Tsunami warning lifted in much of south Pacific region

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on Sunday canceled its tsunami warning for many countries in the Pacific region.

The center's warning has been lifted in French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, American Samoa, Tokelau, Fiji, Hawaii the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Pitcairn Islands, Niue, Guam, the Northern Marianas, Pohnpei, Chuuk and Yap.

The warning, issued after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile, sparked evacuations in some countries but many people have now been told they can return home.

French Polynesia appeared to have suffered the worst effects of the tsunami with the Marquesas islands in the north of French Polynesia experiencing waves up to four meters high, Radio New Zealand International reported. There are no reports of casualties or major damage. The measurement for Tahiti is 40 cm.

Democrats Are Listening to the American People Opinion

On Thursday, I sat down with President Obama and my congressional colleagues from both parties to try to find a way out of the health care crisis looming our families and businesses. It was a time to face facts none of us can deny that insurance premium doubled more than last decade, with no sign of stopping that most of our smallest businesses can't afford to cover their employees anymore that America pays more per person for health care than any other mechanized country in the world, without seeing better health.

Those are some of the reasons Democrats have worked so hard to pass a centrist health reform bill, many of whose provisions are similar to those endorsed by former Republican Senate leaders Bob Dole and Howard Baker. At today's summit, we also discussed the numerous bipartisan areas of agreement that already exist and are already in the health care bill. I believe in bipartisan conciliation but Senate Minority Leader John Boehner's recent AOL News op-ed piece was more about political talking points than common solutions. It deserves a line by line rebuttal.

"Americans want Washington to scrap this job-killing government takeover of health care and start over."

It's really the growing cost of health care that's killing jobs. A study from economists at USC and Harvard shows that passing health insurance reform would create 4 million more jobs over the next decade.

Travel Alert for Mexico

This week the U.S. Department of State extended its travel alert for Mexico, adding two Mexican states to the areas it warns U.S. travelers to avoid. The updated alert includes Durango and Coahuila in northern Mexico.

The killing of four U.S. citizens in late 2009 and early 2010 in Gomez Palacio, Durango, contributed to the updated alert, the State Department said in a release. "The cities of Durango and Gomez Palacio in the state of Durango, and the area known as 'La Laguna' in the state of Coahuila, which includes the city of Torreon, experienced sharp increases in violence," the department said. Drug trafficking is the primary cause of the rise in violence, the release said.

The alert could be a further blow to Mexican tourism, which is recovering after reports of violence and H1N1 virus concerns significantly reduced the number of tourists in Mexico during 2009. The State Department continued to urge travelers to delay unnecessary travel to Michoacán in central Mexico and Chihuahua.

For more details refer to the site:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575085532638748128.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Brake override software-Toyota Canada to install on extended range of vehicles

TORONTO --Toyota Canada is offering to install new protection software on three more vehicles, on Tuesday adding the Tacoma, Venza and Sequoia to a list of cars and trucks eligible for a brake override system intended to protect against brake or accelerator pedal problems.

The move is part of an enduring attempt by Toyota to resolve its tattered public image, but analysts questioned whether the move could backfire.
"Toyota's got to be very careful," said Tony Faria, co-director of the automotive research centre at the University of Windsor.

"Almost anything they do is going to get media attention, and while they're going to try and organize what they're doing, the way the actions they take are interpreted are not necessarily always going to be the way Toyota is hoping those actions are going to be interpreted."

The Japanese automaker has recalled 8.5 million vehicles worldwide in recent months to deal with safety problems involving gas pedals, floor mats and brakes, some of which have been linked to fatal accidents. In Canada, a total of 270,000 vehicles have been recalled due to a problem involving sticky accelerator pedals.

Last rocket to be fired in Utah as final space shuttle launch nears

A remarkable era will come to an end later this week in Northern Utah. The people who've been building space shuttle rockets for more than a third of a century will perform the last test firing in Utah. The program is rapidly coming to an end, leaving many questions about the future of the space program and thousands of jobs in Northern Utah.

A train will soon take rockets to Florida for the last listed space shuttle launch. At ATK, formerly Thiokol, they've been making the massive rockets since the mid-70s. When there's a shuttle launch in Florida, Harry Reed, ATK Shuttle Program Manager, travels there every time.

Hacking Inquiry Puts China’s Elite in New Light

SHANGHAI — With its authentic reputation and its scientific bent, Shanghai Jiaotong University has the feel of an Ivy League institution.

The university has alliances with elite American ones like Duke and the University of Michigan. And it is so rich in science and engineering talent that Microsoft and Intel have moved into a research park directly nearby to the school.
But Jiaotong, whose sprawling campus here has more than 33,000 students, is facing an unlikable question  is it a base for sophisticated computer hackers?
Investigators looking into Web attacks on Google and dozens of other American companies last year have traced the intrusions to computers at Jiaotong as well as an unclear vocational school in eastern China, according to people briefed on the case.
Security experts concern that it is hard to trace online attacks and that the digital footprints may be a “false flag,” a kind of distraction intended to throw investigators off track.
But those with knowledge of the examination say there are consistent clues that suggest the highly complicated attacks may have originated at Jiaotong and the more obscure campus, Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong Province, an institution with ties to the Chinese military.

American Evan Lysacek defends his victory over Russian Evgeni Plushenko

VANCOUVER, B.C. U.S. figure skater Evan Lysacek presently wanted to enjoy the Olympic gold medal he never expected but always wanted hours after his distress victory over Russian Evgeni Plushenko in the Olympic men's figure skating competition Thursday.

Instead, Lysacek spent Friday lasting attacks on the authority of his title from Russians and others disappoint both with his strategic approach and the judges verdict to give him a narrow victory over the 2006 gold medal winner.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sent Plushenko, who claimed the silver medal, a telegram telling him his "silver was as good as gold" and he "performed the most proficient program on the Vancouver ice." Russian commentators decried the result, and two-time Olympic silver medal winner Elvis Stojko said in a column for Yahoo that Lysacek's skate wasn't "Olympic champion material" and "the judges made a mockery" of the event by rewarding Lysacek.

For more details refer to the http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021905132.html

Symantec launches new version of Norton 360

MUMBAI, INDIA: Symantec, the global security, storage and system management solutions provider, today announced the launch of Norton 360 version 4.0 in India, as part of the global launch of the latest version.

The Norton 360 version 4.0 offers latest security technology with remote access to secure data backup and delivers high security against web-based attacks such as social networking threats. Also it introduced median beta application for the Android phones and plans to come out with the beta application for the iPod and iPhone in the coming weeks.

With the free downloadable application from the iPhone App Store or the Android Market, users who have stored data online with Norton 360 or Norton On-line Backup can access and share documents, music, photos or videos directly from their devices, Symantec told media here today.

According to the company, over 11 million users have benefited from this feature.

“Consumers today expect to be able to access and share their files, photos and music any time from any device and our mobile applications make that possible,” said Rowan Trollope, Symantec's senior vice president Consumer Products and Marketing.

“They are also interacting more on social networks, which have become a top target for cyber criminals. Norton 360's reputation-based technology leverages the strength of millions of our community members and is confirmed effective in fighting the web-based threats that attack social networks,” he added.

According to David Hall, Symantec's regional product manager, Asia Pacific Consumer Products and Solutions, the Norton 360 version 4.0 is built on Reputation-based security technology, which blocks previously hidden threat from one of every two users.

“With the 'Smart Startup Manager', the security suite helps decrease the PC boot up time and offers fast concert along with backup space of 2GB online storage. Overall it protects, offers high performance and online sharing from anywhere at any time via multiple devices,” said David Hall.

The Reputation-based technology tackles undiscovered malware and threats head-on. According to UK-based Dennis Technology Labs, Norton 360 topped in third-party testing, which were designed to replicate real-world, web-based attacks such as those targets social networking sites. Among 10 products tested, Norton was the only one to protect against all of the threats, achieving a 100 per cent overall protection score, claimed Symantec.

The Norton 360 has two editions. The standard edition with 2GB of online storage space is available at a suggested retail price of Rs.3200 for 3-PC users license and Rs.1795 for single PC user. While, the premium edition with 25 GB of online storage space with 3-PC users license is available at a suggested retail price of Rs.4025.

The price for both standard and premium editions includes a one year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec's protection updates.

Technology, medical tests 'changing the face of health care'

A boom in medical technology over the past decade or two has led to a course in certain medical tests and increased prescription drug use, say authors of a report that provides a snapshot of Americans' health today.

Imaging, assisted reproductive technologies, direction drugs and knee replacements have all seen a dramatic rise since the early '90s, says Amy Bernstein, the report's lead author, a health scientist for the National Center for Health information. The center, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released the 33rd annual Report on the Nation's Health Wednesday. It includes a special section on health technology.

"There are newer and better technologies all the time, and they're changing the face of health care and practice patterns," Bernstein says.

She points to report findings that show the use of stain drugs, which lower cholesterol, increased almost tenfold from 1994 to 2006 in adults over age 45.

"One of the reasons cholesterol is declining and people are living longer with heart disease is because we have improved drugs. Technologies can be very helpful," she says.

3G Mobile technology

This figure shows the broadcast of different channels in 3G services and functional block diagram of 3G Mobile

Smartphone:Microsoft unveils new smartphone software

After three years of evading questions over why it was so far behind Apple's iPhone, Microsoft is staging a comeback in the mobile business with a remarkably redesigned mobile operating system.

The company said Monday it will retire Windows Mobile 6.5 this year and has returned from the drawing board with Windows Phone 7 Series, a system that breaks free of the previous PC-centric design.
Chief Executive Steve Ballmer introduced the new system at the global Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

For Microsoft, the progress could be a pick up again for a mobile business unit that some believe has been missing from action during a period of major innovation.

With the new software, Microsoft also showed a shine of the potential locked inside the company's apparently distinct businesses, integrating them into a single device that could be greater than the sum of its parts — video-gaming service Xbox Live, music and video player Zune HD, search engine Bing, Office productivity software and Outlook e-mail.

Samsung unveils new smart phone with own software

BARCELONA, Spain — Samsung Electronics Co. the prime maker of cell phones for the U.S. market, on Sunday revealed the first phone running Samsung's own "smart" software system, bada.

With bada, Korea-based Samsung is taking the TouchWiz system used on its touch-screen non-smart phones and making it the basis of a smart phone platform to take on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry. Samsung also makes phones based on other competing smart phone systems Android, created by Google Inc., and Symbian, of which Nokia Corp. is a major backer.

J.K. Shin, the president of Samsung's phone division, said the goal of bada was to expand the market for smart phones, making them available to people across the world who have made with non-smart phones.

The new phone, dubbed the Wave, is a touch screen phone like the iPhone. It features a highly drenched, high-resolution screen using organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs. Samsung said the phone will go on sale in April, but did not say if the U.S. would be one of the launch markets, nor did it say what the phone would cost.

To support the Wave and existing phones using TouchWiz, Samsung is launching online applications stores in 50 countries this year, including the U.S. Most major phone makers now operate application stores, or make phones that use stores administered by others, like Google.

Samsung revealed the phone in Barcelona a day ahead of the start of Mobile World Congress, the world's largest cell phone trade show.

Nvidia Unveils Optimus Graphics Technology

Finally, Nvidia has unveiled the Optimus Graphics technology for the mobile platform. As reported earlier, the Optimus technology automatically chooses and switches the best fit graphics chip between integrated graphics and discrete graphics. Besides that, this technology also switches back to the graphics which will help conserve battery life.

Nvidia cites an example of Hybrid car that choose best system between electric car engine and gas-powered system on-the-fly, Optimus does the same for graphics processors on notebooks. Optimus technology for notebooks is flawless, instantaneous and most importantly - automatic. Users won't have to fiddle around any settings or buttons. Basically, this technology makes an automatic choice of using either discrete graphics or integrated graphics for running a program and also ensures improved performance along with longer battery life.

Nvidia claims that battery charge on Optimus equipped notebooks can last up to two times longer than the notebooks without Optimus technology and discrete GPU.

IBS Software wins 'IT systems provider' award

style="justify"THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: IBS Software, IT systems provider to travel, transportation and logistics industries, on Tuesday said it had won the 'IT

Systems Provider of the Year' award at the Air Cargo India 2010 event in Mumbai.

"This award is a gratitude of our success in introducing a new standard in IT solutions for business problems that outbreak the industry," Senior Vice President and Global Head of Cargo Line of Business for IBS Akshay Shrivastava said in a statement here.

He said the company has built and delivered a number of next-generation solutions for the aviation industry.

The statement said the award for company's cargo management solution icargo was based on an online poll by STAT Trade Times, organizers of the event.

STAT Trade Times is considered one of the most authoritative journals in Asia Pacific, providing in-depth coverage for the shipping, transport, aviation and tourism (STAT) industries.

IBS' cargo management solution was developed four years ago in partnership with six leading airlines of the world.

Over 20 cargo carriers, including All Nippon Airways, Austrian Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airways, Qantas Freight, Kingfisher Airlines, S7 Cargo, SpiceJet, have contracted for this cargo management solution, which is increasingly being seen as a feasible substitute to the expensive legacy systems being used for many years now.

4G technology-Trai starts process to give recommendations soon

Even as the government debates when the auction of spectrum for the third-generation telephony might take place, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today started consultations for the next level of telecom services.

The fourth-generation, or 4G, technology, known as the ultra-broadband, offers download at faster speed and high definition video on demand, among other services.

“Yes. We are starting the process and would come out with a conference paper to look into diverse issues relating to 4G telecom services,” Trai Chairman J S Sarma said.

He, however, said firmly that this did not mean the 3G process be skipped, as the government had taken ultimate step and might auction the spectrum soon.

“(The auction of) 3G has been delayed badly I don’t want 4G or Long-Term Evolution (LTE) to convene the same fate. Other countries are catching up with 4G and that is why we are taking advance action,” he said.

The 4G services, or LTE, are a successor to 3G and 2G standards, with the intend to offer a wide range of data rates up to ultra-broadband (gigabit-speed) internet access to mobile, as well as stationary users.

Trai would look into the various aspects, including spectrum band to be allotted for 4G services and quantum and modes of allotment to operators.

SIM: Indian outsourcing companies get a new competitor

In 2004,the height of the American presidential campaign conquered among other things by offshoring and a jobless recovery, HCL's Vineet Nayar set off a firestorm with a statement that American graduates were not employable.

As trade unions seethed and politicians fumed, two men looked at the reaction the comments had caused and wondered if there was a business opportunity.

Since offshoring was considered purely Indian phenomenon and sensing a backlash to the process in the years ahead, Debashish Sinha and Neeraj Gupta two IT industry executives in the US began gently working on an alternative that would appeal to many companies and the political establishment.

It took them five years to come up with a real plan and get patron funding. System In Motion (SIM), a Michigan-based start up, launched few months ago plans to challenge the traditional offshore outsourcing market leaders by delivering low cost services from locations such as Ann Arbor.

With the Indian outsourcing industry still being viewed by some in the US as one of the reasons for the country’s 'jobless recovery', this start up is promising to create more than 1,100 jobs over next five years in Michigan, home to Ford, General Motors and Chrysler-the Detroit’s big three.

Transfer of sensitive tech to new firm under a cloud

A susceptible defense-related technology, developed by scientists at a research and development centre of the Union IT ministry, has been transferred to a company with links to a South Korean firm and controlled by a person facing trial for alleged software theft documents.

The transfer of technology (ToT) was made in August 2007 by the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research. The end users of the product are the defense and electronics sectors. Whenever there is a necessity for mass production of its products being an R&D facility, goes in for a ToT agreement with an industry player having the required technical expertise, manufacturing experience and sound financial background.

However, the transfer of the integrated radio and line modem (IRLM), said to be an advanced missile controlling technology used by the defense forces, to a company called M/s Sam Shin Precision Pvt Ltd, which does not appear to have any prior manufacturing experience or expertise, has come under a cloud.

Sam Shin is controlled by P Rathinavel, who was arrested in September 2005 by the cyber wing of the Central Crime Branch on the charge of stealing software for manufacturing digital electrical meters from a company called Omni Agate, in which he was working as technical director.

Latest Annoyance :Toyota Prius Brake Problems

Toyota owners, and for that issue Lexus and Scion owners, should be outraged at the way that the Toyota Motor Corporation has responded in the rouse of known engineering and technology glitches which have caused numerous accidents that have injured or killed many. Evidence is emerging that Toyota knew about its gas pedal problems as far back as early 2007, but now a new problem is emerging: the latest generation hybrid Prius may have brake problems.

Slipping Brakes

The problem with the Toyota Prius surfaced when customers began to complain of brakes slipping under certain conditions. Beginning in late January, Toyota tweaked the software scheming the brakes of cars which had yet to be sold, but they still have not offered a secure for customers who already own the car. The third generation Prius has been available since early 2009.

Complaints from American drivers have been sent to the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration (NHTSA) who has been behind a pair of investigations related to the runaway Toyota issue. Japan’s Ministry of Transportation is also investigating Prius complaints logged by Japanese drivers.

ABS Braking

According to Automotive News, Toyota Managing Officer Hiroyuki Yokoyama said yesterday that the slipping feeling is caused by a lag time in the shift between the car’s regenerative braking system and the antilock braking system.
That situation has become most perceptible on slippery or bumpy roads particularly in December as icy road conditions resulted in more frequent use of ABS braking. Yokohama added, “When ABS comes into play, you may feel a little bit of slip, but if you continue to apply the brake it will work. It may cause customers a little unease."

Millions Recalled

Toyota’s problems continue to rise and have extended recalls to cover more cars than it sold last year. Thus far, at least eight million vehicles in North America, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere are subject to a recall, with fixes ranging from replacing the driver’s floor mat to swapping out the accelerator pedal.
Those repairs are expected to commence by early next week with all cars serviced within the next few months.

Meanwhile, not selling its eight affected models has hurt Toyota economically. According to the Detroit Free Press the automaker is losing $100 million daily with no date set when the company can fully recommence sales.

Symbian phone OS goes open source

The group behind the world's most trendy smartphone operating system - Symbian - is giving away "billions of dollars" worth of code for free.

The Symbian Foundation's decision to make its code open source means that any organization or individual can now use and modify it "for any purpose".

Symbian has shipped in more than 330m mobile phones, the foundation says.

It believes that the move will focus new developers to work on the system and help speed up the pace of improvements.

"This is the largest open source migration effort ever," Lee Williams of the Symbian Foundation told BBC News.

Evolutionary barrier

Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia bought the software in 2008 and helped establish the non-profit Symbian Foundation to manage its development.

The foundation includes Nokia, AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone.

The group has now released what it calls the Symbian platform as open source code. This platform unites different elements of the Symbian operating system as well as components - in particular, user interfaces - developed by individual members. It can be downloaded from the foundation's website.

Mind share

Symbian development is currently conquered by Nokia, but the foundation hoped to reduce the firm's input to "no more than 50%" by the middle of 2011, said Mr Williams.

"We will see a dramatic shift in terms of who is contributing to the platform."
However, said Mr Williams, the foundation would monitor phones using the platform to ensure that they met with minimum standards

Nokia N97 Mini - System Software Updated

Following the recent Nokia N97 update, an update for the very similar Nokia N97 Mini Symbian-based smartphone has also been released. This is actually quite related to the one that the original N97 received, despite the fact that it does throw in a few additional tweaks.

What's In This Update

This update brings the N97 Mini up to firmware v11.0.045, and it addresses a few items found since the last major update (v11).

Some of the enhancements include:

• More free RAM after boot
• Improved call reliability
• Browser improvements
• Music Player improvements
• Image and Video Stability improvements and more

An Overview of the Nokia N97 Mini

Despite its name, the N97 Mini is only slightly smaller than its big brother. It does have a smaller touchscreen, but at the same resolution: 640 x 360 pixels.

It also features less internal memory (8 GB vs. 32 GB), but still includes a microSD memory card slot supporting up to 16 GB cards. And the camera uses the 5 megapixel, Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, auto-focus and flash also found in the N97.

Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a GPS receiver.