Thieves allegedly rob Internet cafe, forget to log out of Facebook

By Chris Matyszczyk / CNET

Facebook is so deeply woven into the human fabric that people forget to, well, wipe their feet before they enter and say goodbye before they leave.

A very prime example is the story of two men who stand accused of robbing an Internet cafe in Cali, Colombia.

I am grateful to the San Francisco Chronicle for translating the efforts of Colombia's El Tiempo to keep a straight face.

For this is a tale of two men who went into the cafe and were, well, just browsing. At some point they allegedly decided it might be fun to rob the cafe. So they made as if to pay and then allegedly assaulted the owner.

They then escaped by allegedly purloining a motorbike that was as much theirs as the Internet cafe's cash.

This they seem to have succeeded in doing. However, when police arrived, they noticed one peculiar thing: one of the alleged thieves had been wafting around Facebook and hadn't logged off.

This led to the arrest of one of the suspects. I am guessing it might have been the one who didn't log out of Facebook.


Naturally, they aren't the first to have fallen foul of a Facebook habit during a foul act. For three whole years ago, Jonathan G. Parker, a young man from Pennsylvania, was accused of burglarizing a house and stealing jewelry.

But it seems to have been such a comfortable house that he made himself at home and logged onto Facebook on a computer. He was convicted.

As I am sure Mark Zuckerberg made very clear at each of Facebook's IPO presentations to Wall Street, Facebook, and criminals just don't mix.

Italian university switches to English

 Italy's leading university - the Politecnico di Milano - is going to switch to the English language. The university has announced that from 2014 most of its degree courses - including all its graduate courses - will be taught and assessed entirely in English rather than Italian.

The waters of globalisation are rising around higher education - and the university believes that if it remains Italian-speaking it risks isolation and will be unable to compete as an international institution.

"We strongly believe our classes should be international classes - and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language," says the university's rector, Giovanni Azzone.

Italy might have been the cradle of the last great global language - Latin - but now this university is planning to adopt English as the new common language.

"Universities are in a more competitive world, if you want to stay with the other global universities - you have no other choice," says Professor Azzone.

He says that his university's experiment will "open up a window of change for other universities", predicting that in five to 10 years other Italian universities with global ambitions will also switch to English.

This is one of the oldest universities in Milan and a flagship institution for science, engineering and architecture, which lays claim to a Nobel prize winner. Almost one in three of all Italy's architects are claimed as graduates. So this is a significant step.

But what is driving this cultural change? Is it the intellectual equivalent of pop bands like Abba singing in English to reach a wider market?

Professor Azzone says a university wants to reach the widest market in ideas - and English has become the language of higher education, particularly in science and engineering.

"I would have preferred if Italian was the common language, it would have been easier for me - but we have to accept real-life," he says.

When English is the language of international business, he also believes that learning in English will make his students more employable.

These are the days of the curriculum vitae rather than the dolce vita.

"It's very important for our students not only to have very good technical skills, but also to work in an international environment."      

Milestone for wi-fi with 'T-rays'

Researchers in Japan have smashed the record for wireless data transmission in the terahertz band, an uncharted part of the electro-magnetic spectrum.

The data rate is 20 times higher than the best commonly used wi-fi standard.

As consumers become ever more hungry for high data rates, standard lower-frequency bands have become crowded.

The research, published in Electronics Letters, adds to the idea that this "T-ray" band could offer huge swathes of bandwidth for data transmission.

The band lies between the microwave and far-infrared regions of the spectrum, and is currently completely unregulated by telecommunications agencies.

Despite the name, the band informally makes use of frequencies from about 300 gigahertz (300GHz or about 60 times higher than the current highest wi-fi standard) to about 3THz, 10 times higher again.

It is used principally for imaging in research contexts, as terahertz waves penetrate many materials as effectively as X-rays but deposit far less energy and therefore cause less damage.

Until recently, the technology required both to generate and detect these "T-rays" has been too bulky, costly or power-hungry to offer a plausible alternative to existing devices tucked within smartphones or wi-fi routers.

That looks set to change; in November electronic component firm ROHM demonstrated a 1.5Gb/s (1.5 billion bits per second) transfer rate at a frequency of 300GHz.

Terahertz wi-fi would probably only work over ranges of about 10m, but could in theory support data rates up to 100Gb/s - close to 15 times higher than the next-generation 802.11ac wi-fi standard that is under development.

The new work, by researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, demonstrated 3Gb/s transmission at 542GHz.

At the heart of the team's 1mm-square device is what is known as a resonant tunnelling diode, or RTD.

Tunnelling diodes have the unusual characteristic that the voltage across them can sometimes go down as current is increased.

RTDs are designed such that this process makes the diode "resonate", which in the current work's design means it sprays out waves in the terahertz band.

The team is now working to improve their proof-of-principle device and extend its range deeper into the terahertz regime, as well as increasing its power output.  (BBC.co.uk)

Facebook boosts number of shares on offer by 25%

Facebook says it will sell 25% more shares than first planned in its flotation in response to strong demand.

The move comes one day after the social networking giant said it would raise the price of the shares by 21% to between $34-$38 a share.

It also comes despite doubts about the profitability of the site, which is largely used for social updates.

Car giant General Motors added to those doubts by saying on Tuesday it would no longer pay to advertise on the site.

However, rival Ford said it would continue its social media strategy. A spokesman said: "You just can't buy your way into Facebook. You need to have a credible presence and be doing innovative things."

Facebook will add about 84 million shares to its initial public share offering (IPO) and will now sell about 421 million shares, up from 337 million, raising $18bn (£11.3bn).

This is still only a small percentage of the entire company, and implies Facebook's full market value is around $100bn, similar to that of internet shopping giant Amazon.

The company makes only around $5 a year per member and has identified mobile devices, phones and tablet computers, as a key area for revenue growth.

But Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights and Strategy, said building that revenue would not be straightforward.

"Mobility is Facebook's biggest challenge in that they don't monetise it currently, but it is where the largest growth is."

He pointed to sites such as Groupon, which offers discounts on goods and services to subscribers, as one potentially profitable sector: "I expect them to target the local deals sector first then tie it in with check-ins.

"I expect them to either buy Groupon and Foursquare, or very quickly build-out these capabilities."

Initial rise?
The extra allotment of shares and the raising of the target price were both moves that were anticipated by analysts.

Mr Moorhead said that despite the increased share allotment and higher price range, he expected the price of shares to rise further initially: "For IPOs like this, they always rise on the first day, dip slightly, then the market readjusts over the next few months."

The actual price of the shares is expected to be revealed on Thursday with open market trading pencilled in to begin on Friday.

If all the shares are sold at the new higher price, the IPO would be the third-largest initial share sale in US history, after the financial giant Visa and General Motors.

The company could add even more shares to the sale as there are more than 60 million additional shares that could be sold to cover excess demand.

The eight-year-old social network has 900 million users worldwide and made a profit of $1bn last year.

The new shareholders will not have much say in how the business is run.

The shares on offer are "A" shares, which carry one vote per share, as is normal.

But the current owners' shares are "B" shares, which carry 10 votes each.

They will control more than 96% of the votes after the public listing, with founder Mark Zuckerberg holding just under 56% of the voting power of the company.  (BBC.co.uk)

Air-conditioning only for honors students

Only students in honors classes can study in classrooms fitted with air-conditioning systems at a local school in Shenzhen, Guangzhou Daily reported Tuesday.

Shenzhen Binhe Middle and High School has 11 classes for 10th-graders, and four of them are "honors classes". The newspaper reported that classrooms for regular classes are fitted only with fans, while those of honors classes are equipped with air-conditioning.

"The best one of the four honors classes has four air-conditioning systems in its classroom," a student, whose alias is A Ping, told the newspaper.

At the Binhe school, students with good scores on the High School Entrance Examination study in honors classes, which is a common practice in China. School authorities usually assign experienced and competent teachers for honors classes, and those elite students are expected to enroll at renowned universities in the country.

A Ping said students in regular classes want to buy air-conditioning with their own money, as it is getting hotter. But their request was denied by school authorities, even when the students offered to pay for the electricity.

The electricity in honors classes is paid for by the school, according to the newspaper.

"The school has a plan to teach students in accordance with their aptitude. It is not appropriate to allow students to buy air-conditioning for themselves. We may be put under investigation by education authorities if we allow such a practice," Binhe school's director of executive office Zhou Yanbin said when asked to comment.

A teacher surnamed Li, who teaches a regular class, said it is not a good idea to offer students whatever they want and they should learn to overcome difficulties in terms of the hot weather.

However, some parents seem to have a different opinion.

"I have heard the news. I think the school should treat all the students equally. Students in honors classes should not be given special treatment," a parent who did not give his name told Guangzhou Daily.   ( (chinadaily.com.cn) 

Indonesian court charges Australian for smuggling drugs in his stomach

DENPASAR, Indonesia — An Indonesian court charged an Australian man Wednesday with smuggling drugs into the resort island of Bali in his stomach.

Edward Norman Myatt, 54, was arrested in late February at the Ngurah Rai airport in Bali and was charged with “producing and smuggling drugs,” prosecutor Gusti Putu Atmaja told the Denpasar district court.

Myatt had flown from London to New Delhi to pick up hashish and methamphetamines before transiting in Bangkok and then flying to Bali, Atmaja said.

“He swallowed 70 capsules of hashish weighing 1,103 grams, and a capsule of methamphetamine weighing seven grams,” he said.

Myatt appeared calm in court but did not speak to reporters.

While the charge carries the death sentence, Indonesia rarely enforces capital punishment for smuggling small amounts of drugs, handing down lengthy jail terms instead.

Two Australians are on death row in Bali’s Kerobokan prison for smuggling large amounts of heroin strapped to their bodies, while several others are serving long jail terms for drug crimes.

© 2012 AFP

Google Music's deauthorize rule upsets users

Google Music now only allows users to deauthorize four devices per year. Previously, users could deauthorize as many devices as they'd liked without worrying about hitting a limit, according to the forum posters.

In order for Google Music to work with devices, users must authorize them to work with the platform. Google limits the number of devices that can be authorized to 10. So, when users want to swap out a smartphone for another or connect their library to another device, they'll need to deauthorize an old one if they've hit the 10-product limit. Apple's iTunes platform comes with a similar product-authorization function.

"Def. Need to find a way around this. I'm maxed out on deauthorizations and I'm at 8 devices," said forum poster "anthonok."

Although it's not immediately clear why the change was reportedly made, one forum poster said that they called Google for information, which revealed that the modification was rolled out within the last 60 days.

Patients test mind-controlled robotic arm

A paralysed woman uses her thoughts to control a robotic arm, telling it to pick up her coffee.

For the first time in 15 years the woman was able to raise the bottle, take a sip and place it back on a table simply by imagining herself doing so.The feat was possible thanks to a brain implant which translates the patient's thoughts into commands to be carried out by a free-standing robotic arm.

Doctors said the experiment proved that so-called "brain-computer interfaces" could dramatically improve the lives of paralysed people by enabling them to carry out simple tasks like eating and drinking independently.

The 58-year-old woman, known only as S3, had lost the use of both arms and legs due to stroke several years prior to the operation.She and a paralysed 66-year-old man dubbed T2 were the first to trial BrainGate, a 4mmx4mm chip bearing 96 electrodes which was surgically implanted into their primary motor cortex, the part of the brain that governs movement.

Five years after receiving the implant both were able to use the robot to perform complex actions like reaching and grasping for objects, and S3 demonstrated the commands could be used to perform the everyday task of drinking. She said:

"I think about moving my hand and wrist. I'm right handed so, it's very comfortable and feels natural to imagine my right hand moving in the direction I want the robotic arm to move."

Headline May 17th 2012 / EAST LONDON VS SUN VALLEY

EAST LONDON VS SUN VALLEY

Respectful dedication Steve Ballmer/Microsoft, Steve Jobs, Craig Barrett/Intel

Steve Balmer

Steve Jobs

Craig Barrett

Take your bets!

Hey where are the others??! Maybe working up the call Centers!! Haha!

The truth that nobody tells nobody is that the field of Technology every dimension is a ‘The Surreal Deal’ every Techi tries impressing you with Techi gibberish! There are going to be zero winning concepts in the days ahead! Quora, take that for a start!! Haha ! Jawbone Creator Alexander Asseily, looks at East London and finds the very name Silicon Roundabout as self-mocking :

“A roundabout doesn’t exactly evoke global clout!!” So, he adds, ‘Let’s pick a name that is bold , induces awe and encapsulates the professional and geographical breath of London entrepreneurs. The city ahs a distinct gravitational field, global reach and cultural depth that most places do not!”

Very true !!  And Alexander returned to London recently after running his successful startup in the valley. Some dusted off truths from days gone by must be considered. The winning formulas for such undertaking are – a greater appetite for risk, and more visibility for home grown role models. The more the media celebrates the heroes of the digital economy, the more likely the next generation of talent will not leave for other pastures in favour of a Software venture that might just go global.

Think of the tech CEOs with a significant media profile and they are all probably not Brits. Mark Zuckerber, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin. But the world is just so small and instantaneous that things can change in nano seconds, flat.

Google recently announced that it was renting a 17 storey building near Old street as a launchpad for new London based startups and developers. The Government has pledged 400 million pounds in funding to the local tech economy although everybody including the stakeholders feel that it should be doing much more to help with the Tax breaks and visas for foreign talent. So plenty of dotcom entrepreneurs are now actively mentoring the new generation through effective projects such as Seedcamp! So the 20/20 Cricket match is on. The Test matches can wait. 

California keep watching your rear view mirror. 

Do post us on!

Good night and God bless!

SAM Daily Times – the Voice of the Voiceless

Terry named in England squad, Ferdinand out

(Reuters) - England manager Roy Hodgson cast aside Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, probably signalling the end of his international career, but included former captain John Terry in his squad for next month's European Championship.

Hodgson, appointed on May 1 to replace Fabio Capello who quit in February after guiding England to the finals in Poland and Ukraine, also named Liverpool striker Andy Carroll in a 23-man party along with uncapped Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy and Arsenal's teenage winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Striker Wayne Rooney was included despite having to miss the first two matches of the tournament through suspension, while Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard will captain the side who have been drawn in Group D with co-hosts Ukraine, France and Sweden.

Hodgson said Ferdinand's omission and Terry's inclusion were both "footballing decisions", despite media reports that the pair have fallen out.

Injured Jamshed out of Sri Lanka tour

Nasir Jamshed, the Pakistan opener, has been ruled out of next month's Sri Lanka tour after fracturing his left index finger, sidelining him for four to six weeks. He had been part of the ODI and Twenty20 squads for the Sri Lanka tour. The PCB hasn't named a replacement for Jamshed yet.

He sustained the injury from a club cricket match that earlier presumed a minor injury but was later revealed to be a fracture.

Jamshed, 22, had made a comeback to the Pakistan side during the Asia Cup, after an absence of nearly three years. He had a successful tournament, scoring a hundred in the crunch match against India.

"He is out of action due to his finger injury," Nadeem Sarwar, PCB GM media, told reporters on the first day of Pakistan's training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium. "He picked up the fracture during a club match last week and wasn't able to join the camp. His doctor has advised a four to six weeks rest and hence ruled out of the entire Sri Lanka series. There is no immediate replacement called to cover up him."

Injuries and illness have disrupted Jamshed's career previously as well. He debuted in 2008 and was beginning to establish himself in the side when he was laid low by a fever ahead of the ODI series against West Indies in Abu Dhabi. He was later selected for the one-dayers against Australia in 2009 but after the first ODI - his first match for Pakistan in more than nine months - he suffered a hamstring injury ruling him out of the rest of the series.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Wilshere: I want to rub Nasri's face in it

Wilshere could not believe Nasri decided to use City’s title triumph as an opportunity to attack the club he left for £24 million last summer, and believes the France international will be made to regret his outburst.

In an interview earlier this week, Nasri goaded those who criticised him for moving to Man City and defended his reasons for doing so.
As well as accusing some Arsenal players of having an easy life at the Emirates, he said he had moved to a club that would "never settle for second best".

He added: "I hope they are watching me now collecting my Premier League winner's medal. I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.
"I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me, they should celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles."

As well as infuriating supporters, Nasri has also managed to anger his former colleagues, with Wilshere the first to fire back.
"I don't know what goes on in his head," said Wilshere. "Fair play, he has won a trophy, but over the next couple of years our goal is to win a trophy and I can see us winning a trophy.
"Maybe he spoke too soon and hopefully we can rub his face in it next year."

Kenny Dalglish sacked as Liverpool manager

After 18 months back at the helm, Dalglish has paid the price for a poor league performance, during which time he lost the faith of his board.
A statement on the club's official website read: "Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Liverpool Football Club announce that Kenny Dalglish is to leave his post today as Manager after having his contract terminated.
"After a careful and deliberative review of the season, the Club came to the decision that a change was appropriate. It is not a decision that was reached lightly or hastily.
"The search for a new Manager will begin immediately."
Fenway Sports Group are in the midst of a major restructure at Anfield, and their review of the club includes the manager's chair.


During a summit in Boston they told Dalglish of their frustration with his poor use of club resources in the transfer market. The £110 million spent on seven players did not bring the improvement they anticipated, despite a strong showing in the domestic cups.
Principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner became disillusioned with the inconsistency of performances and have become intolerant of suggestions bad luck was the main cause for Liverpool's failure to challenge the top four.
For Dalglish, an emotional return has come to a disappointing end. He hoped winning the Carling Cup would be the catalyst for another golden period, repeating his first glorious spell in charge.   (Telegraph.co.uk)

Albright College to Offer Accelerated Degree Programs in Mesa, Arizona

Albright College will begin offering classes in Mesa, Ariz., this fall, becoming the first out-of-state institution to open its doors as part of the city’s initiative to bring more higher education options to the region.

Through Albright’s Accelerated Degree Completion Program, the College will offer bachelor’s degree programs in organizational behavior/applied psychology, business administration and information systems to working adults.

Last year Mesa contacted several small, private colleges and universities across the country to solicit proposals for degree programs that would augment the offerings of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and Maricopa Community Colleges. To date, the city has signed memoranda of understanding with two other institutions besides Albright.

The agreement with Albright, announced today, makes the College the only school eligible to offer classes in the Fall 2012 semester and the first to offer adult accelerated programs. Mesa City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal May 17.

“This opportunity is a perfect fit for Albright College and for the City of Mesa,” said Albright President Lex O. McMillan III, Ph.D. “The College has been educating working adults for 15 years and has earned a reputation for rigorous academics and a flexible, adaptable curriculum. Our new degree offerings in Mesa well match the areas the city is seeking to leverage.”

Mesa is one of four cities that received grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National League of Cities to fund innovative proposals to boost college completion rates. Under that funding, Mesa Counts on College, a partnership among the city, Mesa Public Schools and Mesa Community College, seeks to double the number of low-income youth who complete college or a certificate program within the next 10 years.

“We are eager to work with the Mesa Counts on College initiative to bring the unique benefits of an Albright education to the young adults of the region,” said President McMillan. “We have also signed an articulation agreement with Maricopa Community Colleges to grant students easier access to the Albright Mesa program.”

For at least 2012-13, Albright-Mesa will be housed in the Mesa Financial Plaza, 1201 South Alma School Road. The program will be moved to the Mesa Center for Higher Education, 245 West 2nd Street, with convenient access to downtown Mesa from Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale via highway and light rail, no later than the fall of 2014.

Original source here.

Salem Student Chosen for Prestigious Language Immersion Program

Salem student Sara Otero C’14 was chosen by the Critical Language Scholarship Program to participate in the prestigious CSL Institute in Tunis, Tunisia this summer. Otero, who is an international relations major, will study Arabic during her time in Tunisia.

Critical Language Scholarships (CLS) provide group-based summer intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences for eight to ten weeks. The intensive summer language institutes include four to five hours of language instruction each day, five days a week. CLS participants cover approximately one year’s worth of language study during the summer institutes. Mandatory or voluntary activities outside of formal classes may also be provided, including tutoring, peer conversation partners and homework assignments. In addition, participants will participate in a variety of group-based cultural enrichment activities and excursions.

Scripps College Professor Writes Book Exploring "Chirst Cicumcised'

Christianity and Judaism have, at times, had a tenuous relationship. While Christians struggled early on to establish and maintain a separate religious identity apart from Judaism, a new book by Scripps College associate professor Andrew S. Jacobs asserts that boundaries between the two religions are “consistently blurred.”

“Christ Circumcised: A Study in Early Christian History and Difference,” (University of Pennsylvania Press: 2012) which will be released May 1, points to an unexpected symbol — the mark of circumcision on the body of the Christian savior — to explore what we know about early Christian identity.

“Christianity remains a religion of boundaries and attempts to hold onto a unique identity. Yet, at the same time, Christians maintain a desire for ‘the other,’ meaning their pre-Christian roots in Judaism and its rich traditions,” Jacobs said. He also notes that Christians may resist and fear ‘the other.’

“Christ Circumcised” is the first full-length study of the circumcision of Jesus. In the book, Jacobs views the circumcision of Christ as a vivid illustration of Christian duality: the fear of and longing for ‘the other.’ Christ circumcised represents a new way of perceiving Christians and of understanding their determination to create a new religious culture.

Jacobs, chair of religious studies at Scripps College, has written several works on early Christian history, including “Remains of the Jews: The Holy Land and Christian Empire in Late Antiquity” (Sanford University Press: 2003). Jacobs earned his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and received his master’s and doctorate degrees from Duke University.

Original source here.

Hope Repeats as MIAA Commssioner's Cup Champion

The Commissioner's Cup is presented annually to the MIAA-member college that has the best cumulative performance in the league's 18 sports for men and women.

The final 2011-12 standings announced by the league today has Hope claiming the Commissioner's Cup by 31 points, the widest margin since men's and women's standings were combined to determine the winner in 1981-82. Hope also topped the men's and women's all-sports standings.

Hope has now won the Cup 12 consecutive years and for a league-record 34 times since the award was initiated by America's oldest collegiate athletic conference in 1934-35.

By contrast, Hope won the Cup in 2010-11 by only four points over rival Calvin and in 2009-10 the margin, again over Calvin, was a single point. In 2007-08 Hope and Calvin tied in the Cup race standings. This year Hope scored 213 points with outright league champions in men's golf, men's basketball, men's track & field, women's cross country and women's tennis and a co-championship in women's track & field.

The finishes of other teams were: football, second; men's soccer second; men's cross country, second; men's swimming & diving, second; volleyball, second; women's golf, second; women's basketball, second; women's swimming & diving, second; baseball, tied for second; men's tennis, third; women's soccer, tied for fourth; and softball, fifth. Hope qualified eight out of a possible nine teams for the MIAA's post-season tournaments which determine the conference automatic qualifier to the NCAA championships.

Commssioner's Cup Standings: 1. Hope 213, 2. Calvin 182, 3. Adrian 135, 4. Alma 121, 5. Albion 119, 6. Trine 115, 7. Kalamazoo 95, 8. Olivet 78.

Men’s All-Sports Standings: 1. Hope 101, 2. Calvin 76, 3. Trine 66, 4. Adrian 63, 4. Albion 63, 6. Kalamazoo 44, 7. Alma 42, 8. Olivet 35.

Women’s All-Sports Standings: 1. Hope 112, 2. Calvin 106, 3. Alma 79, 4. Adrian 72, 5. Saint Mary’s 66, 6. Albion 56, 7. Kalamazoo 51, 8. Trine 49, 9. Olivet 43.


University Press Release here.

President Barack Obama addresses Barnard Class of 2012

President Barack H. Obama delivered the keynote address at Barnard College’s 120th Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 14, 2012. He also received the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the college’s highest honor, alongside Helene D. Gayle ’76, president and CEO of CARE USA; Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry; and Sally Chapman, Barnard professor of chemistry.

University Press Release here.

Google patents its augmented reality Project Glass

Search giant Google has patented the technology behind its augmented-reality glasses, known as Project Glass.

Three patents for a "wearable display device" with characteristics of the much-talked about futuristic glasses were submitted last autumn.

The patents reference such functions as displaying data in front of the wearer's eyes and playing audio.

In April, Google revealed details of its research into the glasses and showed a demo video of a prototype.

The patents show images of different versions of augmented reality glasses, some with lenses and some without.

Cyborg eye

Google is working on the project in its research lab, Google X.

The prototypes are currently being tested by the firm's executives, including Sergey Brin and Vic Gundotra.

The demo video showed science fiction-like glasses equipped with a microphone and partly transparent tiny screen right above the user's right eye.

The glasses are said to have many functions of a smartphone

Besides displaying information about the wearer's surroundings, the glasses were shown to be used to communicate with other people, browse the web, listen to music and also take photos.

Similar tech

There are other firms researching the augmented-reality eyewear.

For instance, Oakley is currently developing similar glasses targeted at athletes and other sportsmen and women.

A number of companies had attempted to pioneer the concept as well, but did not get very far because their versions required users to carry separate battery equipment, as analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe told the BBC in an earlier interview.

"There are huge opportunities for tailored advertising with augmented reality systems - especially if they have in-built GPS location tracking," Chris Green said.

"The monetisation opportunities would be enormous - but there are still big issues involved with shrinking the technology and making the computer that receives and processes the data truly portable." (BBC)

Apple orders 4-inch iPhone screens

The company has been buying larger-sized screens from its Asian suppliers, according to the latest tipoff received by the Wall Street Journal.

Will the next iPhone actually sport a larger screen? A new report from the Wall Street Journal suggests it will.

Citing "people familiar with the situation," the Journal said today that Apple has been tapping into its suppliers for screens larger than the ones used in the current iPhone. The new screens are at least 4 inches, compared with the 3.5-inch displays used on the phone since its debut in 2007.

Assuming the sources are on the money, production of the screens could rev up next month, the Journal added. The most recent reports say Apple will unveil the next iPhone in early fall -- September or October. An October date would match up with the launch of the iPhone 4S last year.

A larger screen could be a sign that Apple is trying to play catch-up with its Android rivals, particularly Samsung. The Korean handset maker has enjoyed a huge surge in sales and market share over the past year, Most research reports now cite Samsung as the top smartphone and mobile phone maker around the world.

Apple is reportedly ordering screens from several manufacturers, say some of the Journal's sources. Those include LG, Sharp, and Japan Display, a new outfit formed by the Japanese government and three companies.

The latest smartphones are increasingly inching up in screen size, making them look and feel like mini tablets.

Samsung recently announced its new Galaxy S III phone, measuring a whopping 4.8 inches, one of the largest displays in the market. The company's Galaxy Note is being marketed as a phone. But at 5.3 inches, it's actually bigger than a lot of tablets.

The latest intel from the Journal follows other reports suggesting that the next iPhone will offer a larger screen.

However, Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Nobuo Kurahashi told the Journal that the move to a larger screen isn't necessarily a response by Apple to rival its rivals. Pointing out that the screen size wouldn't be the phone's defining feature, the analyst said that "the smartphone market has become diverse, but the iPhone still sets the agenda."

iZettle mobile payment app and dongle comes to the UK

Zettle, a new mobile payment solution, has arrived the UK. The dongle, which attaches to the iOS device, reads your card like a chip-and-pin machine and allows you to sign for goods

The Square mobile payment company, from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has revolutionised the idea of mobile-based payments in the US by allowing businesses to accept card payments, quickly, easily and cheaply.

The little white dongle, which can be attached to iPhones and iPads where there's mobile data connectivity, allows the vendor to swipe the card, enter the amount and pass over to the user to authorise.

With Sqaure, or rival company PayPal Here, still to reveal when they might be crossing the Atlantic, a new European-based solution is coming to the UK.

The iZettle company, which has already earned some success in the Nordic region, is launching a free dongle and software to 3,000 invited businesses in the UK and is aimed at supporting those small companies that have never accepted plastic before.

So, it could be perfect for market stalls, taxi drivers, roadside cafes, t-shirt sellers at concerts and more. According to Jacob De Gaer, the company's CEO, there are 20 million businesses in Europe that fit into this category.

Unlike Square, which swipes the magnetic strip on the card, iZettle's is a solution more akin to the UK's chip-and-pin infrastructure. The dongle fits into the charging port and the card is simply inserted. Users will then be asked to sign the screen with their finger before the transaction is completed. For its troubles iZettle takes a small commission from the payment, but that won't cost users a penny.

The service is for iOS initially, but the company promises an Android solution soon. Interested businesses can download the iPhone app and register. The app features the ability to itemise the inventory's so businesses can keep track of exactly what they sell.

Whereas NFC has is still in the early stages of its development, services like Square have been massively successful in the United States. It'll be interesting to see how iZettle's solution performs on these shores.

Germany Embarrassed As New Airport Again Delayed

Germany now faces a precarious situation. The fact that a new airport situated in Berlin will once again be delayed. Reports show that the cause of the delay was due to constant airport safety concerns. Adjustments are purportedly to be made, thus bumping the opening schedule to a June startup.

This in turn inks a permanent mark on the government’s already failing reputation. Since plans on constructing the new airport was initiated for more than 20 years ago. Making this an embarrassing showing of the inability of the government to initiate and maintain large projects such as this.

With the constant nagging of media and the various protests of citizens in the capital area; the botched deal has indeed become infamous. History shows that the Berlin airport, named BBI, otherwise known as the Berlin Brandenburg International Airport has been the victim of various political agendas. Constant delays, political drama, budget overruns and construction concerns have all plagued the opening of the new airport. All of this issues amounting to 3.26 billion dollars worth of pain and counting.

The delay was due to growing concerns for its fire-prevention system, which are supposed to kick in during major fires. The system consists of smoke extractors, which during emergencies powers up to suck out all the hazardous fumes from the general public.

Despite this major embarrassment, the airport did promise to have an opening without major issues. Learning from other airports, most notably from London’s Heathrow, promised that these delays did serve a purpose. The Heathrow once constructed a new terminal. In the midst of its grand opening, unforeseen circumstances cropped up leading to huge losses. Numerous delayed flights coupled with thousands of lost airline baggage. This issue took Heathrow several weeks to resolve. A problem the Berlin Brandenburg does not want to have.

To counteract this, the BBI conducted various simulations with volunteer passengers as well as airline crew. The purpose was to determine the smoothness of flow of work and service should the airport open. The airport assigned about 30,000 passengers and employees if they knew the ins and outs of the new system.

In all cases, because of the constant delay in plans, the capital government did not shut down two minor airports that were scheduled to close when the new airport was to be opened. Because of this, dozens of flights were cancelled and various airlines had trouble determining their proper landing zones. This creates a problem which the government needs to calm public sentiment, protests of dissatisfaction need to be avoided. As much as possible, the earliest opening would have to be in June.

Amidst the growing pains because of the chronic delay, various airlines voiced out their displeasure. The reason stemmed out of the increase in costs and the issues on logistics because of the extended time. They would have to make do with what they have.

The German government has its work cut out for them, in order to avoid any more major embarrassment. Since tourism is a major sector in the growth of an economy, there should be no reason for the average citizen to miss his flight. (Tourism Review)

Opening Ceremony launching fashion magazine for ‘new generation'

Opening Ceremony is launching a fashion magazine this August, called OC Annual, with the specialty store aiming for it to become a "collectible publication for a new generation."

The on-trend store, which has locations in New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, is feting its 10th anniversary this year, and founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim hope to follow in the footsteps of iconic fashion publications such as high street store Benetton's Colors magazine.

"As magazine fanatics, O.C. founder Humberto Leon and myself are aiming to create a collectible publication for a new generation, something beautiful and special in the vein of Benetton's ‘Colors,' Comme des Garçons' ‘Six' and Joe McKenna's ‘Joe.'," wrote Lim in an internal memo obtained by WWD.

"We want to make a magazine that will appeal to kids in Nebraska as much as industry people."

With major fashion photographers including Bruce Weber, Walter Pfeiffer, Todd Cole and Tim Barber already lined up, each issue of the collectible fashion and culture magazine will have a particular theme, with the debut edition to focus on sport in honor of the upcoming London Olympics.

The Olympics is also the theme of US Vogue's June issue, which features soccer star Hope Solo, tennis player Serena Williams and swimmer Ryan Lochte on the Annie Leibovitz-shot cover.

Aaron Sorkin to author screenplay for Steve Jobs film

LOS ANGELES: Steve Jobs' life will be brought to the big screen by Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin in a movie based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography of the enigmatic co-founder of Apple, maker of iPods and iPads.

Sony Pictures Entertainment on Tuesday unveiled plans to put Sorkin, who wrote Facebook film "The Social Network," behind the screenplay of what will be a major release for the movie studio.

"There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we're confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining, and polarizing," Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in a statement.

Sorkin will adapt Isaacson's best-selling biography that topped book charts and became the top-seller of 2011 following Jobs' death last October after a long battle with cancer.

Sorkin won a best adapted screenplay Oscar for his work on "Social Network" in 2011, and was nominated for a best writing Oscar in 2012 for "Moneyball."

He also penned TV political drama "The West Wing" and is the creator of upcoming HBO' "The Newsroom," a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional cable news channel. (Reuters)

Heat by Bill Buford

Heat is a fascinating and surprising story of one man's journey from journalist to kitchen slave to culinary apprentice. Bill Buford's memoir covers his time working in a first-class New York restaurant and repeated journeys to Italy to apprentice with the country's best chefs. The narrative is complemented by research into culinary history back to ancient times. Heat is a page-turner you can take to the beach, but also interesting enough for readers with an appetite for a meatier experience.

The White Ribbon (2009)

The White Ribbon is a 2009 Austrian-German film, released in black and white, written and directed by Michael Haneke. The drama darkly depicts society and family in a northern German village just before World War I.

Austrian director Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon," looks at the Hitler generation when they were in knee pants. A small Protestant village maintains a strict hierarchical order, where everyone knows his place, yet an inhuman moral code holds sway. Again, as in his "Cache," much is hidden, and Haneke is never one to resolve the story's mysteries. The youngsters have embraced the dark side of the adults' values, and he doesn't have to explain where this will lead.

Das weiße Band, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (literally, "The White Ribbon, a German Children's Story") premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2009 and won the Palme d'Or, followed by positive reviews and several other major awards, including the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film received two nominations for Academy Awards: 2009 Best Foreign Language Film (representing Germany) and 2009 Best Cinematography (Christian Berger).

Headline May 1,2012/ London and Secret Longing

LONDON AND SECRET LONGING

Respectful dedication Stanford University -  Sir Ian Botham – Amir Khan/Boxer

---

Stanford University

Sir Ian Botham

Amir Khan / Boxer

With a glee they can barely contain, they discuss the undertaking as East London’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and consider it at the heart of Britain’s digital drive. The buzz is vital and the British are past masters at it. 

For once an area is known for a few hot startups, it attracts more company founders, plus the financiers, the lawyers, the marketers and nobody who senses that money making game is afoot ! And it helps that there are places that they can meet each other and power the network, or simply drink their tea and bask in their respective visions.

Thanks to the ambiance of the aptly named Shepherdness café and the reliance, as well as online members only , communities such as ICE list on which the founders unwind with war stories, job openings for mutual benefits and delight.Still…still, Shoreditch is no Palo Alto. For all David Cameron’s declared intentions to boost London’s role as a world class ‘Technology City’ comes very short.  

London just does not have the scale of investments of the Valley Firms such as the giant : Kleiner Perkins, nor the business confidence that created such billion dollar giants like Yahoo and Zynga. But to be fair, there are a number of technology firms, who would do London proud and could most easily grow into billion dollar companies.

Wonga, MindCandy, Badoo are on the roll and heading skywards!

And good old London can certainly attract the international talent that favours London as a startup base, which is why Skype and Spotify are based here rather than in Scandinavia.But in reality Silicon Valley is way, way ahead in terms of pure valley creation. And as you would have a British argue ,

“What has Valley got apart from the sunshine that East London lacks??” Haha !

Well, yes, now that we have asked …. !! For one it’s not every British to declare a brash intention to dominate the world with their entrepreneurial drive!!? But if that so, where the hell did British East India company come from!!? Haha !

And the post dear readers continues! So do help in moving and sharing us forward, far and wide !

Good night and God bless!

SAM Daily Times – the Voice of the Voiceless!

Paralysed man regains use of hand after operation

Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck.

Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working nerves in the upper arms. These nerves still "talk" to the brain because they attach to the spine above the injury.Following the surgery, performed at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and one year of intensive physical therapy, the patient regained some hand function, specifically the ability to bend the thumb and index finger.

The unnamed patient can now feed himself bite-size pieces of food and write with assistance.


"This procedure is unusual for treating quadriplegia because we do not attempt to go back into the spinal cord where the injury is," says surgeon Ida K. Fox, MD, assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Washington University.Instead, we go out to where we know things work, in this case the elbow, so that we can borrow nerves there and reroute them to give hand function."

The surgery was developed and performed by the study's senior author Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine.

Specialising in injuries to peripheral nerves, she has pioneered similar surgeries to return function to injured arms and legs.

How not to drive a Lamborghini

In the suburbs of Chicago a Lamborghini driver speeds away from the lights before losing control of his vehicle and ending up wedged between two cars.

The accident was filmed by people in the car behind who had started recording when the supercar pulled in front of them at a set of traffic lights.

The driver of the bright yellow Lamborghini Gallardo attempts to turn left at speed before losing control and shooting across the highway into oncoming traffic.

Luckily cars had slowed for the lights and instead of a head on collision the Lamborghini ended up wedged between two oncoming vehicles.

China's search giant Baidu releases low-cost smartphone

Baidu, China's search giant, has announced the launch of its first smartphone.

It is the firm's first move into the mass smartphone market.

Built by Foxconn, the low-cost Changhong H5018 is powered by Baidu's own mobile operating system, Cloud.

Analysts say it is extremely important for the company to secure significant presence in the booming mobile industry in China, which has the largest number of smartphone users in the world.

The phone will be the first mobile device to run on Baidu's Cloud Smart terminal platform and will come with 100GB of cloud storage on Wangpan, the local equivalent of Dropbox and Google Drive.

With a price tag of less than 1,000 yuan ($158; £99), it will face fierce competition at the Chinese low-end smartphone market.

Customers currently have a choice between low-cost handsets made by firms such as Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp, HTC, Lenovo and Xiaomi.

But Baidu's director of international communications, Kaiser Kuo, said he believed that H5018 would do well.

"It's a terrific market opportunity for us, and Baidu is constantly adjusting, understanding what users are interested in," Mr Kuo told BBC News.

"The new handset is integrated with the cloud - and with our 100GB offering, I think that no one will be able to match that."


Earlier this year, Baidu said it had to develop a stronger presence in China's rapidly expanding mobile space.

With its Cloud Smart terminal platform, it hopes to attract the interest of hardware manufacturers.

"Baidu is recreating itself - we used to be a product-focused company, but now we are becoming a platform-focused company," said Mr Kuo.


With access to Google's search hampered by the Chinese government's internet regulations known as the Great Firewall of China, Baidu dominates the country's search traffic. (BBC.co.uk)

Nerve rewiring helps paralysed man move hand

A paralysed man has regained limited use of his hand after pioneering surgery to bypass damage to his spinal cord.

His injury meant his brain could not "talk" to his hand, meaning all control was lost.

Surgeons at the Washington University School of Medicine re-wired his nerves to build a new route between hand and brain.

He can now feed himself and can just about write.

The 71-year-old man was involved in a car accident in June 2008. His spinal cord was damaged at the base of the neck and he was unable to walk.

While he could still move his arms, he had lost the ability to pinch or grip with either of his hands.

Rewiring
The nerves in the hand were not damaged, they had just lost the signal from the brain which told them what to do.

However, the brain could still give instructions to the upper arm.

The operation, described in the Journal of Neurosurgery, rewired the nerves in the arm to build a new route from brain to hand. One of the nerves leading to a muscle was taken and attached to the anterior interosseous nerve, which goes to the hand.

Ida Fox, an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Washington University, told the BBC: "The circuit [in the hand] is intact, but no longer connected to the brain.


"What we do is take that circuit and restore the connection to the brain."

She said it was a "really novel" and "refreshingly resourceful" way of restoring movement. However, she warned this would never restore normal function. "That isn't going to happen," she said.