Antique Egyptian statue worth $6 million sets world record

A world record for an ancient Egyptian work of art has been set at Christie’s after a sculpture of the goddess Isis dating back to the Late Period Dynasty went under the hammer for nearly $6 million.
Made from a dark sandstone, known as greywacke, the 73-centimeter tall object was probably used as a healing statue for those who wanted to call on the goddess’s magical powers of protection, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The sculpture was estimated at between $640,000 – $960,000, and was acquired by a London fine art dealer Daniel Katz for his private collection.
The price more than doubled the previous record for an Egyptian work of art set in 2005 when the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas bought a tomb sculpture of Ka-nefer and His Family (ca. 2450 B.C.) for $2.8 million.

Rt.com

Sever (The Chemical Garden, #3) by Lauren DeStefano

Time is running out for Rhine in this conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden Trilogy.

With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

Vote Obama Fashion! Beyoncé's Earrings, Katy Perry's Nails, Miley Cyrus's T Shirt And More

It's election fever over in America and lotsa stars have come out once again to support Obama. They don't just tell their fans to vote, they get creative wearing their candidate of choice on their t-shirts, nails, dresses, hands....

Katy Perry is the most original Obama-ista with his face on her nails and performing in a democrat blue suit with a Statue of Liberty torch mic. She also wore a white rubber ballot dress for an Obama concert, unsurprisingly the box for Obama was coloured in.

Beyoncé went for a pair of silver hoops to show her support, with Obama written inside them. Miley Cyrus tweeted a snap of her in an Obama t-shirt and SJP has been wearing a badge on her jackets. Stars have also taken to doodling their support on their hands in black pen.

Speaking of celebs and Obama, Lena Dunham has released an ad campaign to encourage college students to vote by comparing voting for the first time to losing your virginity. She says: "Your first time shouldn't be with just anybody. You want to do it with a great guy."

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

“The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” a story of high-seas silliness from that British national treasureAardman Animations (Wallace &Gromit). Exquisitely detailed — from its ocean breakers to the wavelike curlicues on a pirate’s luxurious beard — the movie is a curiosity cabinet of visual pleasure, adventure, humor, action and animation.
Directed by the Peter Lord and written by Gideon Defoe, based on his book “Pirates!” series (“The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists”), the story centers on the Pirate Captain voiced by Hugh Grant who is starring with Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven and with many other phenomenal actors.
SYNOPSIS: Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

Movie has been released on 27th of October in USA and is running successfullly in theatres worldwide!


Genre: Adaptation, Adventure, Animated

One in five UK workers earns below a living wage - research

Employees of JJ Churchill precision engineering
polish turbine blades in the company's factory in
Market Bosworth, central England (Reuters)

As Britain plunged into double-dip recession 20% of workers or as many as 4.82 million are paid less than the living wage, new research from accountancy firm KPMG found.

The living wage is a voluntary rate of pay, considered necessary to afford a basic standard of living that some employers provide their staff. The rate is currently £8.30 an hour in London and £7.20 outside, compared to the national minimum wage rate of £6.19 an hour.

The proportion of the population affected varies between the regions. Northern Ireland has the highest level of people earning below the Living Wage at 24%, followed by Wales at 23%, according to the KMPG research.  London and the South East have both the lowest proportion at 16%.  However, London and the North West have the highest number of people earning below the living wage – both about 570,000 each.

The research found that the jobs with the highest level of workers paid below the Living Wage include bar staff (90%) and kitchen and catering assistants (75%) and cleaners (70%). By number of workers the most affected activities are sales and retail assistants (780,000).

“This research really lays bare the extent of the problem of low pay in Britain.  Times are difficult for many people, but of course those on the lowest pay are suffering the most,” Marianne Fallon, Head of Corporate Affairs at KPMG, said in a comment.

Meanwhile, separate data provided by price comparison site uSwitch.com showed 7.2 million households in the UK are now living in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is defined as when a household spends more than 10% of its net income on heating and powering their home. As energy prices rose 156% over the last seven years an average dual fuel energy bill grew from £522 in 2004 to a record £1,334 this winter.

- Rt.com

Abercrombie & Kent opens flagship store in London

Abercrombie & Kent has opened its first standalone travel store in London, showcasing experiences around the world using the latest digital technology.

The boutique, located on 82 Cheapside, in the heart of the City of London, offers a host of immersive travel experiences, including Skype-to-Store video calls with local A&K experts in 25 countries.

A&K’s flagship boutique, which will be the first of many travel boutiques to open, does not feature desks and brochures.

Instead, Travel Curators use iPads to give customers a taste of the unique experiences available. Vintage map chests hold bespoke canvas maps made exclusively for A&K by British map makers, Lovell Johns.

Geoffrey Kent, Founder and Chairman of A&K, said: “We have been looking for some time to open the first in a series of stores that bring A&K’s in—destination experiences alive in the stores for our clients and we have found the perfect place.

Ever since A&K started 50 years ago, we have always pioneered new luxury travel services and experiences for our clients and this store does exactly that,” he added.

Every aspect of the open plan space reflects high-end British design, from the handcrafted vintage-inspired furniture by Timothy Oulton to contemporary seating by Tom Dixon. The London City store concept was created by Caulder Moore, with design and build carried out by Cube.

Kent added: “Our store takes the concept of tailor-made travel to an entirely new level by allowing prospective clients to work directly with a skilled A&K Travel Curator to design their trip, supplemented by the latest information from our local offices in destination.”

Time-pressed city workers looking to plan a last-minute getaway will appreciate the convenience of the Sundowner bar in store serving light refreshments.

The lower level completes the pre-travel experience with a Nomad Travel Health Clinic (opening in early December), that offers a same day vaccination service. There will also be a selection of high performance travel gear for those going off the beaten track on safari, on a mountain trek or to Antarctica.

Abercrombie & Kent - which was named Africa’s Leading Luxury Tour Operator and Australasia’s Leading Tour Operator by the World Travel Awards this year - already has a retail concession at Harrods, where it offers an ultra-bespoke travel service open seven days a week. The next boutique store is planned for Monte Carlo.

Countdown for the 2013 Carnival in the Seychelles has began

Samuel Rosette from the Celebrate Seychelles Events Department this week announced that the countdown for the 2013 Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Carnival has began. Elsia Grandcourt, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, has been proudly distributing the 2013 Carnival in the Seychelles brochure and program at every tourism trade fair or workshop. Emirates has again this year come forward as the Official Airline for this unique Carnival of Carnivals that is held annually in the middle of the Indian Ocean and for this edition of the Carnaval International de Victoria, Seychelles, La Reunion, and Madagascar of the Vanilla Islands Regional Organization have been joined by Zimbabwe as joint co-hosts.

This regional carnival remains unique as it is the only carnival that manages to assemble the best and most known carnivals to parade together alongside cultural troupes from the Community of Nations. The best carnivals come from far and wide to be part of the carnival in the beautiful tropical islands of the Seychelles. Carnival delegations from Brazil to Notting Hill of London, from Trinidad&Tobago to Dusseldorf in Germany, from Italy to France, all descend on Seychelles annually to be joined by incredible cultural groups from La Reunion island, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Indonesia, and the USA, among many others all flying their country’s flags in one of the most colorful carnivals held under the theme of the melting pot of cultures.

February 8-10, 2013 is the set date for the next Carnival of Carnivals and all final logistical arrangements are being attended to on the ground to ensure that the traffic flows, and the overseas delegations are getting confirmation of their accommodation requests, etc.

The carnival song for the 2013 edition of the Carnaval International de Victoria will be announced soon.

Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, said that he will be appraised on all the delegations making their way to Seychelles in a meeting set for next week.

UBS to cut workforce by 10,000 world-wide

Swiss banking giant UBS plans to cut 10,000 jobs by 2015 in what it called "a significant acceleration" in its transformation. The layoffs will mostly take place in London, Zurich and the USA.
Switzerland's biggest bank said that as part of the cost-cutting drive it “is likely to have a headcount of around 54,000” by 2015, down from its current 64,000 employees in 57 countries.
The UBS programme was announced in the wake of the losses reported in 3Q 2012. The bank’s bottom line nosedived into the red – to the net loss of $2.31bln – which compares to a $1.13bln profit posted during the same three-month period in 2011.
With the move UBS wants to focus on the businesses where it has a strong competitive advantage, Vedomost daily says on Tuesday. The bank will be able to work closer with shares, that have always been the lender’s forte, and reduce the amount of operations with fixed income instruments, the paper added.
High net worth clients will become another focus for UBS. This part of the bank’s business together with asset management control about $2trln of UBS money.

- Rt.com

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis donates his father’s poetry archive to Oxford University

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis

Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis has donated papers belonging to his father, Anglo-Irish poet and novelist Cecil Day-Lewis, to Oxford University. Rare letters from actor John Gielgud and poet W.H. Auden are among them.

The 55-year-old star of Steven Spielberg’s new movie ‘Lincoln’ said he was thrilled that his father's papers would be housed at Oxford's Bodleian Library and would be accessible to students and researchers, AP reported.

The archive fills 54 boxes, including early drafts of Cecil Day-Lewis’ work, as well as correspondence with some of the 20th Century most renowned poets.

The author of “Word over All” studied classics and later became poetry professor at Oxford. In 1968 he was appointed British Poet Laureate. Cecil Day-Lewis also made his name as the author of mystery novels written under the pen name of Nicholas Blake. His detective novel, “A Question of Proof”, revolved around an amateur investigator named Nigel Strangeways, and was followed by nineteen more crime novels.

Headline Oct31,2012/

''HEAD START AT FIRST BITE!''

1. Choose your words carefully. The boffins at American Heritage Dictionaries list the five most intelligent-sounding words as epitome, finagle, gregarious,panacea, and perfunctory.

2. It's not just the words, but how you say them. Michael Ronayne, then the Director of the College of Public Speaking, says. ''A clear, well-paced voice is a good sign of confidence''.

3. Failing that, speak faster. ''The faster characters speaks, the more intelligent the audience feel they come across.'' says psychotherapist Tom Barber.

4. Make the right first impression. Life coach Dan O' Neal says,'' People determine your perceived intelligence from your 'immediate physical appearance.''

5. Look after your looks. ''Attractive people tend to appear better adjusted, more popular and intelligent, says Dr Liam Barker. ''It's what psychologists refer to as ''The Halo Effect.''

6. Pay attention to your teeth. In a recent study, people who had undergone cosmetic dentistry were assumed to be more successful and intelligent.''We have seen a big increase in clients asking to have their teeth improved before interviews,'' says James Russel of the London Smile Clinic.

7. Learn to listen. ''Emotional Intelligence is as important as the IQ,'' says life coach Jude Jennison. ''listen and ask open questions such as how, what and when.''

8. Work on your memory. ''Much of what is considered intelligence is simply the ability to remember,'' says coach David Wygnat.

9. Go for brains as well as beauty.When asked about the women you love, drop Nigella Lawson and Helen Mirren in alongside the more obvious Megan Fox and Eva Green.

10.Ask for help. ''Get someone to show you how to do something. That's how you learn,'' says Professor Robert Hampson, Royal Holloway University of London.

11.Start wearing Purple. ''Purple is a colour that suggests intelligence. Mix it with grey, a power colour for Men, to exude confidence and a deep intelligence,'' says colour therapy specialist Julianne Bien.

With many thanks to !WOW! This special post is lovingly dedicated to all the Students of the world and the Samurai

Good Night & God Bless

U.S. East Coast Paralyzed by Sandy

Millions of people in the eastern United States awoke on Tuesday to flooded homes, fallen trees and widespread power outages caused by the giant storm Sandy, which swamped New York City's subway system and submerged streets in Manhattan's financial district.
At least 15 people were reported killed in the United States by Sandy, one of the biggest storms to ever hit the country, which dropped just below hurricane status before making landfall on Monday night in New Jersey.
More than 1 million people in a dozen states were under orders to evacuate as the massive system plowed westward.
One disaster forecasting company predicted economic losses could ultimately reach $20 billion, only half insured.
The storm interrupted the presidential campaign a week before Election Day and closed U.S. financial markets for two days.
Sandy, which was especially imposing because of its wide-ranging winds, brought a record storm surge of almost 14 feet to downtown Manhattan, well above the previous record of 10 feet during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.
Water poured into the subway system and tunnels that course under the city, raising concerns that the world's financial capital could be hobbled for days.

- Reuters

Plight of foreign students in Regina raised in Ottawa

A handful of protesters were at Parliament Hill in Ottawa
Monday, calling for leniency in the case of Victoria Ordu
 and Ihuoma Amadi. Valerie Boyer/CBC

A protest to help two University of Regina students who say they're are facing deportation for working part-time at Wal-Mart has moved to Ottawa.

On Monday, a small group of people were at Parliament Hill trying to raise awareness about Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Amadi, students from Nigeria who've taken sanctuary in a Regina church for several weeks because they're afraid they'll be deported.

The women, who have been studying at the U of R for three years, have student visas that allow them to work, but only on campus.

They claim they did not know of the restriction and worked for a time at a Wal-Mart store, but stopped as soon as they learned of the rules.

They're hoping the minister of immigration will let them stay and finish their studies.

The University of Regina has come out in the women's corner, saying the penalty they're facing is out of proportion to the offence.

Saskatchewan Liberal MP Ralph Goodale, who was at the Ottawa rally Monday, also says the punishment does not fit the crime.

"They technically broke a rule. It appears to be an honest mistake," Goodale said. "As soon as they became aware of that, they corrected the situation. Now what is the appropriate sanction. Is it throwing them out of the country and in effect cancelling their education?"

Bill Boyd, Saskatchewan Minister of the Economy, is now inquiring about the status of the two students.

"This matter was brought to my attention in June of this year and I have been monitoring the situation closely," Boyd said in a letter sent to Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews.

"The Government of Saskatchewan understands that this is a federal matter but if you could update us on the status of this case and any next steps we would welcome any response from your office on this matter."

- CBC News

NHK WORLD TV now available for Android smartphones in Japan

TOKYO —

NHK has launched a live‐streaming application of NHK WORLD TV, NHK’s international English TV channel, for domestically‐used Android OS smartphones.

NHK WORLD TV’s live‐streaming has been available on its website or via iPhone and iPad in Japan and overseas to make it easier for people to access and enjoy its programs. NHK started providing apps for Android OS overseas.

NHK said the new service for domestic smartphones will allow a wider number of people living in Japan to enjoy NHK WORLD TV shows live.

DOCOMO launches real-time phone translation

TOKYO —

Japan’s biggest mobile operator said it will launch a translation service that lets people chat over the phone in several different languages.

The application for NTT DOCOMO subscribers will give two-way voice and text readouts of conversations between Japanese speakers and those talking in English, Chinese or Korean with a several-second delay.

“Hanashite Honyaku” will be a free application that can be used on smartphones and tablet computers with the Android operating system. Customers will also be able to call landlines using the service, it said, adding that voice-to-text readouts will soon be available in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.

A company spokeswoman said, We hope that with this application, our subscribers will be able to widen the range of their communication, also said conceded the service does not offer perfect translations and has trouble deciphering some dialects.

DOCOMO said it has launched a separate service that lets users translate menus and signage using the smartphone camera.

Will Apple go for 'kill' with iPad Mini?

SAN FRANCISCO —

Just weeks after its momentous launch of the iPhone 5, Apple is back with what is expected to be another hot gadget a  mini  version of its market-leading iPad tablet.

Apple sent out invitations for an event in San Jose, California, keeping details under wraps as it normally does, saying only: “We’ve got a little more to show you.”

Reports have been swirling for months about the “iPad Mini,” but Apple has made no comment. But blogs which closely monitor Apple say the new tablet could be priced from $249 to $399, which could pressure rivals such as the Amazon Kindle Fire.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple has begun production of 10 million of the new iPads. Some reports say it may be available Nov 2.

The bar has been set by Amazon. Even though the Kindle is not the same kind of device, it does what it does very well. The Kindle Fire proved popular last year, and a new version was launched last month. Meanwhile the small-format Google Nexus 7 joined the Samsung Galaxy in the seven-inch tablet market.

Also in the mix will be Microsoft’s Surface a late entry in the market which has a 10.6-inch screen and starts at $499, challenging the larger-format iPads. With Kindles selling from $199, Apple will be forced to keep its price low for its new model and “will not have its normal profit margin. And some blogs say Google may sell a tablet as low as $99.

The key question is whether Apple decides to price in-line with its margin model, or does it get aggressive to ‘go for the kill’ against competitors?

Jack Gold, analyst with J. Gold Associates, said Apple needs to get into the small tablet segment to maintain its leadership.

Gold said Apple will have to wow consumers with the new device to protect its turf. Apple is a premium brand and they want you to pay a premium price. The only way to sustain that is to offer what the others don’t.

Amazon Japan launches Pokemon store

TOKYO —

Amazon Japan has launched a Pokemon Store, a special page dedicated to the sale of all things Pokemon. In addition to bundling all of the website’s Pokemon merchandise into one place, the store also stocks limited edition Pokemon Center goods, saving them the trip to one of the seven physical locations around Japan.

There are currently over 10,000 Pokemon-related items in total, including a life-sized Pikachu plushie and a few selections from the I Love Eevee merchandise series. User can check what’s for sale here, but user’ll need a physical address in Japan if user want to place an order.

Microsoft offers peek at new Windows, tablet

SHANGHAI —U.S. computing giant Microsoft gave an early peek to the key Chinese market of its new tablet computer and Windows 8 software, promising a fast and fluid operating system.

Microsoft will launch Windows 8 and the Surface tablet computer, designed to compete with Apple’s popular iPad. The launch of the two products in China is the same day.

Windows remains the dominant platform for personal computers, but it has lost ground to Apple and Google in newer devices which use rival operating systems.

Windows 8 seamlessly moves between a world of touch-only tablets to laptops that have touch screens to desktops and to portable computers without touch screens. Microsoft’s new tablet computer was designed to be a platform for Windows, as compared the challenger to Apple’s iPad, it’s bigger than an iPad, it’s actually lighter in your hand because of the way the physics of the design work.

The Surface has a full-sized USB port unlike the iPad, a built-in stand and a cover which doubles as a keyboard. The tablet runs the new Windows RT, a form of Windows 8, and comes with Microsoft Office 2013.
Microsoft hoped to add a billion new customers with Windows 8, which aims to replace earlier versions of its dominant operating system. It’s (Windows) used by over a billion people around the world and with Widows 8 we’re aiming towards the next billion.

Oxford University students in soup kitchen protest

Staff at Magdalen College said the charges were
comparable to other colleges

Students at Oxford University have been boycotting their canteen in protest against new meal charges.

Members of Magdalen's Junior Common Room have set up a soup kitchen and have been cooking for each other in an effort to avoid the college catering.

Students currently pay for their meals when they eat them but from 2013 new students will have to pay fixed catering charges.

The college said it was comparable with others in Oxford and Cambridge.

Students said the changes will put off those from poorer backgrounds.

Jonathan Gardener, a first year classics and English student at Magdalen, has been taking part in the two-week boycott, which started last Monday.

'Not fair'
He said students already had to pay about £1,500 a term for their accommodation on top of the £9,000 tuition fees.

"I don't think that it's fair for the JCR [Junior Common Room] to take the burden of the financial responsibility," he added.

Magdalen College student James Carter said the charges would be difficult for him to pay.

"I won't be able to afford to go here without help from the college itself or from the university which could pose a problem and put off students from applying," he added.

A spokesman for the college said: "We remain fully committed to attracting and supporting the best students regardless of background.

"This is why we have appointed an outreach officer to encourage applications from under-represented groups, and why in the past year we gave out more than £330,000 in grants to help current students with their living and research costs."

- BBC.co.uk

Guinea police fire tear gas at students protesting the firing of a teacher

CONAKRY, Guinea - Residents of the northern town of Labe say that riot police fired tear gas at hundreds who gathered to protest the firing of a teacher who allegedly criticized the Guinean government in class.

A student said Monday during the march that Mariama Tata Diallo was an exemplary teacher and shouldn't be fired for being active in Guinea's opposition. Another student, Binta Diallo, said that police fired tear gas at the students and some were hurt but that they would not give up until Diallo is reinstated.

Other witnesses said Monday that anti-riot police and a mobile security force remained on the streets of Labe, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of the capital, Conakry.

- www.vancouversun.com

Wayne Rooney nominated for 2012 Ballon d'Or

Wayne Rooney is the only British player to be named on Fifa's 23-man Ballon d'Or shortlist for 2012's best player.
Rooney's Manchester United team-mate Robin van Persie joins Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli on the list, as does 2011 winner, Barcelona's Lionel Messi.
Premier League bosses Roberto Mancini, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Di Matteo are on the Coach of the Year list.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Zurich on 7 January 2013.

Carbon nanotubes fit by the thousands onto a chip

Scientists have demonstrated methods that could see higher-performance computer chips made from tiny straws of carbon called nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes have long been known to have electronic properties superior to current silicon-based devices.

But difficulties in manipulating them have hampered nanotube-based chips.

The experiments, reported in Nature Nanotechnology, show a kind of two-part epoxy approach to individually place the nanotubes at high density.

The race is on in the semiconductor chip industry to replace current silicon technology - methods to make smaller and therefore faster devices will soon come up against physical limits on just how small a silicon device can be.

Study co-author James Hannon, a materials scientist at IBM, said that there are few realistic successors to silicon's throne.

Read More Here

Cheap colour test picks up HIV

                             Blue for yes, red for no

A cheap test which could detect even low levels of viruses and some cancers has been developed by UK researchers.

The colour of a liquid changes to give either a positive or negative result.

The designers from Imperial College London say the device could lead to more widespread testing for HIV and other diseases in parts of the world where other methods are unaffordable.

The prototype, which needs wider testing, is described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

The test can be configured to a unique signature of a disease or virus - such as a protein found on the surface of HIV.

If that marker is present it changes the course of a chemical reaction. The final result is blue if the marker is there, red if the marker is not.

The researchers say this allows the results to be detected with "the naked eye".

Prof Molly Stevens told the BBC: "This method should be used when the presence of a target molecule at ultra-low concentration could improve the diagnosis of disease.

"For example, it is important to detect some molecules at ultra-low concentrations to test cancer recurrence after tumour removal.

"It can also help with diagnosing HIV-infected patients whose viral load is too low to be detected with current methods."

Early testing showed the presence of markers of HIV and prostate cancer could be detected. However, trials on a much larger scale will be needed before it could be used clinically.

The researchers expect their design will cost 10 times less than current tests. They say this will be important in countries where the only options are unaffordable.

Fellow researcher Dr Roberto de la Rica said: "This test could be significantly cheaper to administer, which could pave the way for more widespread use of HIV testing in poorer parts of the world."

- BBC.co.uk

Ash dieback: 100,000 trees destroyed to halt spread

Symptoms of ash dieback include leaf loss and it can
lead to tree death.

Ministers have confirmed that 100,000 trees have been destroyed to try to prevent the spread of the deadly ash dieback disease.

A ban on the import of ash trees came into force on Monday and an expert tree disease taskforce has been established.

But Labour accused the government of being "asleep on the job" and failing to to act quickly enough.

Ministers said they acted as soon as the disease was confirmed and had taken the threat "extremely seriously".

The Chalara fraxinea fungus, which causes Chalara dieback - also known as ash dieback - has already killed 90% of ash trees in Denmark.

The disease was first spotted in the UK in February, at a nursery in Buckinghamshire, and was subsequently identified in other nurseries and newly planted areas.

But it has now been found in the wider countryside in East Anglia, sparking concerns the disease, which has the potential to devastate the UK's ash tree population, has spread to mature trees.

- BBC.co.uk

''BREAKING THE TELECOM ECONOMICS TEETH!''

Your starter for 10: which company used Estonian software talent to create a new service, which took hold so effectively that five years after opening for business its name is already a VERB?

Answer: SKYPE

Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Frriis, two Scandinavian entrepreneurs, had already caused mayhem in the music business with their peer-to-peer network KaZaA.

Skype is what they went on to do next.


Skype isn't the only firm offering its customers Voice over Internet Protocol, or VOIP. The great thing about VOIP is that if you have a broadband connection, and the person on the other end of the line has a broadband connection, you can talk to each other for free.

It's a classic piece if disruptive technology! Imagine sitting in a cafe that offers its customers free broadband access. If your embarrassment levels were lower, you could fire up your Skype and talk to anyone in the world with a Skype account for as long as you like at a cost of pure Zero.

So it's not hard to see why Telecom companies truly and deeply hate VOIP!

　

Skype uses different technology to the other VOIP businesses, not the least because it uses same peer-to-peer model as KaZaA. The upshot is that Skype doesn't play well with other VOIP services. It that weren't true, Skype would be unarguably the best VOIP to use. It's still pretty damn good though, and it's easy to see why it's caught on to the point where it now has over 639million users.

　

All Students use Skype when calling abroad or when calling home from abroad.And the main reason is to avoid the grotesque, extortionate fees charged by mobile phone companies ans hotels for International calls.

Anyone would mind those costs much less if there was any genuine reason -any reason at all- why they were so high. It's a pure pure case of milking a captive audience. Shame on them, ever!!

The Telecom companies charge this or any amount because they can get away with it!


Now thanks to Skype, they can only extort people who are idiots or who aren't tech savvy. Skype doesn't just offer normal telephone calls - you can also communicate by video. You sit in front of your Laptop webcam, and the other party sits in front of theirs, and away you go.

For years, the ideaof a mobile video call was a Holygrail of the Telecoms industry, a distant impossible dream, which would take Telephony to an entirely new level.And it has done just that. You might as well see the person you are talking to!

To Skype - a Verb, intransitive. In the years ahead it could turn well, into any other form. Your imagination.


Many thanks to !WOW! Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless!