Technology thread...

[Littledragon]

CNN) -- Online mapping sites are great. I try to remember how I found my way before they existed. The thought of tracing out routes on a paper map seems like a hassle and potentially dangerous.

I typically get routes from two services, just in case, but even this precaution isn't always enough preparation. I also make sure that my phone is charged and I have a number in case I get lost.

Most sites warn users to double-check the route for road closures and detours. This weekend proved to me why this advice is so important. It's also good to have change on hand -- and not just for tolls.

One Friday afternoon in May, we were on the road, bound for a great weekend in the Smoky Mountains. Just 32 miles from our destination, we couldn't believe how well the trip was going. The directions were perfect, the roads clear, and the scenery amazing. We should have known better.

With the sun beginning its final decent, we began our last leg of the journey, one that was to take us through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Then came the detour.

We approached U.S. 441 North with visions of enjoying a nice glass of wine on the porch with family we hadn't seen in months. Instead, we were greeted with an improvised route for a 50-mile detour.

"No problem," we thought. Sure, we would get to our destination later but no big deal. We had good company and great music. We didn't have cellular service, so we hunted through the car for change and tried the pay phone at the visitors' center where we encountered the detour. It turns out, this was not only a cell phone dead zone but a pay phone dead zone as well.

It's amazing how much we rely on technology. We couldn't call the condo where the rest of the family was waiting, and we made the (big) mistake of not buying a map. Our car has the OnStar service, but it hasn't worked in a while. Chances are, it wouldn't have worked in that area anyway, but I think it's worth looking into the in-vehicle communications, navigation and emergency system before our next road trip.

At one point, as we approached construction on our new route, the cellular gods smiled on us, and we called with an update. We made it through the construction, only to encounter a major accident. Again, the cellular gods smiled down, and we had a small window to phone in a second update.

We eventually made it to the condo after winding around the park and spending much of the two-hour detour sitting in traffic. We had our glass of wine -- although it was inside next to a roaring fire -- and it was the start to a wonderful weekend.

Over the weekend, we discussed alternate routes, should our mountain road be closed once again. We had two options, one of which was the detour. I was heading straight to work so we didn't want to mess around. Luckily, we didn't have to do so.

U.S. 441 South was open for business. It was a beautiful ride, as was the rest of the trip. It was also an educational one. I'm learning that sometimes it's OK to just mosey down the road without a cell phone or OnStar to save you. Although we made it there fine, I plan to have a map for all future trips before we leave Atlanta and to check out possible detours before we turn the key in the ignition.

I guess those mapping services tell you to check local detours for a reason, and from now on, I will.

Happy trails!

 

[yudansha]

Littledragon, come on man!

I've posted that already...

LONDON, England (AP) -- Britain granted its first license for human cloning Wednesday, more than three years after becoming the first nation to authorize the technique to produce stem cells for medical research.

A team of researchers at Newcastle University hope eventually to create insulin-producing cells that could be transplanted into diabetic patients.

Britain became the first country to authorize the cloning of human embryos when Parliament voted in 2001 to allow regulators to license the method to scientists investigating the medical promise of stem cells, the master cells of the body.

The South Korean parliament followed in December, and by February scientists there announced they had become the first in the world to successfully clone a human embryo and extract stem cells for research.

The stem cells are extracted when the embryo is still microscopic. British regulations allow the embryo to develop for no more than 14 days, after which the embryo starts to develop a nervous system.

Many scientists believe stem cells hold vast promise for treating an array of diseases from diabetes to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Stem cells can potentially grow into any type of human tissue and scientists hope to be able to direct the blank cells to grow into specific cell types needed for transplant.

The United States prohibits any kind of embryo cloning and has lobbied strongly against it. The Bush administration also has restricted funding for stem cell research, which has become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.

U.S. policy forbids federal funding for research on embryonic stem cell lines created after Aug. 9, 2001. Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry has said that if elected he would overturn those funding restrictions.

Some Christian and politically conservative groups oppose stem cell research -- especially cloning -- as immoral because fertilized embryos must be destroyed to harvest the stem cells.

Stem cells can be found in adults, but scientists believe they may not be as versatile as those found in embryos. They envision using cloning to create an embryo cloned from a patient so that stem cells extracted would be a perfect transplant match.

"After careful consideration of all the scientific, ethical, legal and medical aspects of the project, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority License Committee agreed to grant an initial one year research license to the Newcastle Center for Life," the British regulator said in a statement.

"This is an important area of research and a responsible use of technology. The HFEA is there to make sure any research involving human embryos is scrutinized and properly regulated."

Regulations on cloning and stem cell research vary around the world. No other European country licenses the practice.

In Japan, the government's top science council voted last month to adopt policy recommendations that would permit limited cloning of human embryos for stem cell research in Japan.

This year, the United Nations will revisit the issue of whether to propose an international treaty to ban "therapeutic" cloning -- which produces stem cells from cloned embryos -- as well as "reproductive" cloning, which makes babies.

 

[yudansha]

FDA reviewing Boston Scientific acid reflux device

BOSTON (AP) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the death last month of an elderly woman after she was treated with a Boston Scientific Corp. device for acid reflux disease.

The FDA is also looking at injuries in six other patients treated with the Enteryx device. The review comes as Boston Scientific grapples with a month-old recall of its lucrative drug-coated heart stent. Nearly 100,000 Taxus and Express 2 model stents have been recalled since July 2 because of a manufacturing defect.

Boston Scientific's Canadian partner is Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Vancouver.

In the Enteryx review, the FDA is looking into whether physician technique or the device itself triggered the woman's death, which occurred when her aorta ruptured. The Enteryx device is used to inject a plastic substance into the esophagus. The substance is designed to reduce the symptoms of acid reflux disease.

"At this time there doesn't appear to be a problem with the device," FDA spokeswoman Kathleen Quinn said.

Paul Donovan, a spokesman for Boston Scientific, said the company is recommending that the product's label be changed to stress the importance of closely following directions for use.

"We are going to work closely with the FDA," Donovan said.

In Friday trading, Boston Scientific shares were down 84 cents, or 2.5 per cent, at $32.45 US on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's stock has fallen nearly 25 per cent since just before the beginning of July, when the stent recalls began.

Enteryx, which costs about $1,700, has been used in about 2,000 procedures since it was introduced in April 2003.

In acid reflux disease, the contents of the stomach back up into the esophagus. Enteryx is one of a handful of minimally invasive treatments designed to offer relief without daily medication.

© The Canadian Press, 2004

 

[yudansha]

Punching, kicking robots highlight Japan's pop-culture technology (with pic)

- By: YURI KAGEYAMA

KAWASAKI, Japan (AP) - The ring sits in the spotlight of a tense, packed auditorium and the jittery fighters await the bell at their red and blue corners.

Two robots fight during a revenge match of the Sixth Robot-One Contest in Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo, last weekend. (AP Photo/Chiaki Tsukumo)​

Like any fight, there's always the danger of a punishing uppercut or left hook. But these boxers have even more worries - like battery failure and software bugs.

The contenders are robots fighting in a special kickboxing match that's held twice a year in Japan, a leading nation in the robotics world.

The all-for-fun event is evidence not only of an infatuation with robots here but also of the widely accepted view of robots as entertaining friends.

It's a contrast to other nations, where robotics are increasingly being used in warfare and robots often considered creepy threats.

"For me, robots are for making people happy," said Yusuke Sugawara, a 32-year-old engineer whose robot wore a fluffy wig and blew bubbles from a fake snorkel when people clapped. "Japanese people all love robots. Inside our hearts, we all want to make robots that we grew up watching on TV cartoons."

Robo-One, begun four years ago to stimulate public interest in robots, is loosely based on K-1, a popular sport that combines elements of kickboxing, karate and taekwondo.

The Sixth Robo-One Contest during a recent weekend drew some 90 robots running on software developed by amateurs from across Japan and South Korea (news - web sites) to a hall in Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo.

Unlike human boxing matches, the corner crew in these contests struggles with battery changes and, in one case, vigorously flapped handheld paper fans to cool the motors lodged in the robot's joints in between rounds.

When a metal part fell off one robot, its owner had to tape it back into the body.

According to Robo-One rules, a robot that gets pulled, pushed or punched down must get up on its feet before the referee counts to 10 to avoid a knockout.

Shining in bright colors, the robots, mostly measuring about 16 inches tall, look like fancy toys and sport comic-book names like Typhoon SP, Dynamizer2 and Majingaa.

They sometimes become entangled and tumble off the ring together onto the cushions on the floor. A fall from the ring counts as two knockdowns, with three knockdowns resulting in a loss just like a knockout.

With robots, the count to 10 also starts when a machine freezes in mid-action on its feet. If it collapses by accident on its own and can't get up before the count to 10, that's a knockout as well.

"The technological advances have been amazing over the years," says Naohiro Hayaishi of robot-maker and Robo-One participant Vstone, who has attended the matches from their inception. "These days, the robots really look like they are fighting."

Hayaishi recalled that some robots barely managed to move in earlier contests.

These days, they manage to even pander to the audience, getting down and banging the floor in agony when they lose, or raising their fist in the air and waving to the crowd in victory.

One move that's a relatively recent addition to the robots' repertoire is turning somersaults and crashing into the opponent to bring it down.

Polished looks, smooth moves and autonomy are key qualities factored into the judging. Sloppily hanging cables are a no-no.

The robot's creators stand by the ring with their wireless radio controls or laptops, some alone and others with assistants or their children.

A special guest was Go Nagai, a comic-book artist and a beloved star with Robo-One fans, who were thrilled to get his autograph.

Kits for remote-control robots are on sale in Japan, but most participants designed their own, cutting metal parts and coming up with their own programming. A basic programming for robots is available for free from Robo-One.

"It's fun to see something we made move," said Masayoshi Mori****a, a 15-year-old high-school student, who took part in Robo-One with his classmates.

The fight money isn't stingy at Robo-One, which has drawn corporate sponsors, including major Tokyo-based toymaker Bandai Co and 20th Century Fox. Its science-fiction thriller movie "I, Robot," is soon to be released in Japan.

This year's winner, the 11 lb. Humanoid Project from Kyushu University, outmuscled rivals, collecting $9,000. The runner-up was awarded $1,800.

"It's exciting to see your own ideas take shape in an actual robot," said Toshinobu Koga, 24, one of the students behind the winning robot. Another team member took a robot to an interview and landed himself a job at a major electronics maker, he added.

One of the most exciting moments of Robo-One is the Rumble, when eight robots enter the ring at once, all trying to knock everyone else off the ring.

The last machine standing is the winner.

When more than one is left after five minutes of chaotic whirring and clanging, the crowd decides by applause which gladiator robot wins.

 

[Serena]

Thanks, yudansha. Interesting to see how popular this is there.

Wow! Things sure have come a long way since the Rockem-Sockem robots.
Anybody remember those?

 

[TDWoj]

Technology is highly overrated...

-TD, who is at the mercy of two computers demanding an investment in upgrades which is required for getting work but for which work must first be done to earn the money to buy the upgrades needed to get more work...

(are you dizzy yet? I am)

 

[yudansha]

Technology highly over rated???

Why do you think people today can live to be over 100 years old?
It's BECAUSE of technology that the life expectancy tripled from what it was a century ago.

 

[Littledragon]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than two years and millions of dollars ago, it seemed like a good idea: develop a computerized system that checks airline passengers' backgrounds to make sure they're not terrorists.

But so many people objected to one part of the plan or another that the government is scrapping major portions of the project, the Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System, commonly known as CAPPS II.

The makeover will include a new name, though that, too, is turning out to be a dilemma for the Homeland Security Department.

The working title, "Secure Passage," was abandoned because it had the same initials as another aviation security program. In a city that loves its acronyms, it's best not to double up.

No one thinks a name change alone will be enough to resurrect CAPPS II.

Dennis McBride, director of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a research institute that focuses on science and technology, was briefed by Homeland Security officials on CAPPS II's progress last week.

"Getting there from here won't be easy," McBride concluded.

The Homeland Security officials working on the project are likely to get rid of one element that CAPPS II's critics dislike: making sure people are who they say they are by running their personal information against commercial and government databases.

Any new system would probably have a different process for verifying identity, according to Homeland Security officials.

Another problem is how to give airline passengers the ability to correct mistakes if they're wrongly identified as terrorists or suspects.

Homeland Security spokesman Dennis Murphy said the department is working on that.

"That's something we clearly intend to test, to have a process for people to get redress if they feel that they're being screened unnecessarily or too frequently," Murphy said.

But what's really needed, say CAPPS II's numerous critics, is for the project's developers to drop their passion for secrecy.

Business Travel Coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell said CAPPS II wouldn't have become a political debacle if Homeland Security officials had been open about how the system was supposed to work. The coalition is an advocacy group that tries to lower the cost of business travel.

"It was badly handled," Mitchell said. "It scared everybody. The lack of transparency and inclusiveness is what really doomed it."

Mitchell said privacy advocates and airline passenger groups might not have objected so strenuously to CAPPS II if they'd been included in the project's development.

"People would have been able to contribute solutions and buy into the process," Mitchell said.

But privacy advocate David Sobel thinks CAPPS II may be so fundamentally flawed that no amount of reshaping or repackaging can save it.

Sobel characterizes CAPPS II as a secret system of surveillance on tens of millions of people who fly on commercial airlines.

"It's a fundamental dilemma that arises when the government attempts to use intelligence information against average citizens," said Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research group.

But Paul Rosenzweig, a researcher with the Heritage Foundation think tank, predicts Homeland Security officials will come up with a successor to CAPPS II.

"They're strongly committed, as I think they should be, to the idea that we need to know something about people who travel on planes," said Rosenzweig, who attended the meeting last week with Homeland Security officials.

 

[Littledragon]

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The new issue of Playboy magazine isn't drawing attention in some circles for its trademark centerfold but for an interview with the founders of Web search engine Google Inc. that raised regulatory eyebrows.

The 50-year-old men's monthly, although known for its revealing photographs of women, also has a reputation for publishing provocative interviews with cultural and political figures like Jean-Paul Sartre, Fidel Castro, Malcolm X and Jimmy Carter, who famously said when running for president in 1976 that he had "committed adultery in my heart many times."

Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin didn't say anything particularly memorable in the Playboy interview that hit newsstands on Friday. But it drew scrutiny because it came out just as the company opened the auction for its highly anticipated initial public offering of stock.

Google said on Friday the interview, conducted in April before the company filed for its IPO, might violate securities rules on maintaining a so-called "quiet period" ahead of its stock offering. But later in the day, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would not delay the deal because of the interview.

The buzz over the Google interview comes at a time when the magazine is trying to find the right editorial formula as it grapples with tough competition from men's magazines like FHM and Maxim.

The timing "is good, but is it really going to bring back the Playboy interview to what it used to be? I really doubt that," said Samir Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi.

"There are so many good magazines now that if you are really into reading ... you are going to avoid the nudity of Playboy."

He said the famed Playboy interview generally does not have the same impact in popular culture that it had during the magazine's heyday in the 1970s. Playboy's circulation has dropped to about 3.1 million from about 7 million in the 1970s.

The first Playboy interview ran in September 1962 with "Roots" author Alex Haley interviewing jazz musician Miles Davis. Over the years, interview subjects have included John Wayne, Mae West, Muhammad Ali and Tennessee Williams.

Playboy, published by Playboy Enterprises Inc. <PLA.N> and founded by sexual revolution icon Hugh Hefner, says the monthly interview is still its "crown jewel", pointing to recently published interviews with people such as filmmaker Michael Moore.

"It's the gold standard for journalism in our magazine," said Christopher Napolitano, Playboy's editorial director.

The Playboy interview has always "been uniformly smart and readable," said Victor Navasky, journalism professor at Columbia University and publisher and editorial director at The Nation magazine.

But, he said, Playboy still must contend with the fact that most of the audience buys it "not to read what's in it but to see what's in it."

 

[Littledragon]

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A group of technology companies including Texas Instruments Inc., STMicroelectronics and Broadcom Corp., on Thursday said they will propose a new wireless networking standard up to 10 times the speed of the current generation.

The group says they are submitting a plan for a new standard for a popular short range wireless networking technology known as Wi-Fi -- which is used in airports, hotels and coffee shops to access the Web without wires.

The group, calling itself "WWiSE," said their version of an 802.11n standard would be compatible with the technology currently in use, known by various code names such as 802.11b and 802.11g. Their technology could operate at speeds up to 540 megabits per second.

The group said they planned to submit their proposal to the task force at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers charged with developing an 802.11n standard.

The group's proposed version of the standard would peak at a speed of 540 Mbps, requiring using a larger communications channel for the signal than most jurisdictions allow. Using the more standard channel size, their 802.11n proposal would peak at 135 Mbps.

They also said they would license their patents necessary to implement their version of 802.11n on a royalty-free basis.

Other companies taking part in the WWiSE group are Airgo Networks, Bermai, and Conexant Systems Inc..

 

[Littledragon]

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A routine trip to the local supermarket may not be synonymous with technology just yet but supermarkets are increasingly becoming high-tech, and the potential for both advertiser and consumer is endless, say advertising experts.

From self-service checkouts, to online shopping, 30-second advertisements on television screens in aisles, to mobile scanning, supermarkets are already embracing technology.

By November, UK supermarket chain Tesco will have advertising on large televisions screens in the aisles of 300 of its stores, with the advertisements changing every two weeks.

But according to Andy Murray, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X, technology will play an even bigger role in large-scale stores, such as supermarkets, which also opens up the possibilities for advertising.

His company, the U.S.-based shopper marketing company formerly named ThompsonMurray, was bought by advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi on June 1.

Murray says a lot of technology that will make shopping a more interactive experience has already been created but the difficulty is making the ideas a reality, which is where he hopes Saatchi & Saatchi X will play an integral role.

One concept will see customers' mobile phone or a separate in-store wireless device deliver personalized messages to them while they are in store.

This will vary from promotions and discounts to information on products the customer is interested in buying.

Shoppers will also be able to tune into the shop's radio station while in their car on their way to the store, similar to the service that several airports offer, whereby travelers tune in to the airport's radio station and find out information before they arrive there.

"They will be able to tune in and get information about sale items or news before they even enter the shop," Murray says.

He says computer screens attached to trolleys are also not far from becoming a reality, which will enable the customer to keep track of what they have bought and how much they have spent, as well as find out more information about the products they are buying.

He says the greater the level of technology involved in shopping, the more "personal touch" will be needed, to ensure it does not isolate and overwhelm customers.

"If it was just about advertising, it wouldn't work. It has to be about creating intimacy with the customer. It's about interacting with the customer, empowering the customer and giving them a choice."

Murray says advertising is increasingly become more about bringing the brand to life and using technology was a way of doing this.

He says "behind-the-scenes" technology has also allowed companies, including supermarkets, to capture data about their customers and tailor-make advertising to their needs as a direct result of this.

Deborah Lee, from London-based outdoor advertising company Poster Publicity, says advertising is increasingly becoming interactive and technology is playing a key part in this.

At the recent premier of the film "I, Robot", advertisers created a walking billboard by having people walking around wearing a T-shirt with a built-in television screen, which played clips of the movie.

Lee's company is currently using a vest jacket, created by company Adwalkers, to sell its clients' products.

The vest jacket has a television screen that carries a message but it can also be used as an interactive device, whereby consumers' can log in to the product Web site.

"It's about empowering the customer with information and using high-tech devices to do this," says Lee.

 

[tora]

The advanced look of our future monitors.

 

[yudansha]

Cellphone text message leads police to suspects in killing of Belgian teen

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - A Belgian teen, beaten with a bat and stuffed into a car trunk, made a last futile call for help, sending her father a cellphone text message that his girlfriend was trying to kill her, officials said Tuesday.

Stephanie De Mulder's father, on vacation in the Netherlands, only found the message on his phone a day later. By that time, the body of his 18-year-old daughter, dressed in her nightgown, had been dumped in the waters off the port of Antwerp.

The live-in girlfriend, Maura Van Lommel, and her 23-year-old son Andy were detained and confessed to the killing, the girlfriend's lawyer said. Divers recovered the girl's body Saturday.

"At the (court) session, she expressed regret at what has happened," lawyer Steff Stevens told reporters.

On Aug. 11, De Mulder wrote a text message to her father, Gilbert De Mulder, saying, "Help, Maura is killing."

The father told investigators he didn't see the message until the next day. He then called police, who tracked down Van Lommel and her son, who led investigators to the body.

"Both have confessed to murder, but we have no idea about the motive," Stevens told Belgian TV station VRT.

Gilbert De Mulder said he believed Van Lommel, his girlfriend of five years, was jealous of his close relationship with his daughter.

"I don't understand that," he told Het Belang van Limburg newspaper. "It is only normal that you have a strong relationship with your daughter. None of my relationships has ever come between me and my child."

According to police, Van Lommel and her son went into the teenager's bedroom the night of Aug. 11, struck her with a baseball bat and threw the unconscious body down the stairs to try to make it look like an accident. The mother and son each accuse the other of wielding the bat.

They then allegedly put her in the trunk of a car and drove from the home in Mechelen to Antwerp, 30 kilometres away, where the body was thrown into the harbour.

The teen apparently regained consciousness briefly and sent the text message from inside the trunk, according to investigators.

On Wednesday, officials will take the mother and son back to the brick row house in Mechelen, just north of Brussels, where the attack occurred. Re-enactments of crimes are a common practice in Belgium and are designed to retrace the victim's last steps and determine whether suspects' statements are credible.

If convicted of premeditated murder, the mother and son could face up to life in prison.

ROBERT WIELAARD; © The Canadian Press, 2004

 

[Littledragon]

Real offers 49-cent music downloads

But move to battle Apple's iTunes to lead to wider 3Q loss than first forecast.
August 17, 2004: 4:02 AM EDT



NEW YORK (Reuters) - RealNetworks Inc. halved prices for songs downloaded from its online music store Tuesday to win customers for new technology that has rankled rival Apple Computer Inc.

The company also said it would launch its biggest ad campaign for digital music, with print, radio and online spots centered on the idea of "Freedom of Choice."

But those programs will come with increased costs, and the Seattle-based company warned its third-quarter loss could be 1 cent per share wider than previously expected. The company did not break out the likely costs of the campaign.


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The temporary discount, making songs 49 cents and most albums $4.99, came at the same time as the full public launch of the newest version of the company's RealPlayer jukebox software.

The software uses technology called Harmony to make songs purchased from Real's music store playable on Apple (AAPL: Research, Estimates)'s popular iPod music players. That eliminates an advantage Apple's iTunes Music Store has over Real's rival.

In late July, Real (RNWK: Research, Estimates) announced a limited test version of Harmony, which translates digital rights management software used with songs sold by Real to make them compatible with the iPod's standard.

But the move raised questions as to how Real had engineered its software without a license for Apple's rights management technology.

In a statement issued in July, Apple said Real had "adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker" and said it was "investigating the (legal) implications." As yet, the iPod-maker has not taken legal action against Real.

"As of today we are compatible with all of the iPods and all of the versions of the firmware running on the iPods," Richard Wolpert, chief strategy officer for Real, told Reuters.

Wolpert said the download discounts were "more of a get-it-while-it's-hot kind of sale." Real's store, like most others, including Apple's, typically charges 99 cents for downloads.

Apple leads all other digital music services by a wide margin, with more than 100 million downloads sold to date.

Real said it now expects a third-quarter loss of 3 cents to 5 cents per share, or a loss of 1 cent to 3 cents per share excluding litigation costs.

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In late July the company forecast a loss of 3 cents to 4 cents per share, or 1 cent to 2 cents excluding litigation costs, on revenue of $66 million to $68 million.

Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had expected a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $67.6 million.

 

[Littledragon]

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A group of musicians working at universities in England are getting excited about the latest computer acoustic software, whereby a computer reacts to what a musician plays.

The software is programmed in such a way that, when used alongside a live musician, it produces an improvised sound, in a similar way to how chess computer programs play "live" against human players.

Professor Peter Wiegold, Head of Music Research at Brunel University, says several universities throughout the country are using this sort of software.

At Brunel, English cellist Matthew Barley has taken up a research post to develop a repertoire of duets between a solo cello and a computer using software developed by Ircam, the Paris-based Institute of Research and Co-ordination of Acoustics and Music.

Wiegold says that the musical software works in a similar way to the loop machines solo guitarists use to accompany themselves, but instead of just playing back the sound, it is more like a live, dynamic accompaniment.

He says it is an exciting development for music because the software can create a sound that a human may not have thought off.

It can also alter pitch, so that the cello sounds more like a double bass, or duplicate the sounds to give the impression that there are 30 cellos supporting him.

"It's very exciting because until recently, pre-programmed music was very one-dimensional," he says.

"Now, because computers are so fast, the computer will respond instantly and will throw something back at you that you may not have thought of, or that you may not have ever heard before. They can change texture, pitch, all sorts of things that until recently, were not possible."

He does not believe computers will ever replace musicians, but instead enhance what they do by combining art with science.

"You can never recreate what a human does. What you can do is bring a computer into the equation and see what happens."

He says the aim at the end of the Barley project is to program a computer so well that it will sound like a live musician.

The project will culminate in an album and a live performance of cello and computer in London next year.

He compares it to the computer-generated music created by DJs on the clubbing scene, but with a classical twist.

 

[Littledragon]

Computer gamers who enjoy solving logic and memory puzzles will find plenty of rewarding head-scratchers in "Aura: Fate of the Ages," a $20 adventure inspired by point-and-click titles such as the classic "Myst."

Unlike "Myst," "Aura," doesn't have a spellbinding story or interesting characters, so the end result is an average game that could have been an extraordinary one.

A short introductory movie sets the fantasy premise about a clan of "keepers" who are responsible for protecting the sacred rings of the world.

The game's legend claims these rings, when brought together, can open parallel worlds or create new ones. And whoever unites the rings with artifacts from the parallel worlds can achieve great power and immortality.

The player assumes the role of Umang, a traveler tapped by the keepers to recover these artifacts before the villainous Durad can find and use them for malevolence.

This tale appears to be more of an afterthought -- a strained way to tie the game's puzzles together. The story does not build into anything exciting, nor are the characters particularly interesting.

As Umang, you must explore four unique worlds: the lush Ademika Valley, the snowy and mechanical Dragast, the esoteric land of Na-Tiexu and finally, the beautiful Island of Unity. Each world enjoys its own look and set of puzzles, such as activating a motorized bridge in Dragast or placing seven "mood statues" on ceremonial stones in the mystical Na-Tiexu.

Brainteasers include Rube Goldberg-style contraptions, memory tests and jigsaw puzzles. You also must place items from your inventory, such as a lighter or battery, onto a structure before manipulating it.

Fans of "Myst" may even experience some déjà vu with a couple of music-based challenges. One memorable puzzle involves adjusting the pitch of four tuning forks.

These problems can get quite complex, but you can refer to Umang's diary that is automatically updated with hints on how to complete tougher tasks. Also, keep a pen and paper while playing to make note of the many symbols and important drawings in the game. Downloading one of the free walkthroughs off the Internet isn't a bad idea either at sites such as www.the-spoiler.com.

Aside from the stiff character animation, the visuals are quite good thanks to the game's detailed environments. As with "Myst," the player navigates these worlds from a first-person perspective.

The mouse-driven interface is easy to pick up, even for novice gamers. That said, sometimes players will have trouble finding an on-screen item so they must resort to combing the area -- also known as "pixel-hunting" -- until the mouse icon lights up to indicate the object has been found.

The audio is also a mixed bag; the sound effects and voice talent are decent, but the music sounds amateurish in both its composition and quality.

"Aura: Fate of the Ages" isn't a bad find for $20, especially for those who enjoy tough puzzles, but don't expect it to be a well-rounded adventure.

Gamers can download a free playable demo of the first level at www.AuraGame.com.

 

[yudansha]

Union complains about bank outsourcing data processing to India

LONDON (AP) - A customer of Lloyds TSB bank has complained to Britain's Information Commissioner arguing that data should not be transferred outside Europe without the consent of individual customers.

The complaint by an unidentified Lloyds customer, filed in July, argues that Indian workers would not be subject to the same data protection standards applicable in Europe, according to the Lloyds TSB union. The union has been campaigning against "outsourcing" of work to India and other countries.

The Information Commissioner's office declined to comment Wednesday on the complaint, but said British companies were still bound by European standards when data is transferred overseas.

"There are various bases in law which can be used to legitimize the transfer overseas of personal data, consent from the individual is just one of them," said a statement from the Information Commissioner.

"As far as the ICO is concerned, the main issue is that the information that is transferred overseas continues to enjoy an adequate level of protection as if it stayed in the U.K.

"Should a data controller, subject to U.K. law, outsource work outside the EEA (European Economic Area), they will remain responsible for that data. In particular, it must be afforded appropriate security and not be used or disclosed other than for its legitimate business purpose."

Lloyds TSB said in a statement that it was confident it complied with Britain's Data Protection Action "and our customers can be reassured that their personal information is as protected in India as it would be in the UK."

"The Data Protection Act states that as long as we have measures in place to ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data, we are not required to obtain customers' explicit consent," Lloyds TSB said.

© The Canadian Press, 2004

 

[yudansha]

Nortel Networks cutting 3,500 jobs, fires seven more finance executives

TORONTO (CP) - Canada's biggest technology company is getting smaller again, cutting 3,500 more employees -and firing seven more financial managers -while releasing "estimated limited preliminary unaudited financial results" for the first half of this year.

Nortel Networks Corp., which keeps its accounts in U.S. dollars, said Thursday it had six-month revenue of $5.1 billion, with $2.5 billion in the first quarter and $2.6 billion in the second quarter.

Estimated net earnings for the half were break-even to two cents per share, including a two-cent-a-share gain on acontract settlement in South America.

The revenue figure was up from $4.7 billion reported in the first half of last year -one of many numbers that remain in doubt as Nortel reviews its past accounting under scrutiny from Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies and securities regulators.

The latest workforce reduction -10 per cent of the current headcount -"is intended to preserve our customer-facing emphasis and in many cases to enhance it," CEO Bill Owens told a conference call.

Most of the job cuts this year will be in North America, largely from administrative and research-and-development functions. The reduction, expected to cost $300 million to $400 million, is aimed at cutting expenses by $450 million to $500 million a year.

"In the areas of China, Asia and Central and Latin America, the cuts we've announced will be almost insignificant," Owens said, "because these regions are growing for us and are important regions going forward."

Nortel, based in Brampton, Ont., will be left by year-end with about 30,000 employees, down from 95,500 at its peak in 2000.

It is also restructuring from four business units to two, concentrating on telecommunications carriers and large enterprise systems.

"We are organizing Nortel around the converged networks of the future," Owens said, adding that Nortel will be hiring new salespeople and is "recruiting for a world-class chief marketing officer."

The seven newly fired managers join former CEO Frank Dunn and two other executives "terminated for cause" in April as Nortel hired Owens, a former U.S. admiral.

Nortel stated that "each of these 10 individuals had primary, or substantial, responsibility for the company's financial reporting," and knew or should have known that attributions of income misstated the corporation's results.

"The company will demand repayment by these individuals of payments made under company bonus plans in respect of 2003, and will take further additional action with respect to these individuals, if appropriate."

Owens said the value of those bonuses is about $10 million.

Despite the workforce cuts, "we will retain an ability to grow revenue," he stressed, adding that "customers remain enthusiastic for Nortel products."

He also said the company is intensifying its focus on network security.

"Many of our customers . . . face enormous threats from viruses, from intrusions, from all elements of security as they relate to the new Internet environment," Owens said, noting that an intrusion in a voice-over-Internet system could spread and shut down complete networks.

The emphasis on security is "quite clever," Duncan Stewart, technology portfolio manager at Tera Capital, said after the conference call.

He said Nortel has a reputation for reliability and security which should enable it to increase sales and profit margins against bigger competitors like Cisco Systems and cheaper competitors from Asia.

Owens acknowledged "the growing competitiveness in this marketplace with the advent of new Chinese competitors, for example," which are "professional and lower-cost" and put pressure on profit margins.

"This company will continue to focus on cash, and focus on cost and on growing revenue," he concluded. "We are striving to make ourselves the most credible, honest and efficient company in the marketplace."

Nortel faces a welter of shareholder lawsuits and on Monday the RCMP confirmed a criminal investigation into its accounting.

When it fired Dunn along with its chief financial officer and controller in April, Nortel said its stated profit of $732 million for 2003 would be cut in half. Thursday's update made no change to that estimate.

"I think Nortel did a really good job today -not that the results are that great or anything," Stewart commented. "The level of disclosure went up: we knew almost nothing; we now know more.

"They relatively decisively have moved to cut costs -that's important. No. 3, they articulated a strategy .n. . admiral Owens gave us an idea that here is the guy in charge, he knows what he's doing."

Nortel shares (TSX:NT), after an early jump of almost 13 per cent, were up 39 cents or eight per cent at $5.04 Cdn in late morning trading on the Toronto stock market.
________

A Canada goose walks past a Nortel sign outside of a Nortel building in Ottawa, April 2004. (CP/Tobin Grimshaw)TORONTO (CP) - Canada's biggest technology company is getting smaller again, cutting 3,500 more employees -and firing seven more financial managers -while releasing "estimated limited preliminary unaudited" results for the first half of this year.​

The moves by Nortel Networks on Thursday came amid an accounting scandal that has prompted lawsuits, criminal investigations and the firing of three top executives in April.

The latest job cuts -10 per cent of the workforce -are "intended to preserve our customer-facing emphasis and in many cases to enhance it," CEO Bill Owens told a conference call.

Most of the cuts will be in North America, largely from administrative and research-and-development functions. The staff terminations, expected to cost $300 million to $400 million, are aimed at reducing expenses by $450 million to $500 million a year.

"In the areas of China, Asia and Central and Latin America, the cuts we've announced will be almost insignificant," Owens said, "because these regions are growing for us and are important regions going forward."

Nortel, which keeps its accounts in U.S. dollars, reported six-month revenue of $5.1 billion, with $2.5 billion in the first quarter and $2.6 billion in the second.

Estimated net earnings for the half were break-even to two cents per share, including a two-cent-a-share gain on a contract settlement in South America.

The revenue figure was up from $4.7 billion reported in the first half of last year -one of many numbers that remain in doubt as Nortel reviews its past accounting under scrutiny from Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies and securities regulators.

Nortel, based in Brampton, Ont., will be left by year-end with about 30,000 employees, down from 95,500 at its peak in 2000.

It is also restructuring from four business units to two, concentrating on telecommunications carriers and large enterprise systems, with "a distinct focus on government and defence customer segments."

"We are organizing Nortel around the converged networks of the future," Owens said, adding that the company will be hiring new salespeople and is "recruiting for a world-class chief marketing officer."

The seven newly fired managers join former CEO Frank Dunn and two other executives "terminated for cause" in April before Nortel hired Owens, a former U.S. admiral.

"Each of these 10 individuals had primary, or substantial, responsibility for the company's financial reporting," and knew or should have known that attributions of income misstated the corporation's results, Nortel said Thursday.

"The company will demand repayment by these individuals of payments made under company bonus plans in respect of 2003, and will take further additional action with respect to these individuals, if appropriate."

Owens said those bonuses totalled about $10 million.

Despite the new workforce cuts, "we will retain an ability to grow revenue," he stressed, adding that "customers remain enthusiastic for Nortel products."

He also said the company is intensifying its focus on network security, noting that an intrusion in a voice-over-Internet system could spread and shut down complete networks.

The emphasis on security is "quite clever," Duncan Stewart, technology portfolio manager at Tera Capital, said after the conference call.

He said Nortel has a reputation for reliability, which should help it increase sales and profit margins against bigger competitors like Cisco Systems and cheaper competitors from Asia.

Owens acknowledged "the growing competitiveness in this marketplace with the advent of new Chinese competitors, for example," which are "professional and lower-cost" and put pressure on profit margins.

In addition to its business challenges, Nortel faces a welter of shareholder lawsuits, including one claiming $250 million Cdn, and on Monday the RCMP confirmed a criminal investigation into its accounting.

When it fired Dunn along with its chief financial officer and controller in April, Nortel said its stated profit of $732 million US for 2003 would be cut in half. Thursday's update made no change to that estimate.

Reaction from investment professionals to Owens's presentation was mixed.

"I thought there was a lot of blither and promise, but no hard specific numbers that we all need for analysis purposes," said Ross Healy, president of Strategic Analysis Corp.

The job cuts "are going to save 10 cents a share and it's going to cost them seven cents to do it, so we're not going to see anything for this year, anyway," Healy said.

"If you're an investor and you have just rushed in this morning and bid the stock up, I would have to ask you what did you hear in that conference that I didn't."

Tera Capital's Stewart was more positive -"not that the results are that great or anything," he said.

"The level of disclosure went up. We knew almost nothing; we now know more. They relatively decisively have moved to cut costs -that's important. No. 3, they articulated a strategy .n. . admiral Owens gave us an idea that here is the guy in charge, he knows what he's doing."

Nortel shares (TSX:NT), after an early jump of almost 13 per cent, were up 39 cents or eight per cent at $5.04 Cdn early in the afternoon on the Toronto stock market.

The company reiterated its expectation that the market for telecom equipment will grow by low to mid-single-digit percentages this year, and that its revenue will grow faster than the market.

It also repeated that it expects to file firm numbers for the first and second quarters, as well as restated results for 2003, by the end of next month.

In the streamlining of its structure, Nortel said its wireless, wireline and optical businesses will be combined into a single unit serving telecom carriers, which "is expected to eliminate internal redundancies and reduce costs."

Pascal Debon, head of the wireless division, becomes president for carrier networks effective Oct. 1. Malcolm Collins continues as president of enterprise networks.

Sue Spradley, head of the wireline business, was named president of global operations, reporting to Debon and working on developing new partnerships. Brian McFadden, president of optical networks, becomes chief technology officer, succeeding Greg Mumford, who is retiring.

GARY NORRIS; © The Canadian Press, 2004

 

[yudansha]

Biometric ID firm Comnetix Inc. names Zahavich chief financial officer

TORONTO (CP) - Comnetix Inc., a specialist in biometric identification, has named finance veteran Tim Zahavich as its chief financial officer.

Zahavich was previously CFO of Toronto-based Vixs Systems Inc, a company specializing in semiconductors for the transmission of wireless video signals. Before that, he was CFO of Com Dev International, which makes components for satellites, and he has held similar positions with several other firms.

Toronto-based Comnetix (TSX:CXI) provides criminal identification and authentication hardware and software to law enforcement agencies throughout North America. It also offers commercial systems for use in areas such as applicant screening, financial services, health care and air travel.

© The Canadian Press, 2004

 

[yudansha]

Alcohol inhaler machine displayed in New York

NEW YORK (AP) - A machine that lets drinkers inhale shots of alcohol went on display Friday night, even as one local legislator warned the device is "a disaster waiting to happen."

The Alcohol Without Liquid vapourizer mixes the alcohol with pressurized oxygen. Makers said it takes about 20 minutes to breathe in one shot, giving drinkers the effect of alcohol without the drunkenness, or hangover.

Democratic New York state Senator Carl Kruger pledged to introduce legislation to ban its use, calling the inhaler, manufactured in England and distributed domestically by North Carolina-based Spirit Partners, a "new form of pipe smoking" and saying it could encourage underage drinking and drunken driving.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office said the issue had been referred to the State Liquor Authority and declined comment. A message left with the agency was not immediately returned.

"It becomes a whole enforcement issue," Kruger said.

"The way we test alcohol levels will be skewed and so will all the direction we've taken in this state to lower blood-alcohol levels."

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano said he also fears the machine will attract underage drinkers.

The machine went on display for a sneak peak at the bar Trust, in Manhattan. But bar and lounge owners in New York may be wary, said Bob Zuckerman, executive director of the New York Nightlife Association.

"We don't know if this device is legal and in addition we don't know if it is safe," Zuckerman said.

"Our members and most bar owners are responsible and I'm sure they'll tread very carefully before putting a device such as this in their establishments."

A manager who answered the phone at Trust said it's too early to predict the effect of the new machine. The manager, who would identify himself only as Marty, said the bar hasn't purchased the device and Trust drinkers would "be responsible, no matter how they ingest their substances."

© The Canadian Press, 2004