Archive for January, 2009
NYTimes Science And Technology News: 30 January 2009
January 31st, 2009 • NYTimes, Science, Technology
- The Medium: Click and Jane
What are kids learning to read when they learn to read online?
- Consumed: Dumb and Dumber 2.0
An old joke gets a digital remake — and attracts consumers in a down economy.
- Gadgetwise: Owner’s Manuals Are Terrible
Consumer-electronics instruction manuals need a makeover. Badly.
- European Court Refuses to Delay Intel Inquiry
European regulators have been investigating Intel’s business practices since the start of the decade, after a complaint by a rival, Advanced Micro Devices.
- Film Channel Has Name, but No Network Carrier
Epix, backed by Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate premium movie channel, will launch online in May, having not yet found a television distribution deal.
- Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog.
The Bacon Explosion, modestly called by its inventors “the BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes,” has swept the Internet.
- Europe Ponders Its Next Step in Intel Inquiry
Intel’s decision to defy European antitrust investigators raised questions about how to handle the remainder of the investigation.
- Net Income Fell in Quarter for AT&T
Fourth-quarter profit fell from a year ago, but the figures were clouded by changes to the way the company accounts for sales of the iPhone.
- Friends, Until I Delete You
As your circle of friends on Facebook widens, you may wonder if there’s an etiquette to “defriending” someone, just in case.
- YouTube Said to Be Near Hollywood Deal
The deal between YouTube and the William Morris Agency would place the company’s clients in made-for-the-Web productions.
- Digital TV Beckons, but Many Miss the Call
For viewers who still use set-top rabbit ears, the switch to digital television has often proven a bewildering and cumbersome burden.
- Shares in Nintendo and Toshiba Plunge After Industry Losses Posted
Sony and Toshiba reported losses for the last quarter and Nintendo lowered its profit forecast as the earnings season revealed the extent of the erosion in demand.
- Hurt by Weak Film Sales, Kodak Trims Work Force
Kodak said it was cutting 3,500 to 4,500 jobs after sales of its digital and film-based photography products fell by as much as 27 percent in the fourth quarter.
- NEC Plans to Lay Off 20,000 Workers
The Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said it would cut 20,000 workers worldwide as it tried to stanch widening losses from semiconductors and other business.
- Britain Looks to Expand Broadband and Limit Piracy
The British government outlined plans to bring broadband to every home in Britain by 2012 and crack down on online piracy.
- Profit Rises at Amazon as Shoppers Seek Deals
The company posted strong earnings in a brutal climate that has punished nearly every other retailer, both online and offline.
CNN U.S. News: 30 January 2009
January 31st, 2009 • CNN News, U.S.
- Alaska volcano ‘more energetic,’ scientists say
Mount Redoubt, the Alaskan volcano expected to erupt at any time, is getting a bit more edgy. - ‘Whatever is below those crosses is crying out’
Gov. Charlie Crist has ordered investigation of what lies beneath 31 white crosses at a Florida reform school. - Where singles go to play all sorts of games
Lynne Lucas is taking herself off the meat market. Monique Brown is sick of having to look cute all the time. And Scott Hayes is searching for his inner child. - Libraries in suspense over lead regulations
Librarians across the United States are making noise about new federal restrictions on lead that could take books out of the hands of children. - WWII vet honored years later for bombing run
He’s an airman, World War II veteran and Nazi concentration camp survivor. - American hijacker in Cuba wants to return
William Potts picks up his daughters from school every day. People consider him a generous neighbor and a good father. - U.S. won’t renew Blackwater’s Iraq contract
The State Department will not renew the contract of security contractor Blackwater Worldwide when it expires in May, a senior State Department official said Friday. - Criminal probe begun in salmonella outbreak
Georgia’s agriculture commissioner wants to know whether the state can conduct a criminal investigation of the Peanut Corporation of America, whose products have been linked to a salmonella outbreak. - Budget cuts force Bronx Zoo to ‘fire’ animals
Layoffs for sea lions? Furloughs for frogs? Is there no job security, anywhere? State budget cuts mean many zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens will lose crucial state funding for their exhibits. New York’s 76 zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens will lose $9.1 million in state funds next year.
NYTimes Africa News: 29 January 2009
January 31st, 2009 • Africa, NYTimes, World
- Approaching Brecht, by Way of Africa
Lynn Nottage traveled to Uganda to conduct research for her play “Ruined,” an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children.” - Revolution, Facebook-Style
Can social networking turn disaffected young Egyptians into a force for democratic change? - $630 Million Donated Toward Polio Eradication Efforts
The philanthropic effort will focus on battling the disease in Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. - The Saturday Profile: In South Africa, a Justice Delayed Is No Longer Denied
A gay, white South African judge wrestles with the divisive politics of AIDS at the heart of the pandemic. - A Congolese Rebel Leader Who Once Seemed Untouchable Is Caught
Gen. Laurent Nkunda, whose tactics had threatened to destabilize eastern Congo, is headed to Rwanda’s capital. - Desperate Children Flee Zimbabwe, for Lives Just as Desolate
Children are rushing across the South African border on their own in a journey made dangerous by thieves and rapists. - With Leader Captured, Congo Rebel Force Is Dissolving
If one village is an indicator, the fierce rebellion headed by Gen. Laurent Nkunda may be ending with his arrest. - Suicide Attacker Kills 15 in Somalia
A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near an African Union peacekeepers’ base in Mogadishu. - Congo Presses for Extradition of Warlord
There is a growing concern that Rwanda may not hand over Gen. Laurent Nkunda, the captured rebel leader. - Sudan’s Government Bombs Rebel-Held Town in Darfur
Sudanese government planes have bombed a town in southern Darfur, part of an effort to wrest control of the town from the region’s most powerful rebel group. - Islamists Overrun Somalia City as Ethiopians Leave
After a failed two-year effort to shore up the Somali government, Ethiopian forces have completed their withdrawal from Somalia. - World Briefing | Africa: Madagascar: Protesters Seek Government’s Resignation
Tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters took to the streets of the capital on Monday, burning the state-owned television and radio station. - World Briefing | Africa: Madagascar: Burned Bodies Found After Protest
Firefighters found 25 charred bodies in a looted department store in the capital, Antananarivo, on Tuesday, a day after antigovernment protesters took to the streets. - Global Update: Tanzania: Government Bans Traditional Healers to Try to Save the Lives of Albinos
Tanzania’s government officially banned traditional healers last week in an attempt to stop the killing of albinos for medicine. - International Court Begins First Trial
The International Criminal Court in The Hague began its first trial Monday, as Thomas Lubanga, a former Congolese warlord, faced war crimes charges. - Reported Zimbabwe Deal Is Disputed
The president of South Africa said that Zimbabwe’s opposition had agreed to join the government, but an opposition spokesman said there was no such agreement. - Deaths Climb as Madagascar Opposition Protests
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters demonstrated in Madagascar’s capital two days after an earlier anti-government rally descended into violence. - A Massacre in Congo, Despite Nearby Support
The spasm of violence shows the cruelty of the armed groups and the problems plaguing U.N. peacekeepers. - Cholera Is Raging, Despite Denial by Mugabe
Zimbabwe’s public services are failing as an epidemic rages — but Robert G. Mugabe won’t resign. - The Spoils: Battle in a Poor Land for Riches Beneath the Soil
A fight over uranium, an unrealized bonanza in one of the world’s poorest nations, could mean more misery in Niger. - Ronkh Journal: West African Villagers Stake Their Fortunes on the Future Price of Rice
Hoping for a return to last year’s high food prices, the region’s farmers are investing and borrowing heavily to expand production — but rising prices are not guaranteed. - Site of Somali Government Is Put Under Islamic Law
The Shabab, radical Islamist insurgents who seized Somalia’s provisional capital, Baidoa, moved Tuesday to consolidate their control of the town. - Japan Says It Will Send Anti-Piracy Force to Somalia’s Coast
Japan said it would deploy its Maritime Self-Defense Force to protect Japanese commercial ships off the coast of Somalia, possibly as early as March. - South African Leader’s Sex Life Stirs Salacious Gossip and Privacy Debate
In the wake of a news story about President Kgalema Motlanthe’s multiple alleged paramours, South Africans are weighing a public official’s right to privacy.
