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Today's Topics:
1. 2 dead in blast at private-sector rocket site (George Antunes)
2. InfoSpace Find It! Available for the Apple iPhone (Monty Solomon)
3. Report warns against too many 'Net rules (Williams, Gregory S.)
4. Two TV news helicopters collide while covering chase
(Williams, Gregory S.)
5. Two Helicopters Collide Over Phoenix (Williams, Gregory S.)
6. Aquafina labels to tell water?s source ? the tap (George Antunes)
7. EU Charges Intel With Monopoly Abuse (George Antunes)
8. Dell to offer more Linux PCs (George Antunes)
9. Texas Battles Invasion of Crickets (George Antunes)
10. Lawmakers fret over digital TV transition (George Antunes)
11. Yellowstone microbe converts light to energy (George Antunes)
12. Is Verizon's flip-flop on the 700MHz auction rules for real?
(George Antunes)
13. Internet: Clueless in Congress? (George Antunes)
14. The popularity of the Harry Potter series has opened doors
for other writer of young-adult fiction (Monty Solomon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 02:05:30 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] 2 dead in blast at private-sector rocket site
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
July 27, 2007, 1:25AM
Blast kills 2 at private-sector rocket site
Four critically hurt in explosion apparently ignited by nitrous oxide
By ALICIA CHANG
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5004316.html
MOJAVE, CALIF. ? An explosion on Thursday killed two workers and critically
injured four others at a Mojave Desert airport site used by the pioneering
aerospace company that sent the first private manned rocket into space,
authorities said.
The blast at a Mojave Air and Space Port facility belonging to Scaled
Composites LLC released nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, into the air.
Haz-Mat teams were on the scene as a precaution and fire authorities said
the scene was safe. All the victims worked for Scaled, the Mojave-based
builder of SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket to reach space.
Aerospace designer Burt Rutan, who heads Scaled but was away, rushed back
to Mojave. He appeared emotional, hugging the airport manager and fire
chief. His voice trailed off at times as he spoke to reporters. No
information about the victims was released because families were being
notified.
Rutan said the blast did not involve a rocket firing but happened during a
test of the flow of nitrous oxide through an injector in the course of
testing components for a new rocket motor for the upcoming SpaceShipTwo.
The nitrous oxide was at room temperature and under pressure, Rutan said.
Rutan gave little additional information about the test, but said it had
been done safely many times during the SpaceShipOne program and had been
done once before for the SpaceShipTwo program.
"We were doing a test we believe was safe. We don't know why it exploded.
We just don't know," he said.
SpaceShipTwo is to be used for the new space tourism business Virgin
Galactic belonging to Richard Branson. The company plans to offer $200,000
rides into space for tourists.
Scaled's offices and aircraft construction facilities were closed late
Thursday. Authorities did not allow access to the blast site in a remote
unpaved area about a quarter-mile beyond an airplane storage area.
Video news helicopters showed wrecked equipment and vehicles at the airport
in the high desert north of Los Angeles near Edwards Air Force Base.
Scaled uses nitrous oxide as an oxidizer in its rockets, which are tested
at the airport. An oxidizer provides the oxygen that rocket fuel needs to
burn. Scaled's Web site notes that "temperatures and pressures must be
carefully controlled" during oxidizer transfers.
Paramedics reported two people were killed, four were critically injured
and one suffered minor injuries, said Mark Corum, a spokesman for Hall
Ambulance Service. The injured were airlifted to Kern Medical Center about
45 miles from the airport, he said.
The Mojave airport is where the Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft was built.
It made history in 1986 when it achieved the first nonstop flight around
the world without refueling.
In 2004, Rutan's SpaceShipOne, funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen,
made the first privately financed manned spaceflight by climbing more than
62 miles high on a suborbital journey above Mojave. SpaceShipOne went on to
make two more flights to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize.
Rutan has since been developing SpaceShipTwo for Branson, who is investing
at least $200 million for a fleet of Rutan's spaceships. Earlier this year
he told a trade show the new ship will be ready within a year and, after a
year of flight tests, would have its first commercial launch in 2009.
Rutan, who works secretively and stresses that safety will be the key to
success of space tourism, has not publicly released a schedule for
completion of the design, testing and first launch.
Aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. owns 40 percent of
Scaled and recently agreed to acquire the rest of it. The deal is awaiting
regulatory approval and should close next month.
Northrop Grumman spokesman Dan McClain said the company had no comment on
the explosion.
The airport is an important part of Mojave, an unincorporated community of
about 4,000 people, said Bill Deaver, publisher of weekly Mojave Desert
News. It employs about 1,500 people, he said, and is the country's first
inland spaceport certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The airport is often crowded with parked airliners that are not in service.
Its flight operations often involve unusual aircraft undergoing testing,
and civilian test pilots undergo training there.
The airport has been a popular location for movie and television
production. Part of Speed was filmed at the airport ? a Boeing 707 was
blown up in a scene that was supposed to be Los Angeles International Airport.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:35:44 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] InfoSpace Find It! Available for the Apple iPhone
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
InfoSpace Find It! Available for the Apple iPhone
Easy-to-Use Local Search Application Helps Users Find Everything
Nearby, from Restaurants and Movies to Maps and Driving
Directions--for Free
BELLEVUE, Wash., Jul 27, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
InfoSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ:INSP) today announced the availability of
InfoSpace Find It! for the Apple iPhone, enabling the hundreds of
thousands of consumers who have already purchased the device to
easily access and enjoy InfoSpace Find It! for free. InfoSpace Find
It! is a premium local search application that distills millions of
listings into six categories tailored to the on-the-go user,
including: Dine Out, Go Out, Shop, Travel, Health and Services.
...
http://investor.infospaceinc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=256948
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:26:07 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Report warns against too many 'Net rules
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070727/ap_on_hi_te/internet_restrictions_4
VIENNA, Austria - Kazakhstan and Georgia are among countries imposing excessive
restrictions on how people use the Internet, a new report says, warning that
regulations are having a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
"Governing the Internet," issued Thursday by the 56-nation Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, called the online policing "a bitter
reminder of the ease with which some regimes - democracies and dictatorships
alike - seek to suppress speech that they disapprove of, dislike, or simply
fear."
"Speaking out has never been easier than on the Web. Yet at the same time we
are witnessing the spread of Internet censorship," the report said.
Miklos Haraszti, who heads the OSCE's media freedom office, said about two
dozen countries practice censorship, and others have adopted needlessly
restrictive legislation and government policy.
Among those are Malaysia, where a government official said this week that laws
would be drafted for bloggers and authorities would not hesitate to prosecute
those deemed to have insulted Islam.
Haraszti cited separate research by the OpenNet Initiative, a trans-Atlantic
group that tracks Internet filtering and surveillance, which pointed to
questionable online restrictions in Belarus, China, Hong Kong, Sudan, Tunisia,
Uzbekistan and elsewhere.
The OSCE report says Kazakhstan's efforts to rein in Internet journalism in the
name of national security is reminiscent of Soviet-era "spy mania," and it says
Georgian law contains numerous provisions curbing freedom of expression online.
Web sites, blogs and personal pages all are subject to criminal as well as
civil prosecution in Kazakhstan, and the country's information minister,
Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, has vowed to purge Kazakh sites of "dirt" and "lies."
"Those who think it is impossible to control the Internet can continue living
in a world of illusions," Yertysbayev told the Vremya newspaper in a recent
interview.
On Thursday, in a speech at OSCE headquarters in Vienna, Yertysbayev insisted
his country was committed to democracy and the creation of what he called an
"e-government" that would expand Internet access and make "our information
sphere more open and our media more free."
In the most publicized instance of a government crackdown, Kazakh authorities
took control of .kz Internet domains in 2005. It then revoked a domain operated
by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, creator of the movie "Borat: Cultural
Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
Baron Cohen since has relocated his satirical Web site, which Kazakhstan
considered offensive.
The OSCE report warns that Kazakhstan's approach to the Internet has produced a
hostile atmosphere where "any dissident individual, organization or an entire
country could be named an 'enemy of the nation.'"
Georgia, the report says, has laws that contain "contradictory and ill-defined"
provisions "which on certain occasions might give leverage for illegitimate
limitation of freedom of expression on the Internet."
"It is important to support the view of the World Press Freedom Committee that
'governance' must not be allowed to become a code word for government
regulation of Internet content," the report says.
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:37:53 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Two TV news helicopters collide while covering
chase
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/KTVKLNews20070727_helicopter-crash.b85476c7.html
01:22 PM Mountain Standard Time on Friday, July 27, 2007
Associated Press Report
PHOENIX (AP) -- Two television news helicopters covering a police pursuit
crashed and burned in a central Phoenix park, killing at least two people.
A KTVK T-V anchor tearfully told viewers that one of the helicopters was
theirs, and that the pilot and photographer aboard were killed. KNXV-TV said
the other helciopter was theirs.
The helicopters collided while covering a police pursuit of a man in a
construction truck.
The helicopters crashed in flames in a grassy area of Steele Indian School
A witness named Charles, who didn't want his last name used, said he heard a
loud gunshot-like sound and heard a really loud bang and then two helicopters
coming straight down.
He said they burst into flames and they were 100 yards away from me.
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:54:54 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Two Helicopters Collide Over Phoenix
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Two Helicopters Collide Over Phoenix
Jul 27 04:30 PM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QL5CM80&show_article=1
Live video stream: http://www.kpho.com/index.html
PHOENIX (AP) - Two television news helicopters collided Friday and crashed
while covering a police pursuit, killing at least two people.
Both helicopters went down in a park in central Phoenix and caught fire.
The collision happened as the two choppers broadcast live coverage of police
pursuing a truck. Cameras aboard both aircraft were pointed at the ground, so
viewers did not witness the accident. The first indication of trouble came when
pictures from the helicopters went dead.
Television station KNXV reported that it owned one of the choppers. The other
was from KTVT, which reported that both the pilot and photographer were killed
in the crash.
Just before the collision, the driver of the truck that was being pursued had
jumped out of pickup and carjacked another truck.
News helicopters from other television stations were also in the area.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's
earlier story is below.
PHOENIX (AP)-Two television news helicopters collided Friday and crashed while
covering a police pursuit, killing at least two people.
Both helicopters went down in a park in central Phoenix and caught fire.
Television station KNXV reported that it owned one of the choppers. The other
was from KTVT, which reported that both the pilot and photographer were killed
in the crash.
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:45:02 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Aquafina labels to tell water?s source ? the tap
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
[One for the weird file.]
Aquafina labels to tell water?s source ? the tap
Pepsi agrees to change as industry comes under increased criticism
Reuters
Updated: 10:48 a.m. CT July 27, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19985269/
NEW YORK - PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is
made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and
political opposition to the bottled water industry.
According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group,
the world?s No. 2 beverage company will include the words ?Public Water
Source? on Aquafina labels.
?If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public
sources, then it?s a reasonable thing to do,? said Michelle Naughton, a
Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.
Pepsi Chief Executive Indra Nooyi told Reuters earlier this week the
company was considering such a move.
Pepsi?s Aquafina and Coca-Cola Co?s Dasani are both made from purified
water sourced from public reservoirs, as opposed to Danone?s Evian or
Nestle?s Poland Spring, so-called ?spring waters,? shipped from specific
locations the companies say have notably clean water.
Coca-Cola Co. told Reuters it will start posting online information about
the quality control testing it performs on Dasani by the end of summer or
early fall.
?Concerns about the bottled-water industry, and increasing corporate
control of water, are growing across the country,? said Gigi Kellett,
director of the ?Think Outside the Bottle? campaign, which aims to
encourage people to drink tap water.
San Francisco?s mayor banned city employees from using city funds to buy
bottled water when tap water is available. Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a
resolution banning commercially bottled water at city events and Salt Lake
City, Utah asked department heads to eliminate bottled water.
Critics charge the bottled water industry adds plastic to landfills, uses
too much energy by producing and shipping bottles across the world and
undermines confidence in the safety and cleanliness of public water
supplies, all while much of the world?s population is without access to
clean water.
But industry observers said such opposition is unlikely to drain U.S. sales
of bottled water, which reached 2.6 billion cases in 2006, according to
Beverage Digest. The industry newsletter estimated that U.S. consumers
spent about $15 billion on bottled water last year.
?Consumers have an affection for bottled water. It?s not an issue of taste
or health, it?s about convenience,? the newsletter?s publisher, John
Sicher, said. ?Try walking up (New York City?s) Third Avenue on a hot day
and getting a glass of tap water.?
Dave Kolpak, a portfolio manager at Victory Capital Management, said the
environmental objections will have little impact on the bottom line for
either Pepsi or Coke, though he admitted it could slow the market?s growth
rate.
?Pepsi and Coke do not make a lot of profit? on bottled water, said Kolpak,
adding that people may talk about the issue, but will likely continue
buying some bottled water. Victory Capital owns about 3 million shares of
PepsiCo among its $62 billion under management.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19985269/
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:46:37 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] EU Charges Intel With Monopoly Abuse
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
EU Charges Intel With Monopoly Abuse
Jul 27, 2007 7:23 AM (ET)
By AOIFE WHITE
Associated Press
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070727/D8QKTBUG0.html
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - EU regulators said Friday they have charged Intel
Corp. (INTC) (INTC) with monopoly abuse for blocking rival computer
chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)'s access to customers.
Intel immediately said its conduct had been lawful and said it welcomed the
chance to finally respond to allegations made by its main competitor.
The European Commission claimed that Intel gave "substantial rebates" to
computer makers for buying most of their x86 computer processing units, or
CPUs, from Intel; that it made payments to manufacturers to get them to
delay or cancel product lines using AMD chips; and that it sold its own
chips below cost on average to strategic server customers on bids against
AMD products to try to muscle into that business.
It said each of these alone broke EU law by shutting out AMD from the
market. Together they amounted to a strategy that damaged the rules of fair
play in an effort to keep AMD from eroding Intel's market leadership, it said.
"The Commission also considers at this stage of its analysis that the three
types of conduct reinforce each other and are part of a single overall
anticompetitive strategy," it said.
Intel has a chance to defend itself before the EU's executive arm takes a
final decision that could order the company to stop abusive behavior or
charge it fines that can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is the world's biggest chipmaker.
The company's general counsel, Bruce Sewell, said Intel was confident that
the microprocessor market was functioning normally and that Intel's
behavior had been lawful, pro-competitive and beneficial to customers.
"The case is based on complaints from a direct competitor rather than
customers or consumers," he said. "The evidence that this industry is
fiercely competitive and working is compelling. When competitors perform
and execute the market rewards them. When they falter and underperform the
market responds accordingly."
Intel has 10 weeks to reply to the preliminary charges and can seek an oral
hearing to put its side.
The EU's executive arm has been investigating Intel's business behavior
since 2001, looking into complaints from AMD and computer manufacturers
that it used its power as a market leader to shut out rivals for chips that
run on Microsoft software.
The case has run hot and cold over the last six years. EU regulators had to
shut down one line of inquiry when Taiwan's Via Technologies withdrew its
complaint about computer circuits - or chipsets - in 2002. At the time,
they also said they did not have enough evidence to pursue an AMD complaint
on microprocessors.
AMD filed another complaint in 2004 that EU officials said they had no
choice but to investigate - or risk AMD taking court action for negligence.
In 2005, EU regulators raided Intel offices in Britain, German, Spain and
Italy two weeks after AMD filed another set of lawsuits in Japan and the
United States.
The EU investigation widened last year to include AMD's allegations that
Intel had pressured Europe's largest consumer electronics retailer Media
Markt not to offer computers that carried AMD chips.
Microprocessors from Intel dominate the global market in desktop computers
that run Microsoft's Windows operating system.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:53:35 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Dell to offer more Linux PCs
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Dell to offer more Linux PCs, Ubuntu's creator says
By Reuters
http://news.com.com/Dell+to+offer+more+Linux+PCs%2C+Ubuntus+creator+says/2100-7344_3-6199171.html
Story last modified Fri Jul 27 04:57:42 PDT 2007
Dell will soon offer more personal computers that use the Linux operating
system as opposed to Microsoft Windows, said the founder of a company that
offers Linux support services.
Mark Shuttleworth, who created the Ubuntu version of Linux and founded
Canonical to provide support for it, said that Dell is happy with the
demand it has seen for Linux PCs, which Dell introduced in May.
Dell, the world's second-largest PC maker after Hewlett-Packard, now offers
five consumer PCs that run Ubuntu Linux.
"What's been announced to date is not the full extent of what we will see
over the next couple of weeks and months," Shuttleworth said this week in
an interview. "There are additional offerings in the pipeline."
Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden declined comment, saying the company does not
discuss products in the pipeline. She added that Dell has been pleased with
customer response to its Linux PCs.
The Linux OS is seen as the biggest threat to Microsoft's Windows operating
system.
Companies like Shuttleworth's privately held Canonical, as well as Red Hat
and Novell, make money by selling standardized versions of Linux programs
and support contracts to service them.
Shuttleworth said his company is not in discussions with HP or any of the
other top five PC makers to introduce machines equipped with Ubuntu. The
other three top PC makers are Lenovo, Acer and Toshiba.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:48:25 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Texas Battles Invasion of Crickets
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Texas Areas Battle Invasion of Crickets
Jul 26, 2007 3:35 PM (ET)
By KELLEY SHANNON
Associated Press
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070726/D8QKFFVG1.html
AUSTIN (AP) - They congregate on patios, slip into stairwells and, if
they're crunched under foot, oh do they stink. Crickets are here in force,
annoying Texans earlier than usual - thanks to the year's wet weather in
much of the state.
The problem is so bad at the University of Texas at Austin that school
officials are taking the unusual step of darkening the 307-foot-tall bell
tower for three nights the next two weekends in hopes of keeping the
insects away. The bugs are attracted to lights.
Tower lights will be turned off early Friday evening through Sunday night,
and again for three nights the following weekend, Aug. 3-5.
"The tower is one of their primary targets, of course, because we do have
the lights on there," said Bill Lucas, associate director of facilities
maintenance at UT-Austin. He said the crickets gather atop the tower on its
observation deck.
"I don't know if they go up there for the view," he mused.
Crickets seem to like hanging out well above street level at other downtown
buildings. Clusters of crickets have been gathering on the ninth-floor
balcony outside the Austin office where Lisa Lucero works. She's not amused.
"It's just awful," she said. "They can jump so high. They're irritating and
creepy."
Reports of cricket invasions also are coming from counties in the Hill
Country and northeast Texas and from Dallas, said Mike Merchant, a
Dallas-based entomologist with the Texas Cooperative Extension of the Texas
A&M University System.
Typically, field crickets head into cities from their normal rural habitat
in early fall for mating flights after rain, once the ground becomes soft
enough for egg-laying, Merchant said. This year, after weeks of soaking
summer rain, the ground is soft earlier than usual.
The result, Merchant said, is a "cricket rush."
Though some places are reporting more crickets than anyone can remember,
others are simply experiencing them sooner.
Turning off outdoor lights is the best way to curb the cricket onslaught,
he said. Once they land at urban buildings, grackles and pigeons eat some
of the crickets.
The insects don't cause any serious damage, but they are an aesthetic pest
with their droppings and odor, Merchant said. They can, however, pose a
problem for museums because dead crickets in a museum attract other insects
that feed on them - and on the artifacts, he said.
Cleaning up the crickets can become a huge, repetitive chore, according to
those who do that nasty job.
"They're a general nuisance. There is the crunching under foot. They die
and smell terrible. The smell gets sucked into the air conditioning
system," said Lucas, adding that the odor creates an unpleasant work
environment in the campus' main building where the tower is located.
University workers began noticing the problem about a week ago and have
been gathering cricket information from a campus entomology expert and from
the Texas Cooperative Extension.
"They didn't quite say it was of biblical proportions, but it sure seems
that way at times," Lucas said.
---
On the Net:
http://citybugs.tamu.edu/IntheNews_Details.asp?ID_Key437
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:52:17 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Lawmakers fret over digital TV transition
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Lawmakers fret over digital TV transition
By Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
http://news.com.com/Lawmakers+fret+over+digital+TV+transition/2100-1026_3-6199228.html
Story last modified Fri Jul 27 10:57:17 PDT 2007
Some lawmakers are worried that too few Americans know that the analog TVs
they have been using for years could become big cathode-ray paperweights
after February 18, 2009, when broadcasters shut off their analog signals.
During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday examining the
government-mandated transition to digital TV, lawmakers aired their views
that too little was being done to get the message to Americans.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., fretted over the "high potential for a train
wreck" as she and other lawmakers questioned National Telecommunications &
Information Administration director John Kneuer and FCC Consumer Bureau
chief Cathy Seidel.
"Far too few of these consumers know that the transition from current
analog television technology to digital television, or DTV, is under way,"
said committee chairman Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
Kneuer defended the government's actions, telling the committee it's up to
the broadcast industry to let people know what's going on.
"It's not only their own responsibility, it's in their own interest,"
Kneuer said.
According to a 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office, 21
million households--about 19 percent of the nation--rely on an antenna
rather than cable or satellite to receive television signals. The poor,
elderly and minorities typically depend on the over-the-air signal more
than the well-to-do.
"These consumers will be confused, frustrated and angry that this important
information and entertainment source in their home is no longer
operational, through no fault of their own," testified Nelda Barnett, a
member of the board of the directors of the 39 million-member AARP, a lobby
group for Americans aged 50 and older.
A poll released in January by the Association for Public Television
Stations indicated 61 percent of respondents had "no idea" the digital
transition was going to take place.
When completed, the digital TV transition will give people the ability to
receive movie quality, high-definition pictures and CD-quality sound as
well as the ability to receive several channels where they now receive one.
While that's generally considered laudable, it also will make obsolete most
TVs that use an antenna to get a broadcast signal--unless viewers get a
converter box.
Under an NTIA plan, Uncle Sam will make available to each household two
coupons worth $40 each that can be used to buy two converter boxes.
Congress has set aside $1.5 billion to pay for the coupon program.
Initially, $990 million will be used to pay for coupons and to cover
administrative costs, capped at $110 million. An additional $510 million
might be allocated, but those coupons are reserved for households that have
only over-the-air television. The government earmarked $5 million for
public education.
National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton said
television stations are pushing to get the word out.
"Our very business is at stake here," he said.
Stations will begin airing public service announcements worth "tens of
millions of dollars" in December, he said.
"Broadcasters will do our dead-level best to educate Americans on this,"
Wharton promised.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:50:04 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Yellowstone microbe converts light to energy
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
Yellowstone microbe converts light to energy
Discovery will be important in unraveling mystery of photosynthesis
By Randolph E. Schmid
The Associated Press
Updated: 3:04 p.m. CT July 26, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19979411/
WASHINGTON - The wonderland known as Yellowstone National Park has yielded
a new marvel ? an unusual bacterium that converts light to energy.
The discovery was made in a hot spring at the park where colorful mats of
microbes drift in the warmth.
"This thing was just bizarre," David M. Ward, a professor of microbial
studies at Montana State University, said of the bacterium.
Plants use photosynthesis to turn light into energy, of course, and so do
some other bacteria.
But, Ward said, the newly discovered type has "a new kind of
photosynthesis. It uses the same kind of machinery, but has the parts in a
different arrangement."
The find is going to be important for unraveling the history of
photosynthesis, in determining how microbes efficiently harvest energy, he
said in a telephone interview.
"We're running out of fossil fuel, so the more efficiently we can harvest
light energy the better," Ward said.
Discovery of the microbe, named Candidatus Chloracidobacterium
thermophilum, is reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
"Finding a previously unknown, chlorophyll-producing microbe is the
discovery of a lifetime," co-author Don Bryant, a professor of
biotechnology at Penn State University, said in a statement. "I wouldn't
have been as excited if I had reached into that mat and pulled out a gold
nugget the size of my fist!"
Yellowstone is home to many types of heat-loving bacteria and scientists
have studied it for years in search of new organisms that may be useful in
biotechnology or medicine.
Indeed, these ponds have been studied for 40 to 50 years, Ward said, and
yet they can still discover a completely new organism.
The researchers discovered the bacterium living in the same hot springs
where the microbe Thermus aquaticus had been found previously.
T. aquaticus was crucial in making the polymerase chain reaction a routine
procedure. PCR is used to amplify genetic material for testing and research.
There are other chlorophyl-producing microbes, but the new one ? Cab.
thermophilum ? is a completely different type than the others that are
known, the researchers said.
The mats of microbes give the Yellowstone hot springs a variety of colors
including yellow, orange, red, brown and green.
Cab. thermophilum grows near the surface of the mats together with other
bacteria or blue-green algae, at a temperature of about 122 degrees to 151
degrees Fahrenheit.
It was found in three hot springs, Mushroom Spring, Octopus Spring and
Green Finger Pool in the Lower Geyser Basin.
The researchers said the new bacterium has light-harvesting antennae known
as chlorosomes, which contain about 250,000 chlorophylls each. It is the
first aerobic microbe known to make chlorosomes.
Cab. thermophilum makes two types of chlorophyll that allow these bacteria
to thrive in microbial mats and to compete for light with other bacteria.
Judging from their genetic sequences, the closest relatives of Cab.
thermophilum are found around Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone and hot
springs in Tibet and Thailand, according to the researchers.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S.
Department of Energy.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19979411/
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 12
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:51:19 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Is Verizon's flip-flop on the 700MHz auction
rules for real?
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
July 26, 2007 9:38 AM PDT
Is Verizon's flip-flop on the 700MHz auction rules for real?
Posted by Marguerite Reardon
News.com
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9750580-7.html
Verizon Wireless says it will go along with proposed Federal Communications
Commission rules for the upcoming 700Mhz spectrum auction that would
require the company to permit subscribers to bring any device to its network.
The company's CEO Lowell McAdam told The Wall Street Journal (registration
required) in an article published Thursday that the company is now prepared
to accept a set of rules proposed by FCC chairman Kevin Martin that would
require winners of certain licenses in the 700MHz auction to allow any
legal device to connect to networks using this spectrum.
On the surface, this looks like a pretty big deal. Verizon Wireless has the
toughest policy of any major U.S. mobile operator when it comes to
certifying new phones or allowing third-party applications on its phones.
Many developers and even some consumers have complained that Verizon's
"walled garden" is too restrictive and hurts innovation.
So for Verizon to say that it will go along with rules that would force it
to allow any device on its network is a pretty big deal. The change in
position also looks to be a compromise with Google, which last week said it
would bid $4.6 billion in the auction if the FCC adopted several
open-access rules.
AT&T made a similar policy reversal last week after Google announced its
intention to bid on the spectrum.
But are AT&T and Verizon really compromising anything?
Combined, they have more influence in Washington, D.C., than any other set
of technology or communications companies in the entire country. They don't
need to be making conciliatory gestures that could hurt their businesses.
So why are they doing it? My guess is because the proposal that Martin has
touted won't have much impact on the market anyway.
Martin's proposal, which few people have actually seen yet, only would
require the "any device rule" to apply to a small sliver of the 700MHz
spectrum. So if Verizon won these licenses, the requirement would be only
for areas where those licenses are used.
The rest of the Verizon Wireless network would be just as closed off as it
always has been. What would this mean for consumers? Well, if you're a
Verizon customer, you could theoretically bring your own phone to the
network, but it would only work in regions where Verizon has won and built
out its network using the 700MHz licenses.
If you want to use the rest of Verizon's nationwide network, you'd still
have to use a Verizon phone, because the company is not required to adhere
to this rule for any other spectrum licenses that have been used to build
its nationwide network. So at the end of the day, this rule by itself is
completely meaningless for the average consumer, and it does nothing to
promote true open access for devices.
What Google and others, like Frontline Wireless, really want to see is for
the FCC to also adopt rules that would guarantee open access to
wholesalers. This way, a new entrant like Frontline could buy 700MHz
spectrum licenses, build a network and then lease capacity to someone like
Google, which would then offer a nationwide service that would compete
against Verizon and AT&T. Google would allow any device to be used through
its service, which would then put pressure on Verizon and AT&T to also open
up their networks.
This would be the phone companies' worst nightmare. As a result, it should
come as little surprise that this requirement is not included in Martin's
proposal. As anyone who follows the FCC closely could attest, Martin has
never been described as an enemy of the phone companies. In fact, some
might say he's their best friend, pushing through mega-mergers and
supporting policy changes that favor their business interests.
In reality, the phone companies will get to protect their turf. They'll
likely be the big winners in the spectrum auction slated for early next
year. And average consumers will still be getting their cell phone and
broadband services from the same companies that offer it to them today.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 13
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:55:31 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Internet: Clueless in Congress?
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Clueless in Congress?
By Steven Musil
News.com
http://news.com.com/Week+in+review+Clueless+in+Congress/2100-1083_3-6199160.html
Story last modified Fri Jul 27 11:31:55 PDT 2007
Just when our elected representatives seem to finally have put the
"Internet tubes" flub behind them, recent statements renew our suspicions
that Congress really doesn't get tech.
Politicians charged that peer-to-peer networks can pose a "national
security threat" because they enable federal employees to share sensitive
or classified documents accidentally from their computers. At a hearing on
the topic, Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.)
said, without offering details, that he is considering new laws aimed at
addressing the problem. He said he was troubled by the possibility that
foreign governments, terrorists or organized crime could gain access to
documents that reveal national secrets.
The politicians present generally said they believe that there are benefits
to peer-to-peer technology but that it will imperil national security,
intrude on personal privacy and violate copyright law, if not properly
restricted.
Congressional gripes about P2P networks are hardly new, and in the past,
they have reinforced concerns raised by the Motion Picture Association of
America and the Recording Industry Association of America. Four years ago,
the same committee held a pair of hearings that condemned pornography
sharing on P2P networks and also explored leaks of sensitive information.
CNET News.com readers were incredulous that government workers dealing with
classified information would be allowed to surf the Internet or even to
download a file-sharing program. But some pointed to other motivations for
the pronouncement.
"Is anyone stupid enough to honestly believe this has anything to do with
national security?" wrote one News.com reader to the TalkBack forum. "What
this is really about, and we all know it, is kissing the backsides of their
masters in Hollywood so the campaign contributions will keep coming in."
In a related move, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid withdrew
anti-file-sharing legislation that drew yowls of protest from universities.
Reid, without explanation, nixed his own amendment, which would have
required colleges and universities--in exchange for federal funding--to use
technology to "prevent the illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution
of intellectual property."
Instead, Reid replaced it with a diluted version merely instructing
institutions of higher education to advise their students not to commit
copyright infringement and tell students what actions they're taking to
prevent "unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material" through campus
networks.
In another head-scratching move, John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and
onetime presidential hopeful, said he wants to make it "illegal to transmit
images of dog fighting, to run websites that cater to dog fighting." While
dog fighting is obviously a deplorable "sport," such a law could imperil
news organizations and animal rights Web sites that "transmit images of dog
fighting" as part of reporting on or, alternatively, condemning the practice.
However, some politicians are embracing a tech-based debate format in their
pursuits of the White House. It seemed wacky at first, but the idea of
allowing Americans to pose questions to presidential candidates through
brief YouTube videos turned out to be a success.
According to the format worked out in advance by CNN and YouTube, the
Democratic Party-sanctioned debate in Charleston, S.C., was based on video
questions submitted by the public by Sunday evening. CNN received nearly
3,000 videos, and its editors selected 39 for use during the two-hour debate.
The video questions posed in the Democratic debate were more personal and
more direct than the circumlocutions that political journalists tend to
prefer. But the problem was that the politicians ducked, weaved and often
replied without giving a straight answer. (Ironically, the first
user-submitted video, which asked the candidates to "actually answer the
questions that are posed to you tonight," anticipated this problem but was
insufficiently persuasive.)
Text messaging as means of political outreach is hardly a new idea, but
2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich claims a new drive
launched by his campaign stands out from all the rest. The congressman from
Ohio is asking Americans opposed to the Iraq war to text the word "peace"
to the number 73223. From there, he plans to forward on the responses to
President Bush and the Pentagon.
Privacy concerns
The FBI's chief is trying to defuse lingering concerns about abuse of
secret requests for telephone and e-mail logs, as politicians proposed new
limits on the practice. Director Robert Mueller's appearance before a U.S.
House of Representatives Judiciary oversight committee highlighted the
lingering fallout over a Justice Department inspector general report issued
earlier this year. That inquiry found the FBI underreported its use of a
secret surveillance tactic--called a national security letter--and
concluded "serious misuse" had occurred.
Mueller told the committee that he "absolutely understands" the concerns
raised by the report, although he emphasized there were no findings of
"intentional" attempts by FBI agents to sidestep the law. Since then, he
added, the agency has been implementing "numerous reforms," including
retraining its agents and their supervisors on how and when to use the
letters and establishing an internal program to monitor "compliance."
The FBI's planned actions apparently weren't satisfactory for some
politicians who have dogged the Bush administration's surveillance
techniques in the past. Just before Thursday's hearing, Reps. Jerrold
Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced a new bill designed to
place checks on the surveillance tools' use and to give Americans more
recourse to respond to them.
The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the 20-page proposal, saying
in a statement that it "will realign NSL authorities with the Constitution
and reaffirm that Americans can be both safe and free."
Meanwhile, Congress is already well on its way to bestowing new powers on
an internal White House panel that's supposed to judge whether Bush
administration programs like the National Security Agency's electronic
surveillance regime pose privacy and civil liberties concerns. But the
board's chairman has a message for the politicians backing the new
authority: thanks, but no thanks.
Civil liberties advocates have long dogged the Privacy and Civil Liberties
Oversight Board--which, although it didn't meet until 2006, was created
within the White House by Congress in 2004 at the recommendation of the
9/11 Commission--for its perceived inability to make real assessments
without executive branch officials looking over its shoulder. The board
also has been criticized for its lack of transparency to the public.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 14
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:17:02 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] The popularity of the Harry Potter series has
opened doors for other writer of young-adult fiction
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
http://www.townonline.com/framingham/homepage/x960124030
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 337, Issue 1
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