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Microsoft Live Mesh Turns the Web Into Your File Sharing Hub
2008-04-24 04:21:00
By Scott GilbertsonApril 24, WiredMicrosoft believes in the cloud. The company has just unveiled an invite-only test of its new Live Mesh service, a "cloud computing" project designed to help you access and share your files from where ever you are.Live Mesh synchronizes and shares data across multiple machines — currently that means Windows PCs, but look for Windows Mobile as well as Mac OS X support to be added later this year. Mesh offers one-click sharing for desktop folders, remote desktop connections, web-based file access and a news feed to keep track of it all. Eventually Microsoft would like to add Xbox, DVR and other devices to the list of syncing/sharing possibilities.The project announcement was made by Microsoft Chief Software Architect, Ray Ozzie, who calls the web “the hub of our social mesh.” That's quite a change for Microsoft and represents a significant step away from the desktop. Eventually Microsoft hopes, as Ozzie says, that “social mesh notions of link...
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Teachers' strike sows chaos at 8,000 schools
2008-04-24 03:21:00
By Graeme Paton, Sophie Borland and Aislinn SimpsonApril 24, TelegraphA third of schools are expected to be thrown into chaos on Thursday as teachers staged their first national strike in 21 years - with threats of further industrial action to come.Up to 8,000 primary, secondary and special schools are being forced to close - or turn entire classes away - because of the walk-out. Some parents were still facing uncertainty as headteachers have been unable to confirm on Wednesday night if lessons would be covered.The National Union of Teachers refused to rule out a rolling programme of strikes later this year as the Government appeared unlikely to cave into their demands for improved pay.The union - representing almost half of teachers in England and Wales - insist this year's 2.45 per cent rise represents a real-terms cut following a huge increase in the cost of living.Christine Blower, the NUT's acting general secretary, said high-ranking members would lobby Parliament in June bef...
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Controversial Hitler ad ordered off TV
2008-04-23 15:34:00
April 23, ReutersMEXICO CITY - Mexico's top electoral body ordered broadcasters to stop running a controversial TV ad on Monday that compares a firebrand leftist leading a siege of Congress to dictators Hitler and Pinochet.The TV ad, funded by a Mexican businessman angry at a blockade of Congress by opposition lawmakers trying to derail an oil reform plan, says the antics of protest leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are endangering democracy."The complaints committee decided unanimously to order the withdrawal of the spot from today," a spokesman for the Federal Electoral Institute told Reuters.Leftists seized Congress podiums on April 10 to block a government proposal to lower barriers to private investment in the oil sector, controlled by the state since 1938. The action has left Congress paralyzed."Who shuts congresses? In 1933, Adolf Hitler in Germany. In 1939, Benito Mussolini in Italy. In 1973, Augusto Pinochet of Chile," the ad says, over grainy footage of the Nazi leader,...
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Primitive Alien Life May Exist, Stephen Hawking Says
2008-04-23 11:48:00
Tariq MalikSenior EditorSPACE.comApril 23, YahooAlien life may well exist in a primitive form somewhere in our corner of the galaxy, famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Monday.Given the size of the universe, it is unlikely that Earth is the only planet to develop some sort of life, Hawking told an audience at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He added that humanity must embrace space exploration, if only to ensure its long-term survival."While there may be primitive life in our region of the galaxy, there don't seem to be any advanced intelligent beings," said Hawking during a lecture as part of a series commemorating NASA's 50th anniversary this year.The lack of success by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project to discover signals from an alien civilization suggests that none exist within several 100 light-years of Earth, Hawking said, though he offered three theories on the dearth of interplanetary communications.The probability of prim...
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Forget global warming, prepare for Ice Age
2008-04-23 10:09:00
By Brendan O'KeefeApril 23, News.com.auSUNSPOT activity has not resumed up after hitting an 11-year low in March last year, raising fears that - far from warming - the globe is about to return to an Ice Age.Astronaut and geophysicist Phil Chapman, the first Australian to become an astronaut with NASA, said pictures from the US Solar and Heliospheric Observatory showed no spots on the sun.He said the world cooled quickly between January last year and January this year, by about 0.7C."This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record, and it puts us back to where we were in 1930," Dr Chapman writes in The Australian today."If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over."The Bureau of Meteorology says temperatures in Australia have been warmer than the 1960-90 average since the late 1970s, barring a couple of cooler years, and are now 0.3C higher than the long-term average.A sunspot is a region on the sun that is cooler t...
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Wall Street Journal Editor Expected to Resign
2008-04-22 08:20:00
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAApril 22, NY TimesMarcus W. Brauchli will step down as the top-ranking editor of The Wall Street Journal after less than a year in the job, four people briefed on the matter said on Monday, just four months after Rupert Murdoch took control of the paper.Mr. Brauchli, 46, will announce his resignation soon, according to friends and current and former colleagues, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. They differed as to whether he was being forced out as managing editor of The Journal, one of the most coveted posts in journalism, or leaving out of frustration.The news of his pending resignation was first reported on Time magazine’s Web site.Since December, when Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation bought Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Journal, he has immersed himself in the newspaper’s daily operations and quickly made changes in its shape and style. Friends and colleagues say that Mr. Brauchli has bee...
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The Secret to Healthy Skin: Coffee
2008-04-22 08:15:00
It kills the skin cancer cells caused by UVB radiationBy Stefan Anitei, Science EditorApril 22, SoftpediaIn the vivid debate on whether coffee is good or bad for our health, here comes a new study coffee supporters can always use as a pro argument: in the case of mice, caffeine works like a "sun screen", protecting their skin against the harmful ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation and ultimately against skin cancer. In the study published in Cancer Research, the team of researchers also presents the mechanism behind this protection: caffeine activates aprocess that removes skin cells with DNA affected by irradiation. When cells with defective DNA start multiplying, cancer sets in."The results of the present study provide a possible mechanism for earlier observations indicating that oral administration of caffeine inhibits ultraviolet light-induced skin cancer in mice," senior author Dr Allan H. Conney told Reuters Health.The team delivered caffeine to the mice in their drinking water for ...
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Demonstrators in U.S. call Dalai Lama a liar
2008-04-21 12:34:00
By Eric OlsenApril 21, ReutersANN ARBOR, Michigan - The Dalai Lama on Sunday urged the world to work for a sustainable planet while pro-China demonstrators accused him of lying about the turmoil in his homeland.There were no arrests among the 300 to 400 people who showed up outside his speech at a University of Michigan sports arena where the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader spoke to about 8,300 people in an Earth Day-themed lecture.The demonstrators repeatedly chanted "Dalai Liar !" and cheered when a plane circled overhead trailing a large banner reading "Dalai Please Stop Attacking Olympic Flame."The vast majority of the demonstrators appeared to be of Chinese ancestry and wore white shirts emblazoned with "Support Beijing Olympics 2008" and red shirts printed with the Chinese flag."Tibet Belongs to China and So Do I" read one sign in the crowd.Beijing has accused the 72-year-old Dalai Lama of being behind March 14 riots in Lhasa and unrest that followed in other ethnic Tibetan are...
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Survey: 30 Percent of Economists Believe Economy Will Shrink by June
2008-04-21 12:22:00
By JEANNINE AVERSAAP Economics WriterApril 21, ABC NewsWashington - The odds the country will fall into its first recession since 2001 are rising sharply.Thirty percent of economists now believe the economy will shrink in the first half of this year, up from 10 percent who thought this in January, according to a survey being released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, known by its acronym NABE."That's a striking difference," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America and the NABE's point person on the survey. The tone of the overall survey, he said, was "extremely gloomy."Under one rough rule, if the economy contracts for six straight months it would be considered in a recession. Many economist and the public believe we are in one. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently acknowledged, for the first time, that a recession is possible.Forecasters "were notably downbeat about their own companies and the ove...
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An orchestra wearing earplugs?
2008-04-21 10:54:00
By Sarah LyallApril 21, International Herald TribuneLONDON: They had rehearsed the piece only once, but already the musicians at the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra were suffering.Their ears were ringing. Heads throbbed.Tests showed that the average noise level in the orchestra during the piece, "State of Siege," by the composer Dror Feiler, was 97.4 decibels, just below the level of a pneumatic drill and a violation of new European noise-at-work limits. Playing more softly or wearing noise-muffling headphones were rejected as unworkable.So instead of having its world premiere April 4, the piece was dropped. "I had no choice," said Trygve Nordwall, the orchestra's manager. "The decision was not made artistically; it was made for the protection of the players."The cancellation is, so far, probably the most extreme consequence of the new law, which requires employers in Europe to limit workers' exposure to potentially damaging noise and which took effect for the entertainment indu...

Google Wants to Index Your DNA, Too
2008-04-21 08:38:00
The Web search giant's investment in Navigenics is further proof it wants an early stake in direct-to-consumer genetic screeningBy Marjorie BackmanApril 20, Business WeekYour DNA falls into the realm of "the world's information," and it seems that Google (GOOG), as part of its corporate mission, is making a play to organize that, too. The Internet giant received heavy press in 2007 when it invested at least $4.4 million (BusinessWeek.com, 11/29/07) in a genetic screening company, 23andMe, that was started by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and her business partner.Google's interest in DNA doesn't end there. It is also putting money into a second Silicon Valley DNA-screening startup, Navigenics. The company is also backed by star venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. For a spit of saliva and $2,500, your genetic test results are securely delivered to your computer screen with your genetic likelihood for 18 medical conditions, from ...
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Teaching English: a little more action and a little more conversation
2008-04-21 07:39:00
What's it like teaching English to the Chinese? For Gary Toner, Beijing is anything but a forbidding city. Interview by Christopher MiddletonApril 20, TelegraphI started teaching English abroad when I was 22, soon after I graduated from university; I'm 35 now and have been doing it ever since. If you want to travel the world, there are a few ways to earn money while you do so. You can pick fruit, pull pints or teach English. The third option has definitely suited me best. I've taught in Russia, Argentina, Spain and Slovakia and stayed an average of two years in each country. That said, I've been in China for five years. (I'm married now - my wife Sinead also works in Beijing and we have a little daughter called Niamh.)Our flat is in the Sanlitun area, not far from the main football stadium, and I work at various schools in the city. The demand for English language teachers is staggering. Basically, if a Chinese person wants a job with an international company such as Hewlett P...
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Coca-Cola, Starbucks Go Vintage
2008-04-21 04:16:00
By Eric NewmanApril 20, AdWeekBeverage heavyweights Coca -Cola and Starbucks are reaching back into the memory banks to drive some consumer engagement with the introduction of limited-time-only, vintage designs on their packaging.Coca-Cola, Atlanta, recently reintroduced its 1906 bottle design, dubbed "Diamond Label," hoping to get the brand's product heritage and history into consumers' mindsets. The bottles are available nationwide, in special four-packs."The vintage bottle is an opportunity for us to reinforce what makes Coca-Cola so special," said rep Scott Williamson. "Programs like this allow us to reinforce what are the things that make Coca-Cola special, like its iconic packaging. There is a timelessness that appeals there."The 1906 design follows a similar program the soft drink giant created for last year's holiday season, when its 1899 bottle design hit shelves. According to Williamson, the limited supply product sold out quickly and was popular with many age demographi...
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Superheroes head for the Persian Gulf
2008-04-21 04:12:00
Hollywood hopes theme parks, characters fly in Middle EastApril 20, MSNBCLOS ANGELES - Wonder Woman, King Kong and Shrek are heading for the Persian Gulf as part of the rush to build what could become the world's largest theme park playground.But even as the ink dries on the billion-dollar deals in the United Arab Emirates, movie studios are grappling with ways to make their signature characters and amusement parks fly in the conservative Muslim region.Politically sensitive characters such as Captain America could be left at home. Prayer rooms will join the list of accommodations, and menus will likely feature falafel and humus alongside pizza and hot dogs.There's even a move afoot to offer Bollywood dance shows to lure Indian visitors.Investors, studios and park operators are all aiming to cash in on what some observers call the Middle East's decades-long fascination with American culture. Hollywood movies are popular in the region, and Western fashions are hot commodities among...
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Brigitte Bardot on trial for Muslim slur
2008-04-17 14:07:00
April 17, ReutersPARIS - French former film star Brigitte Bardot went on trial on Tuesday for insulting Muslim s, the fifth time she has faced the charge of "inciting racial hatred" over her controversial remarks about Islam and its followers.Prosecutors asked that the Paris court hand the 73-year-old former sex symbol a two-month suspended prison sentence and fine her 15,000 euros ($23,760) for saying the Muslim community was "destroying our country and imposing its acts".Since retiring from the film industry in the 1970s, Bardot has become a prominent animal rights activist but she has also courted controversy by denouncing Muslim traditions and immigration from predominantly Muslim countries.She has been fined four times for inciting racial hatred since 1997, at first 1,500 euros and most recently 5,000.Prosecutor Anne de Fontette told the court she was seeking a tougher sentence than usual, adding: "I am a little tired of prosecuting Mrs Bardot."Read more this news quotephoto: Br...
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Maybe Money Does Buy Happiness After All
2008-04-17 08:19:00
By DAVID LEONHARDTApril 17, NY TimesIn the aftermath of World War II, the Japanese economy went through one of the greatest booms the world has ever known. From 1950 to 1970, the economy’s output per person grew more than sevenfold. Japan, in just a few decades, remade itself from a war-torn country into one of the richest nations on earth.Yet, strangely, Japanese citizens didn’t seem to become any more satisfied with their lives. According to one poll, the percentage of people who gave the most positive possible answer about their life satisfaction actually fell from the late 1950s to the early ’70s. They were richer but apparently no happier.This contrast became the most famous example of a theory known as the Easterlin paradox. In 1974, Richard Easterlin, then an economist at the University of Pennsylvania, published a study in which he argued that economic growth didn’t necessarily lead to more satisfaction.People in poor countries, not surprisingly, did become happier o...
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PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Lake Vanishes Suddenly in Chile
2008-04-17 08:13:00
Associated Press in Santiago, Chile April 17, National GeographicMelting ice in southern Chile caused a glacial lake to swell and then empty suddenly, sending a "tsunami" rolling through a river, a scientist said Thursday.No one was injured in the remote region.Glacier scientist Gino Casassa said the melting of the Colonia glacier, which he blamed on global warming, filled the Cachet Lake (above) and increased pressure on the ice sheet.The water bored a five-mile (eight-kilometer) tunnel through the glacier and finally emptied into the Baker River on April 6."The remarkable thing is that the mass of water moved against the current of the river," Casassa told the Associated Press by telephone from the Center for Scientific Studies in the southern city of Valdivia. "It was a real river tsunami."The lake was nearly full again by late Wednesday, he said.Read more this news quotephoto by National Geographic
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Will Smith and Friends Launch YouTube-Like Music Video Website
2008-04-16 11:35:00
Is PluggedIn.com a threat for YouTube?By Bogdan Popa, Security and Search Engines EditorApril 16, SoftpediaYouTube has lots of rivals on the web, but when lots of label companies and artists ally to form a powerful video sharing service, it may be a real threat for the Mountain View-based company Google. PluggedIn, a YouTube-like music video website providing up to 10,000 licensed clips, has just been rolled out, providing multiple advanced features to users looking for multimedia content.First of all, there's the number of videos: 10,000 as the owner states. All of them come from EMI Music , Sony BMG Music Entertainment, independent labels or other companies. But what's important is that all the clips are licensed so it's obvious PluggedIn want to avoid YouTube-like copyright disputes.Then, there's the video player which, according to PluggedIn owners, supports high-definition full-screen playback with no buffering. Moreover, the player provides DVD-like controls in order to imp...
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Rowling: Potter reference book is theft
2008-04-16 07:46:00
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer April 16, YahooNEW YORK (AP) — J.K. Rowling says the Harry Potter characters she created are as dear as her children, too precious to allow an inferior Potter encyclopedia to be published without letting the world know the ordeal is draining her of her will to write."I really don't want to cry because I'm British, you know," the mother of three told a judge Monday in U.S. District Court as she described how much her characters and seven books mean to her. "You know, these books, they saved me, not just in the very obvious material sense, although they did do that. ... I would have to say that there was a time when they saved my sanity."Last year, Rowling sued Michigan-based RDR Book s to stop publication of Steven Vander Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon," claiming copyright infringement. Vander Ark runs the popular Harry Potter Lexicon Web site, and RDR wants to publish a print version of the site and charge $24.95.RDR publisher Roger Rapo...
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Gandhi daughter visits assassin
2008-04-16 05:02:00
April 16, BBC NewsPriyanka Gandhi , daughter of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, says she has met a woman serving a jail term for her father's assassination.Ms Gandhi said she met Nalini Sriharan last month in a prison in Vellore in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomb in May 1991 while he addressed an election rally. India has always blamed the attack on Tamil Tiger rebels.Sriharan was convicted for being part of the assassination squad.She was initially given a death sentence along with three others.But her sentence was changed into a life term, following a plea for clemency by Rajiv Gandhi's widow and Congress Party president, Sonia Gandhi.Mrs Gandhi appealed on Sriharan's behalf because she had a young child.Correspondents say Priyanka Gandhi's visit is highly significant because her father's murder shocked India and turned many people in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere against the Tamil Tigers.In 2006, they expressed "regret" for the...
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Trademark dispute over Facebook name
2008-04-16 03:52:00
April 16, News.com.auFACEBOOK founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is caught up in a fresh legal dispute with a former college friend.Aaron Greenspan has filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the social networking website's legal entitlements to its name.Mr Greenspan, 25, claims his ex-classmate Mr Zuckerberg, 23, shouldn't have been able to trademark the name "Facebook " in 2005 as it had been used generically at Harvard for decades.The term "face book" was used to describe any paper or electronic tool that displayed the faces of students and faculty, Mr Greenspan said.He added that he used the name "Face Book" for his own project, houseSYSTEM, in September 2003. Four months later, Mr Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com.Mr Greenspan claims he has email evidence to show Mr Zuckerberg knew about the houseSYSTEM "face book" feature and even considered merging it into his own growing network.Facebook now has over 70 million users worldwide and has b...
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Marilyn Monroe sex film to be kept private
2008-04-15 12:52:00
April 15, ReutersNEW YORK - A 15-minute film of Marilyn Monroe engaging in oral sex with an unidentified man will be kept from public view by a New York businessman who has bought it for $1.5 million, the broker of the deal said on Monday.Memorabilia collector Keya Morgan said he recently arranged the sale of the silent, black-and-white film from the son of a dead FBI informant who possessed it to a wealthy Manhattan businessman who wants to protect Monroe's privacy."The gentleman who bought it said out respect for Marilyn he's not going to make a joke of it and put it on the Internet and try to exploit her," said memorabilia collector Keya Morgan. "That's not his intention and I would never get my name involved if that were to happen."Monroe is clothed and the man's head remains out of the frame for the entire 15 minutes of the film, said Morgan, who watched it.Monroe was rumored to have had an affair with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and Morgan said then FBI Director J. Ed...
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Movie Industry Doubles Down on 3-D
2008-04-15 09:41:00
By Betsy SchiffmanApril 15, WiredStudio execs have an odd conundrum: Box-office receipts have steadily grown but the number of ticket sales have not. Thanks to the proliferation of home theaters, movies-on-demand and portable video players, moviegoers have fewer reasons to actually "go" to a movie. The studios' solution? Hike ticket prices by a couple bucks apiece and ramp up production of 3-D movies."It's pretty clear right now that you can charge a premium for 3-D," says Doug Creutz, an analyst with Cowen & Co., who covers the entertainment industry. "We're probably talking about the difference between $15 and $10 [tickets]. And attendance is much better for 3-D movies."Filmmakers and studios alike have pledged their allegiance to 3-D. Disney and Pixar announced this week that it will release all of its films in 3-D, starting with Bolt, which is slated for a November release. Dreamworks Animation says that by 2009 all of its movies will be released in 3-D. James Cameron is ...
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Coke Launches Clothing Line Made from Plastic Bottles
2008-04-15 09:25:00
By Kenneth HeinApril 15, BrandWeekForget polyester and rayon, the new hot fabric will be recycled plastic bottles if Coca-Cola has its way.Coke is attempting to turn a negative into a positive. Saddled with complaints from environmentalists that its plastic bottles are clogging up landfills, the cola giant has come up with a unique solution: turning recycled bottles into "Drink 2 Wear" apparel.This week, T-shirts that read, "Make your plastic fantastic" and "Rehash your trash" will appear at nearly 400 Wal-Mart stores as well as at Walmart.com. The shirts are retailing for about $7.50."These fun T-shirts merge trend with consciousness, reminding shoppers that small steps like recycling a few bottles can go a long way towards helping preserve our environment," said Stuart Kronauge, vp-marketing at Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. "If the 200 million Wal-Mart shoppers in the U.S. purchase these shirts, they will help us reuse and divert more than 700 million bottles from the w...
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‘Prom Night’ scares up box-office win
2008-04-14 12:02:00
Horror remake bumps ‘21’ to No. 3; Keanu Reeves’ ‘Street Kings’ takes 2ndAPApril 14, MSNBCLOS ANGELES - Audiences made a date with “Prom Night,” the remake of the 1980 slasher flick that took in $22.7 million to debut as the weekend’s No. 1 movie, according to studio estimates Sunday.The movie, released by Sony’s Screen Gems banner, stars Brittany Snow as a teen terrorized by a psycho killer on prom night. It overcame the critical drubbing handed to most fright films, which have a built-in audience that often turns out in big numbers on opening weekend regardless of reviews.“Audiences today, they’re so savvy in regards to what they want to see or don’t want to see. Particularly a younger audience, they pretty much make up their own mind,” said Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution.Read more this news quote
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Russia tests monkeys for Mars trip
2008-04-14 11:57:00
By Sima AyvazianBBCRussia n.com, SochiApril 14, BBC NewsThey won't utter Yuri Gagarin's famous phrase "Let's go!" But the monkeys of Sochi have already proven their worth as trailblazers in space - and now they are being groomed for a trip to Mars .The macaques will be the first to experience the radiation that poses a big risk to astronauts - or Russian cosmonauts - on any flight to the Red Planet.The Sochi Institute of Medical Primatology, at Vesyoloye near the Black Sea, has a proud history of involvement in the Russian - formerly Soviet - space programme."People and monkeys have approximately identical sensitivity to small and large radiation doses," explains the institute's director, Boris Lapin. "So it is better to experiment on the macaques, but not on dogs or other animals."The institute will select macaques that may eventually fly to Mars before humans do. After two years of experiments the most suitable 40 monkeys will be sent to the Institute of Biomedical Problems in M...
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Starbucks' Retro Logo
2008-04-14 08:25:00
How Starbucks is using a special brown logo to evoke the chain's beginnings and restore some goodwill for the brandBy David KileyApril 14, Business WeekBrown is certainly a color that communicates coffee. So, when you order a cup of the new Pike Place coffee at Starbucks (SBUX) this week, it doesn't seem out of place to see a special brown logo on the cup and paper sleeve. Except that, as everyone knows, Starbucks' iconic logo is green. So why change such a successful corporate symbol?The image of the twin-tailed mermaid inside the brown medallion harkens back to the chain's 1971 beginnings. The logo has evolved over the years, going from brown to green in 1987. This is the second time in three years Starbucks has trotted out the brown mermaid, inspired by a Norse woodcut. Back in 2006, she was resurrected to mark the chain's 35th anniversary. This time, she is a messenger for Chairman Howard Schultz, who is trying to restore some of the goodwill and warm feelings for the brand...
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Anwar crafting a comeback in Malaysia
2008-04-14 07:16:00
By Thomas FullerApril 14, International Herald TribuneKUALA LUMPUR: When he emerged from prison four years ago, Anwar Ibrahim was a weakened and gaunt figure all but written off by the Malaysia n political elite.On Monday, Anwar, resurgent and confident after leading opposition parties to their strongest gains in a half-century, will celebrate his political rehabilitation in front of an expected crowd of thousands of supporters at a soccer stadium in Kuala Lumpur.During his nearly four decades in politics, Anwar, 60, has gone from being a radical Islamic student leader to deputy prime minister and then Malaysia's dissident-in-chief, imprisoned after a highly politicized trial. A ban on holding political office, imposed by the judge who in 1999 sentenced him to six years in prison for abuse of power, expires Monday, allowing Anwar to pursue the job he has coveted: prime minister."There's no rush," Anwar said in an interview at his office. "I don't need to be prime minister tomorrow...
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Tom Cruise wants Katie Holmes to avoid Victoria Beckham
2008-04-14 05:12:00
Article from Sunday Herald SunApril 13, News.com.auTOM Cruise has grave concerns for the health of his wife, Katie Holmes , and reportedly wants her to stay away from one of her few girl friends, Victoria Beckham .Cruise is reportedly concerned that the ex-Spice Girl is becoming a bad influence and "rubbing off on his wife just a bit too much", reports London's Daily Mail."Katie sees Victoria as a role model," a source told the newspaper."She copies Victoria's look and even cut her hair the same way."See pictures of Holmes' changing looks here.But Cruise, a devout Scientologist, is also concerned Holmes has lost too much weight recently."She is very thin largely because she is following Victoria's strict 900-calories-a-day eating plan."She is copying Victoria's fad of eating seaweed shakes, frozen grapes and edamame beans. She is tiny."As details emerge of Cruise's fears for his wife, Victoria Beckham has been dealt another blow after several US boutiques have dropped her pricey...
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Brain ScannersCan See Your Decisions Before You Make Them
2008-04-14 04:43:00
By Brandon KeimApril 13, WiredYou may think you decided to read this story -- but in fact, your brain made the decision long before you knew about it.In a study published Sunday in Nature Neuroscience, researchers using brain scanners could predict people's decisions seven seconds before the test subjects were even aware of making them.The decision studied -- whether to hit a button with one's left or right hand -- may not be representative of complicated choices that are more integrally tied to our sense of self-direction. Regardless, the findings raise profound questions about the nature of self and autonomy: How free is our will? Is conscious choice just an illusion?"Your decisions are strongly prepared by brain activity. By the time consciousness kicks in, most of the work has already been done," said study co-author John-Dylan Haynes, a Max Planck Institute neuroscientist.Haynes updated a classic experiment by the late Benjamin Libet, who showed that a brain region involved i...
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