13 September 2014

Kanye West rushed to Melbourne hospital - 'Celebrity' Thugs


KIM Kardashian says fans shouldn’t be worried about her husband Kanye West’s health after reports he was rushed to Melbourne’s Epworth Hospital on ahead of his Rod Laver concert. 
 
Speaking to the Herald Sun from her hotel in Sydney, the reality star said Kanye was on the mend.

“He is feeling better; it’s just precautionary to go to the doctor if you’re not feeling well to make sure you have a good show.”

Her comments are the first since Kanye was rushed to hospital.

The rapper arrived on a stretcher carried by paramedics at Epworth Hopital in Richmond, in the city’s inner east, just after 2pm yesterday, a witness told Woman’s Day on Thursday.

His tour promoter Live Nation had no comment on West’s hospital visit, but said the Yeezus show will go on.
“Kanye went on stage last night in Melbourne as scheduled,” a Live Nation spokeswoman said the same day.

“The tour continues at Sydney’s Allphones Arena tomorrow and Saturday, before concluding in Brisbane on Monday night.”

Kanye West appears unimpressed as they leave his pop-up shop in Chapel Street. Picture: M
 
Kanye West appears unimpressed as they leave his pop-up shop in Chapel Street. Picture: Mark Stewart
Nurses were reportedly told to clear out the waiting room and consulting rooms so Kanye could be seen to privately.

It is understood he was released from hospital after 4.30pm.

One witness said doctors were concerned the Gold Digger hit maker had suffered a seizure.

Kanye’s security team “burst in and cleared the area” where Loraine Terry’s daughter was being treated.

She said everyone left the MRI area except for herself, and her daughter who was in the middle of a scan so couldn’t immediately move.

The celebrity couple braved the wild weather and a throng of fans. Picture: Mark Stewart
The celebrity couple braved the wild weather and a throng of fans. Picture: Mark Stewart
 
“Next thing we knew, Kanye was stretchered in surrounded by security. He had one side of his face covered with something white. We both knew it was him because we had seen his photo in the paper everyday and we were shocked because it looked so serious,” she told Women’s Day.

But Epworth Health Care today responded to the claims and said patients were treated with respect.

Epworth Health Care said on Twitter today: “Approx 50 patients in Epworth (emergency department). All treated with respect & according to severity of symptoms — which we do not discuss publicly.

“Individual patient details are private,” the hospital added. “Epworth does not discuss these publicly without permission from the patient concerned.”

West was taken to the hospital after shooting hoops at the State Basketball Centre.

A spokeswoman at the centre was unaware of any incident, fall or knock that sparked West’s
emergency dash.

Kanye West playing basketball during his Melbourne visit.
Kanye West playing basketball during his Melbourne visit.
 
After an all clear from doctors, West left hospital and performed a show at Rod Laver Arena later that night.
The pair, along with one-year-old daughter North, flew to Sydney this morning to continue the string of concerts.

Kardashian will make an appearance at Westfield Parramatta on the weekend to promote her clothing and accessories range and has been supporting her hubby as he plays his tour dates

The celebrity couple spent a few days in Melbourne, where West performed two shows, before arriving in Sydney today.

While in Melbourne the pair hit high-end shops on Bourke st and later Block Arcade, and made a high-profile visit to South Yarra where fans clamoured for a look at selfie queen Kardashian.

Meantime, The Langham Hotel denied shutting its gym to guests so that curvy Kardashian could exercise alone.

The allegations surfaced after a caller phoned into radio station 3AW claimed Kardashian had requested all hotel guests be removed so she and her entourage could work out in private.

On Tuesday night, fans at West’s Melbourne concert were treated to one of the US chart-topper’s infamous rants, with the angry rapper telling the audience all about a mystery ‘douchebag’ mid-gig.

Their appearance at West’s Yeezus pop-up store on trendy but rain-sodden Chapel St on Tuesday caused a stir.

Kardashian didn’t let Melbourne’s wild weather stop her donning a mini, strappy Hermes stilettos and a plunging neckline.

heraldsun.com.au  12 Sep 2014

It is no secret that the corporate media idolises the celebrity circus of the Kardashian clan.

What is worse is that the actions of this new age 'Reality Star' trailer park trash behoviour is condoned.

The throwing out of patients is unacceptable, yet happens all the time.

They are no more special than any other person, and no right is given to them to throw out other people waiting for health care.

Appalling behaviour, supported by the 'authorities'.

And the herd population will still line up to watch this foul mouthed trash perform.

McDonald’s suffers worst monthly decline in more than a decade

People walk past a closed McDonald's restaurant, one of four temporarily closed by the state food safety watchdog, in Moscow, August 21, 2014. (Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev)

People walk past a closed McDonald's restaurant, one of four temporarily closed by the state food safety watchdog, in Moscow, August 21, 2014. (Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev)
The American fast-food giant witnessed a sharp decline in global profits in August, hit by the closure of its restaurants across Russia and a “rotten meat” scandal in China.

McDonald’s earnings slid with stores open at least 13 months taking a worse-than-expected hit in August, falling 3.7 percent, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based hamburger chain said in a statement on Wednesday. This is the biggest monthly drop since 2003, according to Bloomberg. Market analysts had expected a 3.1 percent drop in earnings.
 
Across Europe, where McDonald’s brings in a hefty 40 percent of its total earnings, proceeds were down 0.7 percent.

Much of the decline is connected to Russia, where health officials last month closed 12 stores, including the first-ever McDonald’s outlet in Russia, which opened to tremendous fanfare on January 31, 1990 in the center of Moscow, as well as two in Sochi, the host of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Meanwhile, Russian health inspectors are investigating hygiene conditions at 100 McDonald’s outlets nationwide over alleged issues.

READ MORE: 12 McDonald's restaurants temporarily closed in Russia, 100 inspections underway
 

Reuters/Jorge Silva
Reuters/Jorge Silva

The closure of three of its outlets in Moscow came at the same time that Russia introduced a one-year embargo on agricultural products from the United States, the EU, Canada, Australia and Norway, in response to Western economic sanctions over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukraine conflict.


The fast-food giant said it will “do everything it can” to continue operations in Russia.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that Russia has no plans to completely shut down the restaurant chain.

"No one is talking about it at all (a ban on McDonald's in Russia)," he told reporters. "It has just happened that the inspections were completed at the same time (as the ban on Western goods)," Dvorkovich said.

McDonald's has 440 outlets and over 35,000 employees in Russia, which ranks among the company’s top seven markets - outside the United States and Canada - according to its 2013 annual report.

The fast-food company sold more than $1.5 billion worth of meals to Russian customers in 2013, attracting one million people daily to its outlets in Russia, according to its website.

At the same time, domestic demand for the food franchise sank for the fourth straight month in August, falling 2.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the company’s Asian markets took a major hit after it was reported that Chinese meat supplier OSI Group LLC was investigated for changing the expiration dates on food, prompting fears among consumers. Sales in the company’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa division plummeted 14.5 percent last month.

READ MORE: 'Rotten apologies': McDonald's, Yum say sorry after reports they used outdated meat in China
 
The poor economic data comes at a particularly hard time for the American hamburger chain, as US fast-food workers have been staging protests demanding higher wages, and the debate over high obesity rates in the United States is causing many consumers around the world to look for healthier food choices.

READ MORE: Nearly 500 arrested as fast-food workers go on strike across the US (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Shares in McDonald’s, which serves around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across 35,000 outlets, declined 1.5 percent to $91.09 on Tuesday. The company is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings on October 21.

 rt.com 10 Sep 2014

McDonald's is a company that brings cancer to its customers, yet ironically has a charity called Ronald McDonald House that helps families with children that have cancer.

As long as there is an abundance of the uneducated herd population, companies like McDonald's will continue to operate masquerading garbage as food.

12 September 2014

China’s internet censorship machine has become even more advanced to cope with social media

China has embraced social media — but it doesn’t mean online censorship is over.
China has embraced social media — but it doesn’t mean online censorship is over.Source: Getty Images
CHINA’S infamous internet censorship machine may not work exactly as you imagine, a groundbreaking experiment has revealed.
 
The government has been controlling the country’s press for decades, but the enormous reach of the internet has forced it to become more sophisticated in how it operates.

With social media offering China’s 1.3 billion residents the opportunity to broadcast their views, the government has had to become more sophisticated when it comes to what it deletes and what it allows through.
Chinese leadership is famous for restricting citizens’ internet use.
Chinese leadership is famous for restricting citizens’ internet use. Source: Supplied
 
Rather than banning all criticism of the government, censors allow many negative posts through, according to a study published in Science magazine.

It’s all about suppressing rebellion, the researchers reveal, with criticism of the state and its leaders allowed, but specific support for any oppositional party forbidden.

The government will even sometimes act on negative sentiment expressed towards particular politicians and remove them from office, making them scapegoat for problems.

The researchers were able to gain unprecedented access to the workings of Chinese censors by setting up their own social media network.
The censors operate in a highly sophisticated way, allowing certain kinds of criticism.
The censors operate in a highly sophisticated way, allowing certain kinds of criticism.Source: Getty Images

They were then given direct access to the censors’ software, documentation and customer service helpdesk, allowing them to “reverse-engineer how it all works”.

At the centre of the Communist state, tens of thousands of censors are sifting through posts, deciding what to take down, they learned.

Censors both “post-moderate” existing social media posts, as well as “pre-moderating” comments picked up by keyword filters before they are published.

“Criticisms of the state, its leaders, and their policies are routinely published, whereas posts with collective action potential are much more likely to be censored — regardless of whether they are for or against the state,” write the researchers.
President Xi Jinping’s government focus on deleting or blocking “calls to action”.
President Xi Jinping’s government focus on deleting or blocking “calls to action”.Source: AP

Bloggers can be as vitriolic as they like about China’s top leaders, but any mention of an ongoing protest, or a rally in favour of a popular policy or leader, will be censored.

This happens even when the writer is criticising the rally.

Censorship is now used to muzzle any attempt to “spur the creation of crowds for any reason — in opposition to, in support of, or unrelated to the government.”

The work is fascinating in that it proves that dissent on the web is not only being censored, but “is used by Chinese leaders to determine which officials are not doing their job of mollifying the people and need to be replaced.”

Rather than being increasingly free to say what they want, China’s many critics are being used to create “actionable information” for the government, scholars and public policy analysts.
China’s censorship of the media has been happening for decades — even centuries — but has
China’s censorship of the media has been happening for decades — even centuries — but has been complicated by the wide reach of social media.Source: AP

China has been restricting what its people get to hear since the third century BC, when Emperor Qin burned Confucian texts.

In 2008, USA Today reported that any Chinese person searching on words such as “persecution”, “Tibetan independence” or “democracy movement” would simply find a blank page.

While many Chinese “hackivists” work to fight the “Great Firewall of China”, they admit they have to move quickly because the censors are so smart.

The censors also use other tactics. They create bottlenecks by using a limited number of servers, issuing propaganda, getting help from the US and forcing webmasters to self-censor or be shut down.

China has been engaged in a long-running battle with Google, but in May it initiated a near complete block on the tech company’s products, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Google is engaged in a long-running battle with the Communist state.
Google is engaged in a long-running battle with the Communist state.Source: AP
 
news.com.au 12 Sep 2014
 
There is no problem of the Australian authorities expecting any 'rebellion' from the herd population of Australia.
 
As long as there is an ample supply of beer, and football, the herd will be pacified.
 
The Australian government policies towards internet censoship are no different from China's government.

11 September 2014

Internet Slowdown Day: What is it and why is it happening?

Loading ... it’s enough to drive you mad. And that’s the idea behind the big online prote
Loading ... it’s enough to drive you mad. And that’s the idea behind the big online protest against laws that could see a lot more of it. Source: Supplied
 
THIS Wednesday you may encounter a lot of ever-loading, constantly buffering web pages. 

You may think the internet has broken, it may look like it’s broken, but in fact it’s not really, it’s just a protest by some of the web’s biggest sites.

To put your mind at ease, the internet won’t actually be slowed down, instead these are symbolic landing pages laid on by the likes of Reddit, Vimeo, Foursquare, Wordpress, Netflix (in the US), and others to show what it would be like if controversial new internet changes came into effect.

The proposed internet changes in the US plan for a tiered structure whereby providers would introduce ‘fast lanes’ for high-speed, high-quality browsing for those who will pay for it, with the rest receiving a standard service.

The sites are joining hands for net neutrality, arguing all internet should be treated the same. Proposed legislation in the US could leave millions of people with very slow access.

Sites are showing their opposition with Internet Slowdown Day to demonstrate what living with the changes would be like by putting up an infinitely loading icon. The website battleforthenet.com is the main stage for the online activists to meet, sign-up and join the fight.

Movie streaming site Netflix is one of the biggest supporters of the cause, as it could mean only a portion of its users could gain access to its high-definition content, and if others are only able to see standard quality content it is concerned it may lose user numbers.

The proposed new internet rules were leaked by the US Federal Communications Commission in part of a redrafting of internet rules. In the document it said it would allow broadband providers to offer “paid prioritisation” for faster internet access.

So what about us in Australia? The proposed changes are an American issue and don’t directly impact us. With most of our broadband providers offering capped data allowances it wouldn’t be in their interest to restrict usage because the more we use, the more we pay. However, if they did come into effect in the US it could be very easy for our telcos and broadband providers to copy and actively throttle certain sites so you use their services.

Net neutrality laws could also have a knock-on effect, and see the sites we use regularly (particularly the ones in the US) change the way they operate or alter their content.

Currently the decision to implement these changes is still being debated but if it came into effect it could cause one of the biggest uproars in internet history as more companies and websites join the fight for net neutrality.

news.com.au  9 Sep 2014

10 September 2014

iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch release date, price and features

Say hello to the new iPhone 6. The two larger handsets were announced along with the high
Say hello to the new iPhone 6. The two larger handsets were announced along with the highly speculated Apple Watch. Source: Supplied
 
THE wait is over. Apple has finally taken the wraps off TWO brand new iPhones as well as that one more thing we were all hoping for: the Apple Watch. 

After months of speculation, rumours, hearsay and hogwash we all can exchange a collective sign of relief for gasps of excitement as the new, exciting gadgets arrive.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
Bigger, better and more thumb-friendly.
Bigger, better and more thumb-friendly. Source: Supplied
 
In front of a rapturous crowd Apple’s CEO Tim Cook announced “the biggest advancement in the history of the iPhone” by unveiling the completely redesigned, iPhone 6 and the even larger iPhone 6 Plus. The handsets looked like many of the multitude of internet leaks measuring in at 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch respectively sporting smooth edges, a thinner profile and sharper screen. The bigger phones have been designed to be used one-handed and can be turned landscape on the homescreen just like a really mini iPad.

How the new phones measure up.
How the new phones measure up. Source: Supplied
 
But much more than a facelift the insides have been given a revamp with a faster A8 processor that’s 25 per cent faster than the 5S. Keeping up with the fitness gadget craze it’s updated its motion tracking M8 processor that can tell the difference between if you’re running or cycling. Sadly, it’s still 8-megapixel rear camera but their have been some tweaks including an image stabiliser for the iPhone 6 Plus, and a burst mode for the front camera that will delight selfie seekers. The handsets will be available from September 19th (you can pre-order from the 12th, if you don’t want to sleep outside the store) with Australian pricing as follows:

iPhone 6

16GB — $869
64GB — $999
128GB — $1129

iPhone 6 Plus

16GB — $999
64GB — $1129
128GB — $1249

Apple Watch

It’s about time. Apple’s smartwatch could change the game.
It’s about time. Apple’s smartwatch could change the game. Source: Supplied
 
We heard about it, we thought about it, but no one really knew if Apple would actually announce it.

Well, they did, and oh boy are we about to see a game changer in the wearable stakes. So far, we’ve been unconvinced to don a smartwatch but Tim Cook rocked out the Apple Watch (not iWatch) and it's a rectangular, super sleek piece of kit that can perform so many tricks the crowd were struggling to keep up. The display is flexible and made out of sapphire, the second hardest transparent material, behind diamond and is controlled by a digital crown (that dial on the side of regular watches). There are sensors on the rear that take your vitals such as heartrate.

Got your pulse racing?
Got your pulse racing? Source: Supplied
 
The types of apps we were shown displayed on the customisable face included maps, photos, music control as well the ability to talk to other Apple Watches. You can create a doodle on the screen and send it top them or, if you want to really creep them out, let them feel your heartbeat as it uses a ‘Tapic’ vibration feature to alert you to notifications. It comes in three different editions including a ‘Sport Edition’, which is more rugged and a more premium version.

Let’s face it, the more customisable the better.
Let’s face it, the more customisable the better. Source: Supplied
 
But the most appealing aspect of the Watch is how much you can control with it. As well as controlling music on other devices you can also work your Apple TV, unlock your hotel room door and even find where you parked your BMW.

Australian prices for the Apple Watch haven’t been announced but the US price starts at $349 and will be available from early 2015.

Apple Pay

The NFC that the iPhone has long needed is finally here.
The NFC that the iPhone has long needed is finally here. Source: Supplied
 
The tech giant has also launched Apple Pay, which it says will mean the end of the wallet as we know it.

Both the new iPhones as well as the Apple Watch will be able to use the system where you simply tap to purchase items. The system is launching in the US starting with American Express, Mastercard and Visa and major banks, with no word on when the system is likely to hit Australia. Mr Cook says Apple Pay “will forever change the way we buy things”.

This was by far the biggest, most crucial, product unveiling Apple has had after rivals have been leading the charge in larger mobile phones for some time. With these larger screened iPhones it has delivered on the cries from consumers and could keep the competition from knocking on its door. As for wearable technology, it finds itself in a rare situation of playing catch-up but has pulled off a stroke of excellence by making us actually want to own one — something no others have managed to do.

While the gadgets were a success, it wasn’t all been smooth sailing with the live stream of the event crashed for everyone around the world leaving Apple fans on their knees as they tuned into get a glimpse of the new gear. For those who missed it, here’s how it all went down:

Here they are. Ta-dah!
Here they are. Ta-dah! Source: Supplied
All times are AEST (yes, we really did get up this early)

2.30am: The invited crowd is gathering and shuffling into the auditorium.

2.50am: Inside the Flint Centre where Tim Cook will take to the stage.

3.0oam: Agh. Anyone who isn’t using Apple’s Safari browser won’t be able to watch the live stream of the keynote. Cheers, Apple.

3.05am: Live stream feed is down for everyone anyway. Technology, eh?

3.08am: Tim Cook skips the usual figures and company stats to get straight to the nitty gritty by stating “today we are announcing the biggest advancement in the history of the iPhone”.

3.10am: It’s official Apple will be releasing TWO new iPhones: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. the iPhone 6 is the expected 4.7-inch screen with a Retina HD display. The Plus will be rocking a 5.5-inch screen size. The rumour mill, it seems, was bang on.

3.12am: The iPhone 6 will be 6.6mm thin and the 6 Plus 7.1mm. Much slimmer than the already svelte iPhone 5S at 7.6mm

3.15am: Official images of the new iPhones. Prepare to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahhh’.

Fancy new phones. 

Fancy new phones. Source: Supplied
 
The iPhone 6 has 38 percent more pixels thans the iPhone 5S and the 6 Plus has 185 percen

The iPhone 6 has 38 per cent more pixels than the iPhone 5S and the 6 Plus has 185 per cent more. Source: Supplied
 
WERE THE iPHONE RUMOURS CLOSE?

3.20am: The 6 Plus will be able to be used in landscape mode on the home screen. So it looks a little like a mini, mini iPad.

3.22am: How times have changed. The iPhone 6 is 84 times faster than the original iPhone.

Whoa!
Whoa! Source: Supplied
 
3.24am: The iPhone 6 Plus will play video games in higher resolution than video game consoles.

3.27am: A spankier new A8 processor chip will make the new iPhones 20 per cent faster than the previous models. its graphics performance is now a whopping 50 per cent faster.

3.29am: Fitness and motion tracking is going to play a big role. The new M8 chip inside the phone will be able to tell the difference if you’re running or cycling.

3.30am: Sigh. An 8-megapixel camera still remains, but it has been updated. The iPhone 6 Plus gets fancy optical image stabilisation

A snappier snapper.
A snappier snapper. Source: Supplied
 
3.34am: Apple CEO Tweets for first time from an iPhone 6. Do you love it?

3.40am: Both iPhones will be available from September 19th. Prices for the iPhone 6 Plus look to be about $100 more.

3.44am: After a brief Justin Timberlak and Jimmy Fallon cameo, Tim Cook is now talking about the mobile wallet. A new payment process called Apple Pay. So the iPhones officially have NFC. The demo looked really easy to use. Simple touch and pay system.

NEW iPHONE TO BE USED AS YOUR WALLET

3.52am: List of stores in US supporting Apple Pay. We heard McDonalds. Sold. But will it be another US-centric feature, much like Siri was when it was first launched?

3.59am: Now, every Apple event wouldn’t that “one more thing”. And crowds were not let down. Yes, after all the rumours the iWatch is real and its simply called the Apple Watch.

The “most personal device we’ve ever created”
The “most personal device we’ve ever created” Source: Supplied
 
4.02am: Crowd is going crazy. Tim Cook claims “this product will redefine what people expect from its category”

4.05am: The Apple Watch has a rectangular face but circular interface. Looks very pretty. Watch senses you’re raising your wrist and turns on the display.

Will work with iPhone and will use apps. We’re very excited.

'Apple Watch' unveiled

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/external?url=http://content6.video.news.com.au/RrNXI3cDqmwm6hSwk4M7GeB2WfAADD5n/promo234561240&width=650&api_key=kq7wnrk4eun47vz9c5xuj3mc

4.09am: Apple’s design guru Jony Ive talks us through the Apple Watch. Sensors on the back that read your vital signs. The screen houses a number of apps that look like tiny dots. The Watches can talk to each other. It comes with six different straps.

Watching out for your heart rate and more.

Watching out for your heart rate and more. Source: Supplied
 
Watch face with apps controlled by a digital crown.

Watch face with apps controlled by a digital crown. Source: Supplied
 
4.12am: The display senses force from your touch. It will come in a ‘Sport Edition’, which is more rugged as well as a “Watch Edition” which is more premium.

4.15am: Tim Cook: “we’ve been working on Apple Watch for a long time”.

Digital crown is like you home button on your iPhone

Digital crown is like you home button on your iPhone Source: Supplied
 
4.19am: Apple Watch being demoed on stage. Looks really intuitive and customisable. The astronomy face is awesome — it let’s you look at the whole solar system on your wrist!

Scribble a doodle and send it to someone.
Scribble a doodle and send it to someone. Source: Supplied
 
4.21am: You can control mucis on devices around you, on your Mac and even the music stored on the Watch.

Customisable faces and multiple strap options.
Customisable faces and multiple strap options. Source: Supplied
 
4.22am: Notificiation from calls, text, emails etc will be through Taptic, which “is like someone tapping you on your wrist”

4.23am: You can dictate into the Watch or use editable emojis to reply to people.

4.25am: Siri is also included in the Apple Watch.
Like Maps on your iPhone, but smaller and on your wrist.
Like Maps on your iPhone, but smaller and on your wrist. Source: Supplied
 
4.27am: Apple Maps looks amazing on the device. zooming in and out of the map looks easy and clear. We think we’ve fallen in love with this wearable. And if you want people to falling love with you it can let you send your heartbeat to other Watch wearers and let them ‘feel’ it. Or you might thin this is just a bit creepy.

Let others feel your heartbeat. Eww.
Let others feel your heartbeat. Eww. Source: Supplied
 
4.32am: Using with W Hotels you can unlock your hotel room by waving your hand near the lock and with BMW you can find where you parked your car. Awesome. This has already blown other wearables out the water.

4.34am: Some of the world’s most respected health and fitness experts helped develop Apple Watch.

The Watch can tell if you’ve been sitting for too long.
The Watch can tell if you’ve been sitting for too long. Source: Supplied
 
4.35am: It has an accelerometer to measure body movement and can track three aspects of movement and GPS with your iPhone to track your distance. It also has dedicated fitness apps. there are so many features we’re struggling to get them down.

Here you go, health freaks.
Here you go, health freaks. Source: Supplied
 
4.41am: Price stated starts at $349 and will be available early 2015.

4.43am: Another revelation: Apple Pay will work with Apple Watch.

4.47am: A brief musical interlude from U2 ...

4.54am... that leads Apple and U2 to rather awkwardly announce their new album will be free on iTunes NOW!

5.00am: Well, that wraps things up. Tim Cook thanks his Apple staff and invites guests to get hands-on with the new devices.

So that’s it until the next time. Surprises were few thanks to the torrent of leaks from the internet but the products looked good nonetheless. The Apple Watch could be the masterstroke though as it genuinely looks like a wearable that we could get along with.

new.com.au 10 Sept 2014

Apple, a company with a Draconian policy towards technology.

Apple, a company that disables key features of its technology products.

Apple, a company that just now releases 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens, where its competitors have already released 5.5 and 6 inch screens.

Apple, a company that refused to fix a cloud vulnerability that allows easy hacking.

Apple, a company that rips off Australian customers.

Apple, a company that uses slave labour to sell its phone in the U.S. for $100 and Australia for over $700.

Apple, a company that is involved in tax evasion with full support of the authorities.

Apple, a company that did not disclose to its customers, the constant tracking technology used.

Apple, a company that used your stock portfolio data for its financial gain, read fraud,

and many more points not mentioned.

Apple, a company that you would still trust?

Printable solar panels, developed by CSIRO and Melbourne universities, one step closer to market



Australian solar power scientists are one step closer to making available a cheaper and faster way to print solar cells on to plastic.

CSIRO's senior research scientist Dr Fiona Scholes said the technology was almost at the commercialisation stage and could be used to power laptops to rooftops.

"iPad covers, laptop bags, skins of iPhone - not just for casing electronics but to collect some energy as well and power those electronics," Dr Scholes said.

The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium behind the project comprises scientists from the CSIRO and the Melbourne and Monash universities who have been working on printing solar cells since 2007.

The team quickly produced results, creating coin-sized solar cells and increasing them to A3 size.

Dr Scholes said the team used commercial printers that were modified to take solar ink.

"It's very cheap. The way in which it looks and works is quite different to conventional silicon rooftop solar," she said.

"It can be made to be semitransparent - we can use it for a tinted window scenario."

Dr Scholes said any plastic surface could be substituted for solar panels. That made it perfect for powering up a skyscraper, she said.

Solar panel printer  
 

"We print them onto plastic in more or less the same way we print our plastic banknotes," she said.

"Connecting our solar panels is as simple as connecting a battery."

The team is now working on a solar spray coating.

Several companies have expressed interest to take it to the next level of commercialisation.

"We would like to improve the efficiency of solar panels - we need to develop solar inks to generate more energy from sunlight," Dr Scholes said.

"We are confident we can push the technology further in the years to come," she said.

abc.net.au 10 Sep 2014

As a side note Australian scientists at CSIRO also developed the now widely used WiFi technology, where the Australian government sues companies for royalties using the technology.

09 September 2014

Justin Bieber’s assault charge dropped over limo driver incident in Canada

Charge dropped ... prosecutors said there was no reasonable prospect of convicting Justin
Charge dropped ... prosecutors said there was no reasonable prospect of convicting Justin Bieber over the alleged assault of a Toronto limo driver. Picture: AP/Mark J Terrill Source: AP
 
PROSECUTORS have dropped an assault charge against Canadian pop star Justin Bieber in connection with an incident involving a Toronto limousine driver. 

The withdrawn charge stemmed from an early-morning incident late last December, when Bieber and five other people were picked up by a limousine from a Toronto nightclub. Police alleged Bieber, 20, hit the limo driver several times in the back of the head.

Prosecutors said the charge was withdrawn because there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

It was just one episode in Bieber’s ongoing troubles with the law.

Bieber is due in an Ontario court Sept. 29 to fight new charges. Brian Greenspan, his Toronto lawyer, said last week that Bieber had been arrested Aug. 29 on charges of dangerous driving and assault following a collision between a mini-van and an ATV that led to a physical altercation with a photographer. Greenspan said Bieber was near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, on a “peaceful retreat” with actor/singer Selena Gomez that “was unfortunately disrupted by the unwelcome presence of the paparazzi.”

Media storm ... Canadian musician Justin Bieber is swarmed as he turns himself in to poli
Media storm ... Canadian musician Justin Bieber is swarmed as he turns himself in to police after allegedly assaulting a limo driver in Toronto. Picture: AP/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette Source: AP
 
Police said there were no injuries as a result of the collision, but could not say whether there were any injuries from the altercation.

Bieber had earlier been photographed on an ATV vehicle with Gomez, his on-and-off again girlfriend.
Just days before the Ontario incident, Bieber’s car was hit from behind by a vehicle driven by a photographer in Hollywood. Bieber later tweeted: “I don’t have a problem with Paparazzi but when they act recklessly they put us all in danger.”

Last month, Bieber pleaded guilty to misdemeanour charges of careless driving and resisting arrest seven months after his arrest in Miami Beach for what police initially alleged was an illegal street drag race. In a plea bargain, he agreed to an anger management course, a $500 fine and a $50,000 charitable contribution.

Difficult time ... Justin Bieber was also arrested for allegedly drag-racing on a Miami BDifficult time ... Justin Bieber was also arrested for allegedly drag-racing on a Miami Beach Street. Picture: AP/Miami Dade County Jail Source: AP
 
In July, Bieber pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour vandalism charge for tossing eggs at a neighbour’s house in Los Angeles. He agreed to pay more than $80,000 in damages, meet a number of other conditions and was sentenced to two years’ probation.

Bieber catapulted to fame at age 15, and then earned nominations for two Grammy Awards for his 2010 full-length album debut “My World 2.0.” Sales of his latest records have fallen off.

news.com.au 9 Sep 2014

This is just another small example of how the corrupt legal system  works in favour of those it supports.

According to this EVERYONE should then go around assaulting people because there may be "no reasonable prospect of conviction".

08 September 2014

Hunt for alien life is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘what’

Not if aliens are out there but what are they ... ET with child actor Henry Thomas from 1
Not if aliens are out there but what are they ... ET with child actor Henry Thomas from 1982 movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Source: News Limited
 
SCIENCE fiction is running out of space. The hunt for alien life is heating up. Now, it’s no longer a question of “if” we will find life out there. It’s a question of “what”. 

Land and space based telescopes scouring our skies have in the past few years produced 21 planets that are possible contenders for containing life. That’s out of 1793 planets detected orbiting distant stars so far.

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The very existence of these planets, which fit within the band of conditions ranging from the barren wastes of Mars through to the frigid oceans under the surface of the moon Europa, prompted NASA earlier this year to make a startling prediction.

“I think in the next 20 years we will find out if we are not alone in the universe,” NASA Astronomer Kevin Hand told an awe-struck media conference in June.

A colleague took it one step further.

“Imagine the moment that the news breaks we’ve discovered Earth 2.0,” Matt Mountain, the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, told the panel.

“Imagine the moment the whole world wakes up to the news our long loneliness in time and space may have ended. We may no longer be alone in the universe.”

We can find evidence of that life through a variety of means — once we have sensors sensitive enough.

Those tools — such as the James Webb space telescope, the Square Kilometre Array and the Giant Magellan Telescope — are now starting to come online.

They’ll be seeking the telltale “fingerprints” of life etched into the starlight reflected off a planet’s atmosphere — such as the particular forms of oxygen and methane which it is believed only processes such as photosynthesis can create.

“They’ll be looking for the key ingredients, chemicals, for life like water, oxygen and methane — even pollutants from industry like CFCs,” says Australian astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy, Research Fellow at the Swinburne University of Technology.

And, like the famous SETI project which began in the 1960s, they’ll be turning refined electronic ears skyward to pick up any garbled radio chatter that may be wafting our way.

So what do they expect to find?

Knows what aliens will want ... Astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy. Picture: Karin Calvert
Knows what aliens will want ... Astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy. Picture: Karin Calvert Source: News Limited

WHAT IS LIFE ANYWAY?

Life may prove to be common in the heavens. But intelligent life is hard enough to find here on Earth.

Slime is life. It’s the single-celled foundation of the vast bulk of life on our own planet.

Based on our own history, it’s also likely to be among the most easily detected on alien planets. After all, it was a hemisphere-wide infestation of tiny fern algae which sucked the carbon out of our own atmosphere over the course of millions of years, replacing it with life-giving levels of oxygen and cooled our world to a more habitable condition.

“We know that we can look for some basic signs of life based on what we know about life on Earth,” molecular biologist Upulie Divisekera of Monash University says.

Some of it is plain strange.

Some forms of life are built around different chemicals. Some can survive on the ocean floor near volcanic vents, harvesting nutrients from the planet’s core. Others, like one newly discovered species of bacteria, actually survive by harvesting electrons — bypassing nutrients altogether.

“So while we look for traits of life that match ours, it’s possible that in other solar systems we may have to look for different signals, or find that life is very different,” Ms Divisekera says. “But we already have an idea of what strange forms of life may exist at the extremes on Earth. Life on other planets may not use the same biochemistry, and that’s intriguing and exciting to think about.”

But it’s alien civilisations all are secretly hoping to find.

We may have already come close: On August 15, 1977, a strange 72-second radio signal from deep space prompted a “wow” response.

Sourced from within the Sagittarius constellation, the signal does not match any known natural event.

However, as it has only been detected once — and because some unknown “contaminating” source has not been ruled out — it remains just a prominent subject of speculation.

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Will they be this cute ... A green alien cartoon Picture: Supplied
Will they be this cute ... A green alien cartoon Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
 
This isn’t the blue or green body-painted actors that grace shows such as Star Trek, Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy.

It’s about the same industrial waste which threatens our own atmosphere. It’s about the massive amounts of energy space-faring species would have to expend.

The US Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds have launched a project called G-HAT, Glimpsing Heat from Alien Technologies.

Essentially, they’re looking for unusually high amounts of infra-red radiation in unexpected places. This “out of place” heat could be a clear marker of an alien civilisation’s industrial efforts.

They’re doing this by analysing data a satellite called WISE, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which has mapped the entire sky in the infra-red.

But it’s not an easy task.

“Distinguishing that waste heat from ordinary astrophysical dust will be very difficult in many cases, and proving it’s of alien origin will be even harder, G-HAT team leader Jason Wright said.

COLD HEARTS

We’re not talking Darth Vader, the predatory Aliens of H.R. Geiger’s twisted imagination, nor even the immune-system challenged Martians of the 1900s novel War of the Worlds.

We’re talking about the potential for life right under our noses: The ice moons of our own solar system.

It could also help explain why life has so far proven so hard to detect. Not even the best telescope will sense something living in a salty ocean buried under kilometres of ice.

This is what we’re looking for now.

“The frozen moons in our own solar system have blasted water into space, these geysers offer us a chance to sweep through the plume and sample these subsurface oceans without having to drill through kilometres of ice. There may even be a frozen alien ‘fish’ blasted into orbit,” Dr Duffy says.

While rovers wheel around the dead, dusty deserts of Mars for evidence of likely long-dead life, astronomers are turning their eyes towards Europa.

It’s what NASA touts as its next great project.

The shiny but fractured moon of Jupiter has gained a lot of attention lately. Basking in the glow of its gas giant parent, the ice moon shows evidence of internal heating which may have melted salty water out of the thick ice crust which covers its surface — and created conditions ideal for life.

It’s a concept seemingly proved as recently as last month after a whole ecosystem of microbial life was found living in lakes deep under the ice of Antarctica.

Funding and ideas for establishing how to explore below Europa’s surface are being sought now, with the goal of launching a probe to the mysterious world by the middle of the century.

CREATURES OF LIGHT

No, this isn’t about those transcendental super-intelligent shades of the colour blue.

It’s more about the strategy of how to find them.

Life has a deep impact. It alters the worlds it inhabits. Key chemicals in the atmosphere change. And it’s these chemicals — and the proportions in which they exist — which astronomers hope will give us our first strong clue of life out there.

The atmospheres of more than 30 worlds have so far been examined in detail. These initial results have taught scientists to expect the unexpected: Water in the clouds of huge Jupiter-like gas planets and intense greenhouse worlds significantly larger than Venus are just part of the mix.

But more and more worlds will come under our direct gaze as new and more powerful telescopes take to the skies.

Again, the challenge is immense.

The light reflected from the atmospheres of these planets will be as dim as the most distant galaxies ever found by the Hubble Space Telescope. The catch: They’re sitting alongside stars that will be up to 10 billion times brighter than the planet itself.

“Trying to take an image of an Earth-like world next to its parent star is like looking for a firefly next to the glare of the MCG’s floodlights. Oh, and you’re in Perth. It’s tough,” Dr Duffy says.

Telescopes capable of achieving this are being designed now. But none have yet been built.

WHAT WOULD THEY LOOK LIKE?

What will an alien look like ... A scene from 19882 movie E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.
What will an alien look like ... A scene from 1982 movie E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. Source: News Corp Australia
 
Until recently, such speculation has specifically been the realm of science fiction.

But even here, many authors have tried hard to “get real”.

“I don’t believe an alien species from an entirely different biochemical foundation would happen to turn out with two arms, two legs, two eyes, ears, nostrils…,” science fiction author Kevin Anderson recently told the magazine Popular Mechanics.

“But, for intelligence one would assume brain capacity, and therefore the body would need some sort of protective mechanism for the vital brain — an exoskeleton, a skull, something like that. “

It’s a line of thinking reflecting that of real evolutionary biologists.

Intelligence needs sensory input. We have eyes, but there is no reason it couldn’t be something akin to a bat’s sound echo location trick.

We assume intelligence would need to build tools. To do this, they need limbs or appendages (tentacles could be as effective as opposable thumbs) capable of great dexterity.

They would also need the ability to pass on the knowledge gained by each generation. For this, they would need some form of rapid communication, be it by speech, pheromone or even patches of light on their skin.

They could live on their world’s surface. They could live under it. They could even live above it — drifting on the winds, so long as a food-source was ready at hand.

The most common serious analogy for alien intelligent life is found in our own oceans: The octopus.

They have proven to be startlingly intelligent, solving complex problems and learning procedures at a level previously thought limited to humans. Compared to our own, their environment is distinctly alien. Not only are they wet, some octopi live under immense pressure — not unlike the effect of a world with stronger gravity or dense gases.

The only catch is fire: It is commonly accepted that this basic energy source is necessary for the seeds of technology to germinate in an intelligent mind.

WHY HAVEN’T WE FOUND THEM YET?

Icy surface with cracks, ridges and “chaotic terrain” ... Europa's Hidden Ice Chemistry.
Icy surface with cracks, ridges and “chaotic terrain” ... Europa's Hidden Ice Chemistry. Picture: NASA/ Flickr Source: Flickr
 
This one has many scientists stumped.

By the numbers, we probably should have found signs of at least one spacefaring civilisation by now.
But we haven’t.

It’s why science is divided into two distinct camps on the subject: Those who insist “We are not alone”, and those who say “We might be”.

It’s an impasse which would be broken the instant we find a trace of life which has evolved independently elsewhere — be it on Europa, Mars or a world circling a completely different star.

Odds are it’s out there. After all, statistically, astronomers have determined that every star in our galaxy is likely to be paired with a planet. And rocky planets like our own seem increasingly common.

“Our own galaxy has 100 billion stars, and our universe has upwards of 100 billion galaxies, making the chance for life elsewhere seem inevitable based on sheer probability,” MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager wrote last month.

“When you look in the night sky every star on average has a planet,” Dr Duffy affirms. “One in five has a planet similar in size to Earth. You’d be a brave gambler to bet against those odds that all are empty of life.”

Our Sun is a young one. Others have existed for several billion years more.

So why aren’t ancient aliens knocking at our door?

Perhaps they simply cannot be bothered. Perhaps they’ve all wiped themselves out. Or perhaps they’re there — and we’re simply to juvenile to recognise what we’re seeing.

But what about more basic life?

Is Earth’s complex life the result here only because of a highly improbable and complex specific sequence of events? Or are the fundamental building blocks of life so common that it can flare up virtually anywhere?

We don’t know. Yet.

But we should know soon.

news.com.au  7 Spe 2014

Are they not telling us something???

Even if there was [intelligent] alien life detected, the government policy was to suppress this information, under various protocols, where it was stated that the very fabric of society would be in tatters, and basis of religion would be questioned with anarchy to follow.

Gillard to be grilled on union slush fund

Former prime minister Julia Gillard is set to appear as a witness before the royal commission into union corruption on Wednesday.

She is the only witness listed for the day, suggesting she may face an intense session of questions.

The former Labor leader is expected to be grilled over a slush fund operated by her former boyfriend Bruce Wilson when he was an official with the Australian Workers' Union in the early 1990s.

Ms Gillard was a lawyer with the firm Slater and Gordon at the time and did work advising the union, including advising on the setting up of the fund.

Witnesses at the commission have testified Mr Wilson gave Ms Gillard money from the slush fund to pay for renovations to her house. Ms Gillard has repeatedly denied the claims.

Ms Gillard's former boss at Slater and Gordon, Judge Bernard Murphy, will be called as a witness on Tuesday.

9news.com.au 8 Sep 2014

This is another legal farce, that alleges that Gillard will be 'grilled'.

Julia Gillard sat in office fraudulently, and should have been removed immediately, and trialed for treason - no lawyers are allowed to take office.

The so called 'authorities' supported her criminal reign in office.

Similarly, watch the Anglo-Masonic brotherhood step in where nothing happens to Gillard.

This is another clear 'money for mates' scam.

07 September 2014

The medieval, unaccountable Corporation of London is ripe for protest

Working beyond the authority of parliament, the Corporation of London undermines all attempts to curb the excesses of finance
Daniel Pudles 01112011
Illustration by Daniel Pudles
It's the dark heart of Britain, the place where democracy goes to die, immensely powerful, equally unaccountable. But I doubt that one in 10 British people has any idea of what the Corporation of the City of London is and how it works. This could be about to change. Alongside the Church of England, the Corporation is seeking to evict the protesters camped outside St Paul's cathedral. The protesters, in turn, have demanded that it submit to national oversight and control.

What is this thing? Ostensibly it's the equivalent of a local council, responsible for a small area of London known as the Square Mile. But, as its website boasts, "among local authorities the City of London is unique". You bet it is. There are 25 electoral wards in the Square Mile. In four of them, the 9,000 people who live within its boundaries are permitted to vote. In the remaining 21, the votes are controlled by corporations, mostly banks and other financial companies. The bigger the business, the bigger the vote: a company with 10 workers gets two votes, the biggest employers, 79. It's not the workers who decide how the votes are cast, but the bosses, who "appoint" the voters. Plutocracy, pure and simple.

There are four layers of elected representatives in the Corporation: common councilmen, aldermen, sheriffs and the Lord Mayor. To qualify for any of these offices, you must be a freeman of the City of London. To become a freeman you must be approved by the aldermen. You're most likely to qualify if you belong to one of the City livery companies: medieval guilds such as the worshipful company of costermongers, cutpurses and safecrackers. To become a sheriff, you must be elected from among the aldermen by the Livery. How do you join a livery company? Don't even ask.

To become Lord Mayor you must first have served as an alderman and sheriff, and you "must command the support of, and have the endorsement of, the Court of Aldermen and the Livery". You should also be stinking rich, as the Lord Mayor is expected to make a "contribution from his/her private resources towards the costs of the mayoral year." This is, in other words, an official old boys' network. Think of all that Tory huffing and puffing about democratic failings within the trade unions. Then think of their resounding silence about democracy within the City of London.

The current Lord Mayor, Michael Bear, came to prominence within the City as chief executive of the Spitalfields development group, which oversaw a controversial business venture in which the Corporation had a major stake, even though the project lies outside the boundaries of its authority. This illustrates another of the Corporation's unique features. It possesses a vast pool of cash, which it can spend as it wishes, without democratic oversight. As well as expanding its enormous property portfolio, it uses this money to lobby on behalf of the banks.

The Lord Mayor's role, the Corporation's website tells us, is to "open doors at the highest levels" for business, in the course of which he "expounds the values of liberalisation". Liberalisation is what bankers call deregulation: the process that caused the financial crash. The Corporation boasts that it "handle[s] issues in Parliament of specific interest to the City", such as banking reform and financial services regulation. It also conducts "extensive partnership work with think tanks … vigorously promoting the views and needs of financial services." But this isn't the half of it.

As Nicholas Shaxson explains in his fascinating book Treasure Islands, the Corporation exists outside many of the laws and democratic controls which govern the rest of the United Kingdom. The City of London is the only part of Britain over which parliament has no authority. In one respect at least the Corporation acts as the superior body: it imposes on the House of Commons a figure called the remembrancer: an official lobbyist who sits behind the Speaker's chair and ensures that, whatever our elected representatives might think, the City's rights and privileges are protected. The mayor of London's mandate stops at the boundaries of the Square Mile. There are, as if in a novel by China Miéville, two cities, one of which must unsee the other.

Several governments have tried to democratise the City of London but all, threatened by its financial might, have failed. As Clement Attlee lamented, "over and over again we have seen that there is in this country another power than that which has its seat at Westminster." The City has exploited this remarkable position to establish itself as a kind of offshore state, a secrecy jurisdiction which controls the network of tax havens housed in the UK's crown dependencies and overseas territories. This autonomous state within our borders is in a position to launder the ill-gotten cash of oligarchs, kleptocrats, gangsters and drug barons. As the French investigating magistrate Eva Joly remarked, it "has never transmitted even the smallest piece of usable evidence to a foreign magistrate". It deprives the United Kingdom and other nations of their rightful tax receipts.

It has also made the effective regulation of global finance almost impossible. Shaxson shows how the absence of proper regulation in London allowed American banks to evade the rules set by their own government. AIG's wild trading might have taken place in the US, but the unit responsible was regulated in the City. Lehman Brothers couldn't get legal approval for its off-balance sheet transactions in Wall Street, so it used a London law firm instead. No wonder priests are resigning over the plans to evict the campers. The Church of England is not just working with Mammon; it's colluding with Babylon.

If you've ever dithered over the question of whether the UK needs a written constitution, dither no longer. Imagine the clauses required to preserve the status of the Corporation. "The City of London will remain outside the authority of parliament. Domestic and foreign banks will be permitted to vote as if they were human beings, and their votes will outnumber those cast by real people. Its elected officials will be chosen from people deemed acceptable by a group of medieval guilds …".

The Corporation's privileges could not withstand such public scrutiny. This, perhaps, is one of the reasons why a written constitution in the United Kingdom remains a distant dream. Its power also helps to explain why regulation of the banks is scarcely better than it was before the crash, why there are no effective curbs on executive pay and bonuses and why successive governments fail to act against the UK's dependent tax havens.

But now at last we begin to see it. It happens that the Lord Mayor's Show, in which the Corporation flaunts its ancient wealth and power, takes place on 12 November. If ever there were a pageant that cries out for peaceful protest and dissent, here it is. Expect fireworks – and not just those laid on by the Lord Mayor.

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theguardian.com  1 Nov 2011