Thursday, September 19, 2013

File:CyanogenMod Cid.svg

The developers of CyanogenMod, an open source free Android-based operating system for smartphones, announced yesterday their incorporation following a successful venture capital campaign which netted the open-source project a US$7 million nest egg, and plan to roll out a simple installation app on Google Play for their Android firmware.

Android runs nearly 80% of new mobile devices; CyanogenMod operates on at least 7 or 8 million of those. CyanogenMod replaces the read-only-memory image in android devices which have been ‘rooted’ —control acquired of the device’s superuser account— allowing continuing development for, and backporting abilities of new generations of the operating system to, older devices.

Investor Mitch Lasky wrote on his blog “We believe that CM is poised to become one of the largest mobile operating systems in the world.” Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures are part of the capital providers to form Cyanogen Inc.

“The only limitation we have right now is with the number of engineers and designers we currently have. As we hire more people and build this company, we’ll be able to work on so many cool things”, said Koushik ‘koush’ Dutta, who took questions alongside Steve ‘cyanogen’ Kondik and team social media manager Abhisek “ciwrl” Devkota in a Reddit Ask Me Anything event shortly after making the announcement on the CyanogenMod blog. The team of 17, including Boost co-founder Kirt McMaster as CEO, are in Palo Alto, California and Seattle.

Kondik says Cyanogen mod is named after him. “I’m terrible with names, so I just slapped ‘mod’ onto the end of my handle and ran with it”, he explained in the incorporation announcement.

An early question raised in the Reddit event concerned profit-making: “Monetization isn’t an immediate concern and our investors […] feel the same”, said Dutta, adding “Creating disruption in a multibilion dollar market is enough to make any investor raise their eyebrow.” This means CyanogenMod would continue to be free. Follow questions asked if the company was planning to release their own model of android device. “We certainly couldn’t take on the monumental task of building/testing hardware [right now]. Hardware would be one of many potential very long term paths we could take”, said Dutta.

The firm’s first announced step is to improve the process of installing the software on owner’s devices, which Kondik described as “hideous”. A new installer app is planned to be released “in the coming weeks” on Google Play. The installer app will not require rooting the device, instead installing by simply clicking a button.

A further step, broadly described without any details, is a project with an unnamed original equipment manufacturer (OEM). “We have a least one OEM partnership in the works, there will be an announcement next week regarding our plans there”, said Kondik. The team mentioned OEM licensing several times during the Q&A session on Reddit.

In addition to these corporate steps, there were questions regarding the roadmap for development of the ROM, which already has improvements regarding privacy and security over the native android loader. With “plenty of things in the product pipeline already” Dutta lists additional security features, AirPlay mirroring, screen recording, and Voice+ as upcoming. The mood throughout the event was jovial, with humourous questions such as “can you guys PLEASE release a CM build for my toaster? I’m not sure what model it is, but it’s white and I got it at Savers.” Kondik promised “Ship it to me and I’ll duct tape a G1 running CM to it”. Dutta said his “10 of your favorite lines of source code” are “The ones that worked when they shouldn’t have.”

Saturday, September 6, 2008

New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma quit politics on Friday after a disagreement with the governing Australian Labor Party’s dominant “Centre Unity” faction about his proposed cabinet reshuffle. The reshuffle was prompted by the resignation of Deputy Premier John Watkins and the sackings of Treasurer Michael Costa and Health Minister Reba Meagher.

The political fallout follows the botched attempt to privatise the state’s electricity industry.

The right of the Labor party was presented with a list of colleagues who the Premier wanted in and out of his reshuffled cabinet. MPs were frustrated that Joe Tripodi was not on the our list. MPs rejected Iemma’s list and demanded the chance to vote upon it. Mr Iemma then told the faction that unless they accepted his cabinet he would resign. Caucus called Iemma’s bluff and said Iemma had lost support of the party.

The party then looked to the left-wing faction of the party and Nathan Rees was appointed unanimously and unopposed, Carmel Tebbutt was appointed as the state’s deputy premier.

It is the first time in 117 years that a Premier has lost support of his own party and the first time in NSW Labor history that the party has been led by a member from the left.

Speaking to the media, Mr Iemma said he could not lead a cabinet that was not of his own choosing.

“I took what I believed to be a package of renewal, reform and refreshment, for the party, the Cabinet. That was not accepted, so I tendered my resignation.

“I wasn’t going to serve as the head of a Cabinet that was being foisted on me and I wanted change and that was not going to be possible, so I tendered my resignation.”

Following his appointment, Nathan Rees told reporters that he had been elected as Premier of NSW. “Morris Iemma resigned as premier today, I nominated for the vacancy and I was elected unanimously by the full Labor caucus,” Rees said.

“We start work today for the people of New South Wales, we start work this afternoon to deliver services to the people of New South Wales”.

Rees and Tebbutt were sworn in by Governor Marie Bashir on Friday afternoon.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A 14-year-old student opened fire in a Cleveland, Ohio high school today, wounding four people. The gunman then fatally shot himself.

Police were called to the scene at 1:15 p.m. EST, with reports of a gunman in the school. The gunman, 14-year-old Asa H. Coon, entered the school with a gun in each hand. Students were evacuated, with the gunman reportedly still in the building for some time afterward.

According to Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson, two adult males, ages 57 and 42, and two teenage males, ages 18 and 14, were wounded, and taken to local hospitals. A third teenager, a 14-year-old female, hurt her knee while running from the school.

A spokesperson for the hospital would not give details of the students’ names or conditions, but Jackson said in an afternoon press conference that all three teenagers were in stable condition.

According to one student, 14-year-old student Michael Peek was the first person shot, after reportedly punching Coon in the face. The student indicated that Peek did not know that Coon was armed at the time. 18-year-old student Darnell Rodgers told the media that he was the other student shot, a graze wound for which he was treated and subsequently released.

The 57-year-old teacher, David Kachadourian, was listed in good condition. 42-year-old teacher Michael Grassie was in surgery and his condition was unavailable.

The gunman was reportedly upset about a recent suspension arising from a fight that happened Monday near the school.

According to one student interviewed by CNN, the gunman said he “worshiped the devil” and had mentioned committing a shooting at the school. Another student noted that the gunman often wore a trench coat and an empty pistol belt to class.

A security guard was present on the first floor of the building, but the position of a guard on the third floor was eliminated. While metal detectors were present in the building, they were not always in use; it is unclear whether they were in use at the time of the shooting.

The school, SuccessTech Academy, is a non-traditional school within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, described on their web site as a “small, nontraditional high school that provides a learning environment in which all student believe in their ability to succeed.” It opened five years ago.

SuccessTech is located on the third, fourth and fifth floors of a building in downtown Cleveland that also houses some administrative offices.

The school owes its existence in part to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped to fund the creation of the school.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

India and China have settled long-time border disputes, and with freed up cross-border traffic look to creating what would be the largest trading bloc in the world, between the two most populous nations on the planet. During a recent visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to the Indian capital of Delhi, a border was finally agreed on paper.

“India and China can together reshape the world order,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday.

“China has a large manufacturing base. I believe it is the world’s factory. And India with its development in software and other areas, I feel, is the world’s office. What I am suggesting is to bring together the factory and the office,” Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, had said ahead of the visit.

The agreement is the first official document for the 3,500 km disputed border between the two countries, in more than 20 years. The dispute erupted into war in 1962, followed by a 14 years freeze in diplomatic relations.

China would give up claims on 90,000 square kilometers to the North-East of India, formally recognising as parts of India, Sikkim — a Himalayan kingdom that merged with India in 1975 — and Tawang — an area in Arunachal Pradesh which China had repeatedly claimed.

India would be formally recognising Tibet as a part of China, giving up Aksai Chin, uninhabited land on the Tibetan plateau that Beijing seized from the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir in 1962. India agreed also “not to allow Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities on its soil”, according to a report in The Economic Times of India.

A new cross-border trade route would be allowed through Nathula, in Sikkim, and significant road work was to facilitate higher traffic, at least on the Chinese side.

Eleven guiding principles and political parameters for resolving the disagreement, were put forth in the document, including a commitment to enhance bilateral trade from the present US$13.6 billion to US$30 billion by 2010 — trade which only a decade ago was worth just US$1 billion.

“This matter tells us that as long as the two sides bear sincerity, and patience, the border between China and India will become a bridge linking the friendship of the two sides,” Wen said of the document he signed with Singh.

“A growing and stable China is in the interest of India. Similarly, a growing and stable India is in the interest of China,” the Chinese Premier said.

“It shows a lot of give and take on both sides,” said National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, India’s special representative for the border talks.

The treaty “respect[s the] status quo, and is tantamount to accepting the Line of Actual Control as the border between the two countries,” said Swaran Singh, a China expert at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

“The next two years are very crucial to determine how much the two sides put the guiding principles into practice for the actual demarcation of the frontier,” he cautioned.

Feasibility of a China-India Free Trade Agreement would be examined — with China eager, but India tentative.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Coinciding with Easter Sunday, Glasgow Cannabis Social Club’s annual 420 event was held on Glasgow Green, under sunny blue skies, and overlooking the river Clyde. Despite the city’s council attempting to revoke permission for the gathering at the last minute, police were happy for it to go-ahead with approximately a dozen officers attending in high-visibility vests.

The Daily Record reported five arrests were made for minor offences, likely smoking and possession of small quantities of cannabis. Taking a less-sensational — and more accurate — line of reporting, the Monday edition of Glasgow’s Evening News stated five were referred to the Procurator Fiscal who is responsible for deciding if charges should be brought.

Official figures provided by the police were that 150 attended. With people coming and going, Wikinews reporters estimated upwards of 200 attended, compared to nearly 700 who had signed up for the event on Facebook. Hemp goods were advertised and on sale at the event, and some attendees were seen drinking cannabis-themed energy drinks.

“I was searched and charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act (which is a lot of bollocks)” one attendee noted online, adding “not fair to happen on a brilliant day like it was, other than that I had a great day!” A second said they were openly smoking and ignored by police, who “were only really focusing on people who looked particularly young”.

Cannabis seeds were openly and legally sold at the event and a hydroponics supplier brought a motortrike towing an advertising trailer. Actually growing cannabis is, however, illegal in the UK.

With the event openly advocating the legalisation of cannabis, speakers put their arguments for this to a receptive crowd. Retired police officer James Duffy, of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, spoke of the failed United States alcohol prohibition policy; stressing such policies needlessly bring people into contact with criminal elements. Highlighting other countries where legalisation has been implemented, he pointed out such led to lower crime, and lower drug use overall.

One speaker, who produced a bottle of cannabis oil he had received through the post, asserted this cured his prostate cancer. Others highlighted the current use of Sativex by the National Health Service, with a cost in-excess of £150 for a single bottle of GW Pharmaceuticals patented spray — as-compared to the oil shown to the crowd, with a manufacturing cost of approximately £10.

Similar ‘420’ pro-cannabis events were held globally.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a review Friday into the design and manufacture of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, following five incidents in five days involving the aircraft and two Japanese airlines.

On Monday, an electrical fire broke out aboard a Japan Airlines 787 at Boston’s Logan International Airport, when a battery pack which powers the auxiliary power unit, for when the plane is on the ground, caught fire. The fire was discovered by maintenance workers after passengers and crew disembarked following their flight from Tokyo’s Narita Airport.

The next day, a separate Japan Airlines 787, also at Logan International Airport, heading to Tokyo, suffered a fuel leak that spilled around 40 gallons, which was spotted by the crew of the aircraft taxiing behind them. “That Japan Air may know it, but they’ve got fuel or something spilling out the outboard left wing. Quite a bit,” said the pilot of aircraft behind them on local air traffic control frequencies.

Wednesday, in Japan, an All Nippon Airways 787, the launch customer for the aircraft, cancelled a flight after a brake problem was reported.

Earlier Friday, two All Nippon Airways suffered separate incidents in Japan. An oil leak was noticed in the engine after one aircraft had landed in Miyazaki, coming from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Another flight, flying between Haneda Airport and Matsuyama said the pilot’s side window in the cockpit suffered a crack.

The FAA in a statement said “In light of a series of recent events, the FAA will conduct a comprehensive review of the Boeing 787 critical systems, including the design, manufacture and assembly.” Further adding, “The purpose of the review is to validate the work conducted during the certification process and further ensure that the aircraft meets the FAA’s high level of safety.”

According to the statement, “The review will also examine how the electrical and mechanical systems interact with each other.” The Boeing 787 relies more on electrical, as opposed to mechanical, systems than past aircraft from the manufacturer including having electronics operate hydraulic pumps and using electric brakes. Large portions of the plane’s structure use lightweight carbon fiber composite instead of more traditional metal airframe.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, “The safety of the traveling public is our top priority […] This review will help us look at the root causes and do everything we can to safeguard against similar events in the future.”

“We are confident that the aircraft is safe. But we need to have a complete understanding of what is happening,” said newly sworn-in FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta. “We are conducting the review to further ensure that the aircraft meets our high safety standards.”

Boeing released a statement saying, “[The company] is confident in the design and performance of the 787. It is a safe and efficient airplane. The airplane has logged 50,000 hours of flight and there are more than 150 flights occurring daily.”

Sunday, February 13, 2005

LONDON – The big-budget Hollywood movie The Aviator and the low-budget Brit flick Vera Drake have scooped the main prizes at the 2005 Orange BAFTA Film Awards. Four gongs went to The Aviator with the top ones being Best Film and Cate Blanchett for Best Supporting Actress. Vera Drake got three gongs with Best Director, Best Actress & Costume Design. Jamie Foxx got Best Actor with Ray and Clive Owen got Best Supporting Actor with Closer.