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Posts Tagged ‘News + Politics’

Research shows that 51% of Americans scream, hit the keyboard, screen or mouse when the computer is very slow.

A survey conducted by Harris Interactive on request from the manufacturer of Intel shows that 80% of Americans are frustrated while waiting for computers to respond to commands, and more than half (51%) admits to have done something “unusual” because of impatience related to slowness of technological products. This kind of stress he was baptized by Intel of “Hourglass Syndrome”, referring to classic icon that indicates the need to wait.

Among respondents who said they had taken steps “unusual” when an equipment is not kept pace with them, 62% said they had yelled or cursed aloud, 29% admitted they had beaten in the mouse and 24% said they had struck the computer screen or keyboard.

The study also showed that the behavior does not occur only when people are alone. Among those who have already taken action or have seen someone acting inappropriately in public because of frustrations with technology, 70% said they had seen the attitude from strangers, 46% saw occur with family members or friends, and colleagues watched 33% of work.

The loss of emotional control is not mere impatience, since many people told that because of the slowness of the computer or internet connection already lost the opportunity to participate in an online sale, buy plane tickets or tickets to concerts and sporting events.

Via: Info.

Although the Internet has gained millions of users in the last year, the concern now is for those who still do not access the network and may be excluded from being online benefits such as discounts and special services.

More than 38 million British adults accessing the web, of which 30 million are connected every day. But most of senior citizens, widows and poor have never used the Internet, says the web site of The Telegraph, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the country.

These nine million adults who do not use the internet – about 19% of the population – lost opportunities to save on various products and services – such as cars, holidays and insurance deals – why not use the price comparator, reports Engadget.

Although not a calamity, the fact caught the attention of the government and the British prime minister, David Cameron, said that in the Internet era, we must ensure that people are not left behind, while services and online business becomes.

To alleviate the problem, charities like Age UK created the “Internet Champions,” a group composed of six octogenarians that inspire and motivate older people to take risks in the online world. It’s a smart move as it would be a crime nowadays one does not know the difference between an e-mail and Google, the site says Geeky Gadgets.

Via: Telegraph.

Soft toys in the shape of various animals isn’t anything new for the Bangkok airport authorities, and are more than legal as well as safe to travel with to any part of the world. But, what the authorities weren’t at all prepared for was to find a sedated real life cub of a tiger hidden discreetly among the scores of soft toys in the baggage of a 31 year old Thai national. The Thai national was on her way to board a scheduled flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport to Iran.

The incident first came to light, when the woman’s oversized bag became a bit troublesome for the securities to check through and was then sent through the x-ray machine. There the security personnel found what seemed like a live animal inside the baggage. Upon closer inspection, it did turn out to be not only a live animal, but also the cub of a tiger, one of the most endangered species on this planet. Later the airport authorities called in the Livestock Development Department and the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, who immediately responded to the situation and began an investigation into the origin of the tranquilized cub and the traveler’s intentions with the child Tiger.

According to Chris R. Shepherd (Deputy Regional Director, South East Asia, TRAFFIC),

“We applaud all the agencies that came together to uncover this brazen smuggling attempt. TRAFFIC is glad to see these training programmes pay off in seizures, arrests and continued vigilance at the airport especially by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. If people are trying to smuggle live Tigers in their check-in luggage, they obviously think wildlife smuggling is something easy to get away with and do not fear reprimand.”

Via Consumerist

One of the foremost and most notable face in the National Football League (NFL), Chad Ochocinco, is not only know for his skills as a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, but is also famous for the controversies that he is mostly surrounded with. The latest one being a $25,000 fine slapped by the NFL for the use of Twitter during a pre-season game. As per the rules and regulations of NFL, players aren’t allowed to use electronic devices during playtime and are prohibited from posting messages of social networking services 90 minutes before kick off and before the postgame media formalities are met with.

Chad on the other hand began tweeting even before the game commenced, wherein he stated, “Just talk with Kelly Washington, Desean Jackson, Geoff Pope, Hank Baskett and I caught a ball from Mike Vick, I love prw-game warm up.” Then a second tweet surfaced from the player during the game time, where he said, “Man Im sick of getting hit like that, its the damn preseason shit! 1day I’m gone jump up and start throwing hay makers, #Tylenolplease.”. Even though the use of Twitter landed Chad Ochocinco in a heap of trouble, yet he used the micro blogging service to apologize to the NFL management and said,

“Dear NFL I apologize for tweeting during the game but that was 2 monthsof my Bugatti payments you just took from me,I won’t do it again. I’ve been fined by the league a substantial amount of money for tweeting, 1st time twitter hasn’t made me money but cost me money.”

Via Fast Company

One of the biggest names in the computer hardware industry, Hewlett Packard (HP) seems to have its own share of problems cut for itself, as the multinational information technology corporation has now been slapped with a law suit from the shareholders, immediately after the impromptu resignation of ex-CEO, Mark Hurd. The lawsuit called, shareholder derivative lawsuit, filed on behalf of Massachusetts based, Brockton Contributory Retirement System has blamed HP for mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duties, in regards to the resignation of Mr. Hurd. The legal action has named all the ten board members of HP, including the interim CEO Cathie Lesjak as well as Mark Hurd.

Last week, Mark Hurd was forced to resign as the CEO of HP, after being caught up in a sexual harassment controversy by an ex-HP contractor. The lawsuits has out the blame on the HP for failing to keep the company’s guidelines for corporate governance and has criticized Mr. Hurd for unethical business practices, that includes the hiring of a former reality TV contestant, who had no experience in the technology industry. The lawsuit also alleges that, Mr Hurd hired this person to attract customer at marketing events. The complaint has been filed by the law firm Scott+Scott LLP in the California Superior Court.

According to the complaint,

“As a result of Hurd’s, Lesjak’s and the HP board’s shortcomings, HP lost significant credibility and the market punished HP (and its shareholders) … [by] slashing its stock ratings and erasing over $9 billion in market capitalization.”

Via PC World

Last year, as a Google Street View car passed by the quite residential lanes of Middle Road, Worcester, U.K, innocently gathering the details of the area to be inserted into Google Maps, one of the images caught by the car cameras, soon became the topic of attention for not only the residents of the area, but also for the local media. The image in question that was published in the month of March this year, was that of a ten year old girl lying face down on the side of the street, looking like a ‘dead body’.

This sparked a fire of concern among the residents who feared that, they had witnessed the aftermaths of a gruesome slaying. In fit of panic, the concerned used immediately contacted Google and so the story began. However, what seemed to be an extremely unfortunate incident, turned out to have a pretty innocent ‘happy ending’ as the little girl in the picture is very much alive and well. Ten year old, Azura Beebeejaun has now stated that, she was the girl in the picture and was just ‘playing dead’ for fun. She said that, she had no idea as to the timing of the Google Car and hence was simply playing a kid’s joke with her friends.

According to Azura,

“I didn’t know anything about the Google Street View car (recording me). I fell over while I was playing with my friend and thought it would be funny to play dead. I’m quite chuffed I’m on the internet. It is quite funny and I can’t wait to tell my classmates when I go back to school.”

Via Daily Mail

The Indian Government has given the makers of smartphone BlackBerry a deadline till August 31, 2010 to grant access to its services or face the suspension of its services in the Indian territory.

The Indian government has come up with this proposal in the interest of the national security and to fight against terrorism. After the Mumbai Blast in Taj Mahal Hotel in late 2008 that killed 166 people, the Indian government is insistent that they are allowed to monitor the communications made via BlackBerry phones.

Other international governments like Algeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon have followed the suit of United Arab Emirates to ban the use of the device from their country. With the growing threat of terrorism many more countries may join the club too.

The Research in Motion (RIM) has given the explanation that privacy of the communication of its users is safeguarded and no third party is allowed to read the encrypted messages. The Indian government has warned that if RIM does not grant access to encrypted data in BlackBerry messages and e-mails then the service will be blocked. More than a million users of BlackBerry in India may have to pay the price for this dispute.

Via: BBC

The anti-terrorist police elite arrested in Indonesia on Monday influential radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, for alleged ties to a group accused of planning terrorist attacks against foreigners and the killing of top people.

Bashir, 71, has been arrested twice and spent several years in prison. This time, he was arrested in western Java Island and taken to police headquarters in Jakarta, under heavy security.

Bashir is considered one of the spiritual leaders of the radical Islamic movement in Indonesia. He was introduced as the emir of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional underground network founded in 1993 it plans to impose an Islamic state in Southeast Asia. The group is responsible for the attacks in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.

Five other suspects were arrested and explosives were seized over the weekend in several operations in Java.

Police would not disclose who the other suspects arrested or the reason for the arrests. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Saturday that a plan to assassinate him had been dismantled, without revealing details.

Bashir spent two and a half years in prison for his role in the Bali bombings, before his conviction be reversed. After his release in 2006, began making sermons across the country calling for the creation of an Islamic state and uttering hatred against foreigners.

Via: BBC.

About 300 federal police in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, arrested on Sunday their own leaders, accused of extortion and protection to organized crime groups. Agents raided the hotel where they were staying four Mexican federal police commanders. The heads were removed by force and violence.

The federal police accused his commanders to stop policing the city on days when smugglers transporting drugs on site. Moreover, the chiefs are accused of charging daily quota of officers.

Ciudad Juarez is located on the border with the United States and is considered the most violent city in Mexico. Over the past two years, more than 6000 people have been killed in Ciudad Juarez, according to official statistics.

The Federal Police was sent to Ciudad Juárez to precisely monitor the local police, accused of being infiltrated by people linked to drug cartels.

The officers themselves have also been victims of extortion, being forced to pay a share of U.S. $ 230 per day to the chiefs. Even the ammunition for their weapons was being charged by commanders.

Corruption in the police is one of the gravest problems of Mexico. The security minister, Genaro García Luna, said the drug cartels have invested $ 98 million per year in bribes to local police.

The base salary of agents – roughly $ 300 per month – is a problem, the ministry said.

Via: BBC.

The researchers from the US University have reported that a giant ice of about 100 square miles has broken from the Petermann Glacier in Greenland. This glacier is located in the north western part of Greenland and is almost 620 miles south of the North Pole.

If this giant sheet of broken glacier moves further south towards the Canadian waters, it could prove to be extremely hazardous for the shipping industry. Never has the iceberg of this size calved since 1962 in the Arctic region. However, this is not news to many as cracks were noticed in the Petermann Glacier earlier too and calving was bound to take place sooner or later.

The iceberg is quite a size and Petermann Glacier has lost almost one quarter of its ice. The glacier is said to measure almost 43 miles.  It is not clear if the calving of this nature was caused by global warming although scientists have claimed that the first half of 2010 to be extremely hot globally. Professor Andreas Muenchow from the Delaware University has optimistically said that the Greenland glacier has plenty of fresh water supply to keep “US public taps flowing for 120 days”. Very optimistic as of now, we must say!

Via: BBC