Posts
By Dave Lee BBC World Service
On CCTV, no-one can hear you scream.
But technology from a UK company now means cameras can tell if you're being aggressive or calling for help - and will alert security guards straight away.
Cambridge firm Audio Analytic has produced software which it said can analyse the pitch, tone and intonation of noises and work out if they pose a threat.
"A lot of incidents just can't be picked up by video only systems," said Chris Mitchell, Audio Analytic's boss, on BBC World Service's Digital Planet.
"For example in a hospital where somebody, or a nurse, is being threatened early hours in the morning - that's a very difficult thing for CCTV guards who monitor hundreds of channels worth of video signals on 20 screens or so to pick up."
More here
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Melamine found again in milk
Readiness is important, I grant you, but people who have grown up with food that has always been safe and healthy are not expecting it to be contaminated deliberately by anyone!
Our family looks forward to fresh milk every morning, as do millions of others. If someone contaminated it here, it would be headline news! The source would be found, the problem put right, and the bad product dealt with properly.
Thankfully most of us have not had to deal with such bad things done for what purpose?
What benefit is there in poisoning people with toxic chemicals? What is worse, the practice seems to be still going on!
What is it going to take to correct this?
What is melamine?
Our family looks forward to fresh milk every morning, as do millions of others. If someone contaminated it here, it would be headline news! The source would be found, the problem put right, and the bad product dealt with properly.
Thankfully most of us have not had to deal with such bad things done for what purpose?
What benefit is there in poisoning people with toxic chemicals? What is worse, the practice seems to be still going on!
What is it going to take to correct this?
What is melamine?
What is melamine?
What is melamine?
Melamine is an organic base chemical most commonly found in the form of white crystals rich in nitrogen
What is melamine generally used for?
Melamine is widely used in plastics, adhesives, countertops, dishware, whiteboards.
Why was melamine added into milk and powdered infant formula
In China, where adulteration has occurred, water has been added to raw milk to increase its volume. As a result of this dilution the milk has a lower protein concentration. Companies using the milk for further production (e.g. of powdered infant formula) normally check the protein level through a test measuring nitrogen content. The addition of melamine increases the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its apparent protein content.
Addition of melamine into food is not approved by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (food standard commission), or by any national authorities.
Has melamine been found in other food products?
In 2007, melamine was found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate exported from China and used in the manufacture of pet food in the United States. This caused the death of a large number of dogs and cats due to kidney failure.
In the present event, melamine contamination has been found in a number of different brands of powdered infant formula, in one brand of a frozen yogurt dessert and in one brand of canned coffee drink. All these products were most probably manufactured using ingredients made from melamine-contaminated milk. What is melamine?
Melamine is an organic base chemical most commonly found in the form of white crystals rich in nitrogen
Melamine is an organic base chemical most commonly found in the form of white crystals rich in nitrogen
What is melamine generally used for?
Melamine is widely used in plastics, adhesives, countertops, dishware, whiteboards.
Why was melamine added into milk and powdered infant formula
In China, where adulteration has occurred, water has been added to raw milk to increase its volume. As a result of this dilution the milk has a lower protein concentration. Companies using the milk for further production (e.g. of powdered infant formula) normally check the protein level through a test measuring nitrogen content. The addition of melamine increases the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its apparent protein content.
Addition of melamine into food is not approved by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (food standard commission), or by any national authorities.
Has melamine been found in other food products?
In 2007, melamine was found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate exported from China and used in the manufacture of pet food in the United States. This caused the death of a large number of dogs and cats due to kidney failure.
In the present event, melamine contamination has been found in a number of different brands of powdered infant formula, in one brand of a frozen yogurt dessert and in one brand of canned coffee drink. All these products were most probably manufactured using ingredients made from melamine-contaminated milk. What is melamine?
Melamine is an organic base chemical most commonly found in the form of white crystals rich in nitrogen
Thursday, October 28, 2010
News:BP oil disaster: Pre-spill tests 'showed cement flaw'
28 October 2010 Last updated at 20:45 GMT
The firms drilling a BP Gulf of Mexico oil well had tests showing cement used to seal it before it blew out was unstable, US investigators have found.
The findings conflict with statements by US oil contractor Halliburton, which supplied the cement and has said tests showed it was stable.
But a presidential panel on the disaster found that three tests prior to the blowout showed the opposite.
The 20 April rig explosion killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil leak.
more here
The firms drilling a BP Gulf of Mexico oil well had tests showing cement used to seal it before it blew out was unstable, US investigators have found.
The findings conflict with statements by US oil contractor Halliburton, which supplied the cement and has said tests showed it was stable.
But a presidential panel on the disaster found that three tests prior to the blowout showed the opposite.
The 20 April rig explosion killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil leak.
more here
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Fake email from Inland revenue
Have you received an email or letter similar to this?
Dear Sir/Madam
You qualify for a tax refund of $250 (or similar sum).
I took the precaution of contacting the real New Zealand tax department using their web site.
This is their response:
Thank you for your email received on 27 October 2010
I advise that this is a scam and that you should not follow the link or enter any personal information onto the site.
Inland Revenue is warning people not to respond to a hoax email claiming to offer a tax refund and has advised if someone has given their details to the people behind any sort of hoax, they should contact us on 0800 227 774.
So don't be tempted by the offer!
Dear Sir/Madam
You qualify for a tax refund of $250 (or similar sum).
I took the precaution of contacting the real New Zealand tax department using their web site.
This is their response:
Thank you for your email received on 27 October 2010
I advise that this is a scam and that you should not follow the link or enter any personal information onto the site.
Inland Revenue is warning people not to respond to a hoax email claiming to offer a tax refund and has advised if someone has given their details to the people behind any sort of hoax, they should contact us on 0800 227 774.
So don't be tempted by the offer!
Do you have comments to make or interesting stories?
Some interesting articles have been posted recently to give you more choice of material and a chance to take part by responding to what you read. Please feel free to read and comment on anything you would like to respond to.
In addition, see if you can track down useful informative information to help readers see things in better perspective. Your comments could raise thought for others, giving them reason to speak up.
This is your blog, your forum. Tell us your thoughts. Ask questions. Reply to what you find here. It may help us get a clearer view of things.
In addition, see if you can track down useful informative information to help readers see things in better perspective. Your comments could raise thought for others, giving them reason to speak up.
This is your blog, your forum. Tell us your thoughts. Ask questions. Reply to what you find here. It may help us get a clearer view of things.
News:Hobbit law change to be rushed through
Published: 5:18AM Thursday October 28, 2010 Source: NZPA
The government will put a bill through parliament under urgency today to seal the deal that has secured the $670 million Hobbit movies for New Zealand.
Prime Minister John Key announced the agreement with Warner Brothers last night after two days of negotiations with studio executives who had been worried about industrial disputes and wanted a bigger tax break than the standard 15% for big movies.
They got what they wanted with legislation that will clear up confusion about the legal status of contractors and employees, but the $20 million tax break was far short of what they argued for.
Key said that in financial terms there was no doubt Warner Brothers could have got a better deal from other countries, but the studio wanted to make the movies in New Zealand and so did director Sir Peter Jackson.
"They wanted a lot more, they argued for a lot more," he said.
"I made it clear we were at our limit, this is a better deal than we have had with other big movies made here in the past."
And the government has scored through an agreement that New Zealand will be promoted through all the marketing DVDs and other material that will be used to publicise the two Hobbit movies, as well as hosting one of the world premieres.
To get that it will offset $US10 million of Warner Brothers marketing costs.
Advertisement
"The strategic marketing opportunities for New Zealand from the movies will be worth tens of millions of dollars," Key said.
"In the financial sense, this is a good deal."
He said the labour law change was the most important issue for Warner Brothers, because the legal definitions of a contractor and an employee could have caused disputes and court cases that would have held up production and cost the studio many millions.
The change will cover only the movie industry.
"We're not taking rights away from workers," Key said.More here
The government will put a bill through parliament under urgency today to seal the deal that has secured the $670 million Hobbit movies for New Zealand.
Prime Minister John Key announced the agreement with Warner Brothers last night after two days of negotiations with studio executives who had been worried about industrial disputes and wanted a bigger tax break than the standard 15% for big movies.
They got what they wanted with legislation that will clear up confusion about the legal status of contractors and employees, but the $20 million tax break was far short of what they argued for.
Key said that in financial terms there was no doubt Warner Brothers could have got a better deal from other countries, but the studio wanted to make the movies in New Zealand and so did director Sir Peter Jackson.
"They wanted a lot more, they argued for a lot more," he said.
"I made it clear we were at our limit, this is a better deal than we have had with other big movies made here in the past."
And the government has scored through an agreement that New Zealand will be promoted through all the marketing DVDs and other material that will be used to publicise the two Hobbit movies, as well as hosting one of the world premieres.
To get that it will offset $US10 million of Warner Brothers marketing costs.
Advertisement
"The strategic marketing opportunities for New Zealand from the movies will be worth tens of millions of dollars," Key said.
"In the financial sense, this is a good deal."
He said the labour law change was the most important issue for Warner Brothers, because the legal definitions of a contractor and an employee could have caused disputes and court cases that would have held up production and cost the studio many millions.
The change will cover only the movie industry.
"We're not taking rights away from workers," Key said.More here
News:Dream recording device 'possible' researcher claims
27 October 2010 Last updated at 17:01 GMT
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
A US researcher says he plans to electronically record and interpret dreams.
Writing in the journal Nature, scientists say they have developed a system capable of recording higher level brain activity.
"We would like to read people's dreams," says the lead scientist Dr Moran Cerf.
The aim is not to interlope, but to extend our understanding of how and why people dream.
For centuries, people have been fascinated by dreams and what they might mean. In Ancient Egypt they were thought to be messages from God.
More recently, dream analysis has been used by psychologists as a tool to understand the unconscious mind. But the only way to interpret dreams is to ask people about the subject of their dreams after they had woken up.
more here
Comment:Does this make you wonder if anything is going to remain private following such developments?
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
A US researcher says he plans to electronically record and interpret dreams.
Writing in the journal Nature, scientists say they have developed a system capable of recording higher level brain activity.
"We would like to read people's dreams," says the lead scientist Dr Moran Cerf.
The aim is not to interlope, but to extend our understanding of how and why people dream.
For centuries, people have been fascinated by dreams and what they might mean. In Ancient Egypt they were thought to be messages from God.
More recently, dream analysis has been used by psychologists as a tool to understand the unconscious mind. But the only way to interpret dreams is to ask people about the subject of their dreams after they had woken up.
more here
Comment:Does this make you wonder if anything is going to remain private following such developments?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
News:UN warns on Vietnam birth ratio
By Ha Mi BBC Vietnamese
File image of Vietnamese girls in Hanoi on 1 October 2010 Traditional preferences for sons means fewer daughters are being born
Sex ratios at birth are becoming increasingly imbalanced in Vietnam, with far more boys being born than girls, the UN Population Fund says.
For every 100 females, 110.6 males were born - compared to a norm of 105.
The situation was particularly worrying because of the rapid increase in the proportion of boys being born in the last five years, it said.
The UNFPA warned that the imbalance could lead to a number of social problems in the coming years.
In May 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan warned that the gender imbalance in Vietnam could lead to about 3 million men having difficulty in finding wives by 2030. more here
File image of Vietnamese girls in Hanoi on 1 October 2010 Traditional preferences for sons means fewer daughters are being born
Sex ratios at birth are becoming increasingly imbalanced in Vietnam, with far more boys being born than girls, the UN Population Fund says.
For every 100 females, 110.6 males were born - compared to a norm of 105.
The situation was particularly worrying because of the rapid increase in the proportion of boys being born in the last five years, it said.
The UNFPA warned that the imbalance could lead to a number of social problems in the coming years.
In May 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan warned that the gender imbalance in Vietnam could lead to about 3 million men having difficulty in finding wives by 2030. more here
Monday, October 25, 2010
News:Nigeria fraud blacklist issued by police
Senior politicians and businessmen are among more than 100 people listed by Nigerian anti-fraud police as being unsuitable to run for political office.
The EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) said those on the list were all being prosecuted for corruption.
The commission urged political parties not to endorse them as candidates in next year's elections.
One of those named, Orji Kalu, is running for president but has been arraigned on 107 counts of fraud.
Continue reading the main story
Nigeria - Troubled Giant
* 'Sham' democracy
* Emirs: Power behind the throne
* 'I burnt my friend's house down'
* Armed robber?
He is accused of involvement in a fraud worth 5bn naira (£21m; $33m).
Politicians make up at least 40 people on the list, which the EFCC has published on its website.
Thirteen are former state governors, five are former ministers, three are serving MPs, and two are serving senators.
more here
The EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) said those on the list were all being prosecuted for corruption.
The commission urged political parties not to endorse them as candidates in next year's elections.
One of those named, Orji Kalu, is running for president but has been arraigned on 107 counts of fraud.
Continue reading the main story
Nigeria - Troubled Giant
* 'Sham' democracy
* Emirs: Power behind the throne
* 'I burnt my friend's house down'
* Armed robber?
He is accused of involvement in a fraud worth 5bn naira (£21m; $33m).
Politicians make up at least 40 people on the list, which the EFCC has published on its website.
Thirteen are former state governors, five are former ministers, three are serving MPs, and two are serving senators.
more here
News:New polio vaccine more effective in reducing disease
By Ania Lichtarowicz Health reporter, BBC News
A new vaccine against the polio virus has helped reduce the number of cases by more than 90%.
Research published online in the journal The Lancet, shows that the new vaccine is significantly better at protecting children against polio than the current popular vaccine.
It has already been used in Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.
The scientists behind the work believe this new vaccine could help to finally eradicate the disease.
More here
A new vaccine against the polio virus has helped reduce the number of cases by more than 90%.
Research published online in the journal The Lancet, shows that the new vaccine is significantly better at protecting children against polio than the current popular vaccine.
It has already been used in Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.
The scientists behind the work believe this new vaccine could help to finally eradicate the disease.
More here
Sunday, October 24, 2010
News:In hiding for exposing Tanzania witchdoctors
By Vicky Ntetema
BBC News
I am living in hiding after I received threats because of my undercover work exposing the threat from witchdoctors to albinos living in Tanzania.
I do not regret it, even if I am very scared.
Mine is just one life, compared to the several thousand people living with albinism in the country.
If nothing is done about this network, they could kill every albino in the country - estimates vary between 4,000 and 173,000.
This year, at least 25 people with albinism have been killed, mostly in the Lake Victoria Zone, especially the Mwanza, Shinyanga and Mara areas.
more here
BBC News
I am living in hiding after I received threats because of my undercover work exposing the threat from witchdoctors to albinos living in Tanzania.
I do not regret it, even if I am very scared.
Mine is just one life, compared to the several thousand people living with albinism in the country.
If nothing is done about this network, they could kill every albino in the country - estimates vary between 4,000 and 173,000.
This year, at least 25 people with albinism have been killed, mostly in the Lake Victoria Zone, especially the Mwanza, Shinyanga and Mara areas.
more here
News:Burundi albino boy 'dismembered'
The dismembered body of a young albino boy has been found in a river on the Burundi-Tanzania border, reports say.
The boy, aged nine, was taken from Makamba province in Burundi by a gang that crossed the border, the head of Burundi's albino association said.
Kassim Kazungu told AFP the remains had been recovered from the Malagarazi river and given a formal burial.
Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers. more here
The boy, aged nine, was taken from Makamba province in Burundi by a gang that crossed the border, the head of Burundi's albino association said.
Kassim Kazungu told AFP the remains had been recovered from the Malagarazi river and given a formal burial.
Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers. more here
Friday, October 22, 2010
re:Typing with only 2 fingers
That may be right, but it takes many people time to get used to the layout, typing with both hands (still only seventy percent there). In a way though, it does put the most used keys in the forefront. It encourages users to become more efficient (even if only with 2 fingers).
Thursday, October 21, 2010
News:East Sussex sex abuse fear vicars allowed to work
Two vicars were allowed to work at churches in East Sussex following serious sex abuse allegations, a BBC South East investigation has revealed.
Roy Cotton, who died in 2006, worked as a parish priest in Brede near Rye in the 1990s despite being convicted of a sexual offence against a boy in 1954.Collin Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims.
The Diocese of Chichester has appointed a judge to carry out an investigation.
In 2008 Pritchard pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s and 1980s and was jailed for five years.
more here
Comment: After reading about these two vicars predatory activities, what is to stop them repeating their bad behavior?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
News:India and Brazil head move to 'green' economic future
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Nagoya
Pavan Sukhdev, a Deutsche Bank capital markets expert who leads Teeb on secondment to the UN Environment Programme (Unep), said that if society did not properly account for services that nature provides, they would be lost.
In an earlier analysis, Teeb calculated that the economic value of services being lost - including water purification, pollination of crops and climate regulation - amounts to $2-5 trillion dollars per year, with the poor hardest hit.More here
Governments are increasingly taking the economic value of nature into account in policy-making, with growing interest in results from a UN-backed analysis.
The Brazilian and Indian governments are among those keen to use findings from The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb) project.Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
You cannot manage what you do not measure”
“End Quote"
Pavan Sukhdev Deutsche BankFinal results from the three-year study were unveiled here at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting.
Nature's services must be counted if they are to be valued, its leader said.Pavan Sukhdev, a Deutsche Bank capital markets expert who leads Teeb on secondment to the UN Environment Programme (Unep), said that if society did not properly account for services that nature provides, they would be lost.
In an earlier analysis, Teeb calculated that the economic value of services being lost - including water purification, pollination of crops and climate regulation - amounts to $2-5 trillion dollars per year, with the poor hardest hit.More here
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
News:Mount Etna mapped by radar satellites
Two German radar satellites flying in tight formation above the Earth have returned their first combined images.
TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X are circling the globe just 350m apart as they get set to make the most detailed 3D map of the Earth's surface ever acquired.Their close proximity allows them to view the same patch of ground simultaneously but from slightly different angles.More here
Thursday, October 14, 2010
My modecideas.com site is making gains
Here is one site that has picked up mine and is starting to make advances in the search engine listings.
www.bontey.net/partner/modecideas.com/ I can't be sure at this stage how many other sites have noticed it, but it looks like a good beginning. It still remains to find out what they like about it, but that will be clear soon.
www.bontey.net/partner/modecideas.com/ I can't be sure at this stage how many other sites have noticed it, but it looks like a good beginning. It still remains to find out what they like about it, but that will be clear soon.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Someone grafitied my followers
In the last 2 days somebody replaced all my blog followers with spurious links. I deleted them moments ago, but the original followers are gone. They had to be sacrificed to remove the junk left behind by some reprehensible person who remains anonymous. Following this an effort will be made to inform the friends of this badness.
Monday, October 4, 2010
News:BT seeks moratorium on internet piracy cases
BT is seeking a moratorium on legal applications to obtain details of its customers who are alleged to have illegally shared files online.
The firm outlined its stance following a high-profile data breach at London law firm ACS:Law last week.
The leak saw thousands of customers' details from various ISPs - including BT-owned PlusNet - published online.
BT said that it wanted a temporary halt on all new and existing applications until a "test case" could be heard.
more here
Comment: As you know, file sharing is common on line. This may have effects from innocent users sharing what they created, to unscrupulous people who attempt to obtain copyright material and sell it for profit. We are not concerned with people sharing family photos or a child's kindergarten pictures here. Those cases involving original or copyrighted work involving great effort and those that are unique and of a high standard are individual works difficult or impossible to replace.
Friday, October 1, 2010
News:Change to 'Bios' will make for PCs that boot in seconds
1 October 2010 Last updated at 09:11 GMT
Change to 'Bios' will make for PCs that boot in seconds
Change to 'Bios' will make for PCs that boot in seconds
New PCs could start in just seconds, thanks to an update to one of the oldest parts of desktop computers.
The upgrade will spell the end for the 25-year-old PC start-up software known as Bios that initialises a machine so its operating system can get going.
The code was not intended to live nearly this long, and adapting it to modern PCs is one reason they take as long as they do to warm up.
Bios' replacement, known as UEFI, will predominate in new PCs by 2011.
The acronym stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface and is designed to be more flexible than its venerable predecessor.
"Conventional Bios is up there with some of the physical pieces of the chip set that have been kicking around the PC since 1979," said Mark Doran, head of the UEFI Forum, which is overseeing development of the technology.
more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
