You may find the easy guitar songs deemed ‘popular’ today may not be so popular tomorrow: And in addition, they may not be songs you are familiar with – which can make learning them less fun. Opting for easy songs that you are familiar with and/or like is generally considered the best course of action.
Five classic songs considered easy to learn:
1. Every Breath You Take – Sting
2. Knocking on Heavens Door – Bob Dylan
3. Redemption Song – Bob Marley
4. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
5. House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
Five easy modern guitar songs:
1. Yellow – Coldplay
2. You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
3. Keep holding On – Avril Lavigne
4. Lady – Lenny Kravitz
5. Lost – Coldplay
While these examples may be regarded as easy guitar songs to learn, remember everything is relative! So expect some to take you a little more time to learn than others. Even so, if you dedicate enough time to practice, then you will get there!
Click Easy Songs Guitar & Beginner Guitar Song & Easy Acoustic Guitar for more info. Copyright 2010 Ron X King. Source: Go Articles.
April 18th, 2010
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When starting your own company, one of the more important aspects involves your method of advertising and marketing. Of the dynamics associated with advertising and marketing, your brand and logo will often define your place in the market or industry in which you are considering your business venture.
How do we measure the success of a company brand or company logo? In the world of advertising and marketing, there are many ways in which to determine if your company brand or logo is providing a direct return for you. While there are study groups and research affiliate organizations that can conduct survey as to the “anticipated” purchase based on your product brand or logo, there are those who can actually survey the consumer once the purchase is made.
When considering your advertising and marketing needs, the first step in the process of establishing a new business involves the creation of your company brand or company logo. Consider meeting with an advertising agency to gain knowledge as to how your brand or logo may be optimized, not only in print advertising but also through Internet marketing and search engine marketing. Often, advertising and marketing agencies can provide some guidance and narrow logos and brands to a handful of selections.
Once your business is up and running, the next step in the process will involve tweaking and optimizing your logo and brand. By surveying and tracking consumer purchases and products, advertising and marketing agencies can tell you if your actual revenue is generated through the brand or logo alone, of if there are other dynamics that encourage the consumer to buy.
Optimizing your brand or logo is important and may be an ever-evolving process. While you do not want to constantly change your company logo, it may need to be optimized soon after you have developed it, so as to ensure it gains recognition with future potential consumers.
When contacting an advertising or a marketing company, as a business owner, you will want to inquire about their services known as “brand equity”. This is the term commonly used by these agencies to determine how your brand, or logo, is directly affecting the revenue for your business. Depending on the industry and service, or product, you are offering, the type of brand equity analysis will vary.
Starting a new business venture can be challenging and exciting. To improve the outcome, one of the first issues you will want to address will be your company logo and company branding. Because it is important to gain recognition in print media but also on the Internet, using an advertising agency, or marketing agency, to assess your “brand equity” will be important to your long-term business objectives.
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April 18th, 2010
The National Newspaper
Disruption of air traffic because of the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland will continue for at least the next 24 hours.
NetIndian All Headlines Feed
NetIndian News Network
New Delhi, April 17, 2010
Flights from India to Europe and North America continued to remain disrupted for the third day today as much of the airspace across northern and western Europe remained closed today because of drifting ash ejected from a volcano in Iceland.
The crisis has affected the flights of national carrier Air India and private sector airlines Jet Airways and Kingfisher, apart from those of foreign airlines.
Air India, which had cancelled or rescheduled various flights yesterday, today said it had suspended all westbound flights to Europe, the United States and Canada on April 18.
A press release from the airline said the flights cancelled tomorrow were:
AI 143/142 –– Delhi – Paris – Delhi
AI 111/112 –– Delhi – London – Delhi
AI 131/130 –– Mumbai – London – Mumbai
AI 127/126 –– Mumbai – Frankfurt – Chicago – Frankfurt – Mumbai
AI 141/140 –– Mumbai – New York – Mumbai
AI 101/102 –– Delhi – New York – Washington – New York – Delhi
AI 121/120 –– Delhi – Frankfurt – Delhi
AI 187/188 –– Delhi – London – Toronto – London – Delhi
AI 191/144 –– Ahmedabad – Frankfurt – Newark – Frankfurt – Ahmedabad
As already announced, the rescheduled flights of April 16, 2010 – AI 131 on Mumbai – London Sector, AI 127 on Mumbai – Frankfurt – Chicago sector, AI 101 on Delhi – New York – Washington sector, AI 121 on Delhi – Frankfurt sector, AI 187 on Delhi – London – Toronto sector will be operated on delayed basis as and when the European airspace opens up, it said.
The release said passengers of the cancelled flights are given the choice of taking flights at a later date without any penalty or full refund on cancellation, if desired.
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April 17th, 2010
LONDON – A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano turned the skies of northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. The European air safety organization said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading
Volcanic ash kicked up from an eruption in Iceland is causing trouble for air travel here at home, as flights set to depart for European destinations are being grounded. At least 100 U.S. flights had been canceled by early Thursday afternoon Eastern Daylight Time, according to David Castelveter, a
Volcano Eruption
The Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupting in South Iceland is having serious impacts on aviation – including the closure of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, as well as Oslo Gardemoen. The ash cloud spreading east has caused all …
April 16th, 2010
last updated at 11:48 GMT, Wednesday, 24 March 2010
BBC News – War veteran to fly to Burma to honour dead comrades
By Neil Prior BBC Wales
Sixty-five years after Burma Star-winner David Norman Davies helped liberate the country now known as Myanmar from Japanese occupation, he’s returning to south east Asia to honour his fallen comrades.
“I wouldn’t say I think about Burma every day or wake up dreaming about it every night – it was an awfully long time ago now.
“But a smell, a sound or something on telly can take you back there in a flash,” said Mr Davies who lives in Cardiff.
“I’m probably more afraid of it looking back now, than I was at the time.
“I lost a lot of good friends, and saw some horrible sights which haunt me as an old man, but as a 22-year-old I don’t think anything frightened me.”
His trip has been made possible by the National Lottery’s Heroes Return programme, which awards grants of between £150 and £5,500 for World War II veterans and their families or carers to visit the places in which they fought and is open to new applications until January.
To date in Wales it has provided more than £150,000 allowing 90 servicemen to travel to battlefields across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle and Far East.
Mr Davies volunteered for the RAF in 1940, as an 18-year-old banking clerk in Cardiff.
But it was two years before he received his call-up for service, 6,500 miles (10,458 km) away in Burma.
He originally hoped to be a pilot, until that is, he was allowed behind the controls of a plane for the first time.
“All of us who fancied ourselves as pilots were given our turn in a Tiger Moth trainer, and within minutes I knew I wasn’t going to make the grade.
“There was just too much to do at once, keep the nose up, the wings straight… I was a liability.”
“After that the instructor told me the Japanese are doing for enough of our boys without you helping them. So I was trained as a navigator.”
In 1944, Japan, under General Renya Mutaguchi, launched a failed invasion attempt on southern India.
In December that year, allied forces, commanded by Lord Mountbatten, took advantage of the dry season and over-stretched Japanese supply lines to launch a counter offensive to retake Burma.
It was during this six-month campaign that Mr Davies saw his first action.
As the navigator on an RAF Dakota, he ferried troops and parachuted in supplies, in support of the 14th Army’s advance to Rangoon and on to Mandalay.
“We secured the port at Rangoon with just hours to spare before the monsoon broke in May,” said Mr Davies.
“That was the tipping point for the campaign really, but for the air crews it was just the start.”
As the advance penetrated deeper into the jungle, Mr Davies explained that landing strips became more rudimentary, and even harder to find.
“With the monsoons battering the planes it was neigh-on impossible to keep to a given air speed and altitude.
“We had an instrument called a drift indicator, which was supposed to help us measure how far off course the winds were blowing us.
“But it relied on being able to work out angles from a fixed point on the ground – and all we could see on the ground was jungle.
“I can tell you, in the middle of a monsoon one tree looks pretty much the same as another.
“At the start of the advance the engineers would clear us landing strips, and cover them with bitumen, but after Rangoon the Japanese were falling back so quickly that there wasn’t the time to prepare hard strips.
Harrowing memories
“By the end we were landing on metal, gravel, wood, and over shorter and shorter distances, all under Japanese fire – we began to feel grateful when we couldn’t find them.”
Yet for Mr Davies, his most harrowing memories came after VJ Day in August 1945, when the full extent of the Pacific War’s horror began to reveal itself.
“As soon as we had news of the surrender we began badgering our officers for permission to rescue our POWs from Bangkok, where they were being held, but there was always some terribly important officials who needed ferrying, and the rescue kept being put off until tomorrow.
“After two or three weeks of this, a few crews took it upon ourselves to fly in without orders. I don’t know if I should be saying this – but I suppose it’s a bit late for them to court martial me now.
“We’d filled our packs with chocolate and cigarettes – we knew that things would have been tough for the POWs – but nothing could prepare us for the walking skeletons we found sitting on the tarmac at Bangkok airport, just waiting for someone to come and find them.”
Human nature
However the immediate aftermath of the war also re-affirmed Mr Davies’s faith in human nature, bringing him back down to earth, in more ways than one.
“It’s ironic, and lucky for me I suppose, that the only time I crashed during my whole time in the RAF was a week or so after the end of the war.
“We had some sort of engine trouble, and crash-landed in a field in Phnom Penh.
“As we clambered out of the wreckage, the first thing which greeted us was an open-top Mercedes full of Japanese officers.
“I thought, ‘hey up! I hope they’ve heard the war’s over!’, but the first thing they did was offer us their swords.
“They gave us dinner, and we began to realise, despite all the horrible things that happened, the individual Japanese weren’t all that different to us.
“I think that helped me come to terms with things after the war, in a world full of Japanese cars and electronics. ”
Mr Davies and his son fly out to Rangoon in November, from where they’ll sail aboard the Orient Express cruise liner to Mandalay.
After two days stay at the former Burma Governor’s residence, they plan to tour the jungle sites where Mr Davies flew over 65 years ago.
“I’m glad that I’m travelling with my son, and not as part of an organised tour – you see everyone had their own war over there, and the places which hold memories for me probably aren’t the same as those which other people want to remember.
“Thank God, I had quite a good war, but so many others, particularly on the ground, weren’t as lucky as me.
“While I’m remembering my friends… and my adventures I suppose. I’ll also make sure I take a private moment to remember the poor blokes who fought for every inch on the jungle floor.”
Huw Vaughan Thomas, Wales chair of the Big Lottery Fund said “The generation of men and women who served this country during the Second World War gave so much to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.
“As they get older, pilgrimages to the areas where they saw service become ever more poignant and precious to our veterans.
“By funding these trips for those veterans who would like to attend anniversary events across the world, we hope to do our bit on behalf of the whole nation to honour the service and sacrifice so many of our veterans made.”
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April 8th, 2010
