Monday, March 19, 2007

The Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, was set to land in the United States of America on Monday after a test flight. One of the A380s is flying from Frankfurt to Chicago via New York; the airplane will be carrying about 500 people.

It is being billed as the first time it has carried a near-normal number of passengers, though most will be staff of Airbus and German airline Lufthansa.

A second A380 is also travelling to the U.S. on Monday, but without passengers. This will be branded as a Qantas flight and fly from Frankfurt to Los Angeles LAX airport. The first leg of the flight going towards New York will be travelling under a Lufthansa flight number, and is due to arrive at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport at 12:30 EST (16:30 UTC).

The test flights are being used to monitor everything from how easily the plane docks at the terminal gate to the way the in-flight dining and entertainment services work. Deliveries to Singapore Airlines, its launch customer, are not due until October – two years late.

Delays of the production of the A380 have cost Airbus more than 6 billion dollars. Airbus has warned there could be additional charges to come.

These monetary problems have led to a recently-announced restructuring program at Airbus, called Power8, in which 10,000 jobs go and several factories will be sold to Airbus partners. France will lose 4,300 jobs, followed by Germany having a loss of 3,700 jobs, while the United Kingdom and Spain will see 1,600 and 400 jobs cut respectively.

The Belgian government has announced that it will give up to 150 million € (US$ 199 million) in aid to help sub-contractors which supply Airbus and employ thousands of workers.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Yesterday, the state government of Victoria, Australia announced their decision to trial self-driving vehicles on two of the state’s major connecting motorways, the CityLink and Tullamarine Freeway. The trial is to use autonomous vehicles from automobile companies including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Tesla. The two-year trial is to have three phases.

The cars are to drive alongside commuters, but in public testing a driver is always to be present, as Victorian law requires drivers always keep a hand on the steering wheel. However, in occasional closures of the Burnley Tunnel, with no other drivers to endanger, the cars are to be tested with nobody in the vehicle.

Lane assist, cruise control, and recognition of traffic signs are in the trial’s first phase, expected to complete before the end of the year. This includes monitoring how the driver-less cars respond to road conditions, including lane markings and electronic speed signs.

“Victoria is at the forefront of automated vehicle technology — we’re investing in this trial to explore ways that this technology can be used to reduce crashes and keep people safe on our roads”, said Luke Donnellan, the Victorian Minister for Roads and Road Safety. He noted, “Ninety per cent of the fault of accidents is human error […] so we know that if we can take out human error we will have less accidents”.

Tim Hansen, Victoria Police’s Acting Assistant Commissioner, said that police had founded a project team to investigate how self-driving vehicles would change policing on roads. “Can we intercept vehicles more safely to avoid pursuits and ramming?”, he asked.

The trial is a partnership between the state government, Victoria’s road management authority VicRoads, owner of the CityLink toll road Transurban, and insurance company RACV.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Wikinews has confirmed through several sources that a lawsuit filed against the Wikimedia Foundation, the parent organization of the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia, by the ‘Barbara Bauer Literacy Agency,’ has been dismissed. As a result of the associated conflict, edits pertaining to Bauer on Wikipedia were deleted and, following the commencement of legal proceedings, Wikinews exclusively obtained the offending texts and edits.

Judge Jamie S. Perri dismissed the case citing the 1996 Communications Decency Act, promoting free speech over the Internet. The act protects the provider of interactive computer services from liability for publishing content provided by another.

At the start of the court action, Wikimedia asked the court to dismiss the case. “Wikimedia asks the Court to dismiss the claims against it, with prejudice. The claims against Wikimedia are frivolous because they are barred as a matter of law by the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C. § 230( c), “Section 230” or the “CDA”), by the First Amendment, and by New Jersey law. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia written by its users, the content of which can be created, edited, or removed by anyone.

The claims arise from statements made on numerous Internet websites, which Plaintiffs assert describe them as being among the “20 Worst Literary Agents” and having “no…significant track record of sales to commercial (advance paying) published” states the motion filed in Superior Court of New Jersey, Monmouth County,” said the organization.

Before the case started, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) issued a press release that defends against a suit Bauer filed against Wikimedia which states that contributors on Wikipedia posted “libel statements” against Bauer that labeled her as number three on a list of twenty people grouped as the “worst” publishing agents, and included allegations that she had “no documented sales” through her firm. Complaints filed against her and her firm state that Bauer had a bad record when dealing with “commercial publishers,”, and questioning her practice of, “charge[ing] in advance of making a sale, against the generally-accepted industry practice.”

In March of 2007, Wikimedia was named in a lawsuit filed in Superior Court of Monmouth, New Jersey, along with 20 other defendants which included operators of the Absolute Write web site and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America who authored the list.

Wikinews has learned that Bauer’s Wikipedia article was deleted some time during the course of the proceedings, along with the edit history of her article and its talk page as a “courtesy.” During the investigation, Wikinews found that all edits to her article, and edits to pages requesting it to be deleted were deleted by Wikipedia administrator MaxSem.

Wikinews has also exclusively obtained all the edits affiliated with Bauer’s article, which was sourced accurately, the deletion requests along with the edit history of all pages related to the discussion about Bauer’s article. Fearing retribution on Wikipedia by other administrators and users, the source who provided Wikinews with the edit information wishes to remain anonymous.

The deleted Wikipedia article on Bauer stated that she claims “to have placed books with a number of well-known commercial publishers, but does not provide specific details of the books in question. In 2006, due to the number of complaints they receive, Writer Beware (part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America writers’ organization) listed Bauer’s agency as one of the twenty worst literary agencies.”

Bauer’s article was started on May 25, 2006 but was not deleted until March 21, 2008 by Wikipedia administrator and Wikimedia office employee Cary Bass, who was not able to comment on the incident. It underwent two requests to be deleted, with the second one passing, and it was subsequently deleted. It had first been deleted on March 25, 2007 by “Doc Glasgow”, an administrator, amid allegations that the information presented in the article was “a bloody disgrace, full of ‘allegations of who said what on message boards. No mainstream media interest.” It was later restored on March 26 to undergo a “deletion review.” It was then deleted just under one year later after an extensive discussion.

Barbara Bauer was shown to have threatened a number of website hosts who reproduced the “Top 20 Worst Agents” list, or referred to her inclusion in the list; her complaints apparently prompted a brief takedown of the AbsoluteWrite.com site.

One blog even states that Bauer attempted to get people fired from their jobs, after allegedly posting information online that was in any way connected to the Top 20 worst agents.

“Barbara Bauer has been running around the Internet lately threatening people who’ve posted information about her fee-charging, non-manuscript-selling ways, including people who’ve linked to the Twenty Worst list. She has threatened legal action; she has even attempted to get people fired,” states Victoria Strauss on accrispin.blogspot.com.

The EFF, along with attorneys at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, are defending Wikimedia submitting a motion to dismiss the suit against the Foundation. The Foundation says that the First Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and New Jersey law protect the contributors from any legal action.

Specifically, Section 230 of the act states, “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.”

Bauer claims that her agency informed Wikimedia of the false allegations, and requested that they be removed. She also claimed that Wikimedia refused to remove the information when requested. Bauer further states that the contributors involved with her Wikipedia article “conspired to defame Plaintiffs and interfere with their prospective economic advantage.”

Mike Godwin, attorney for the Foundation states that the point of Wikipedia is to return the knowledge it provides, to a worldwide culture.

“We provide a platform through Wikipedia for smart citizens to give their knowledge back to a larger culture. Our ability to offer citizens that platform is what’s at stake in this case,” said attorney representing the Foundation, Mike Godwin in a EFF press release on May 2, 2008.

Despite the claim of freedom of speech, Wikinews has learned that on the same day, Godwin requested that the edits and the article on Wikipedia relating to Bauer, be deleted by a community action. Godwin also stated that the Foundation has “filed court papers in which we stated that the article is no longer available.”

“I’ve been trying to keep ‘Office actions’ to a minimum (partly in reaction to some fairly heavy-handed WP:OFFICE stuff in the past), and it would be helpful to be able to say that any given action was taken by the community, not by the Foundation,” said Godwin on Wikipedia’s Administrators’ noticeboard on May 2, the same day of the EFF’s press release. ‘Office actions’ are changes directly authorized by the Foundation which are made to content on any of the Wikimedia projects. The edits are made by staff members working for the Foundation’s head office located in San Francisco, California. Edits of this nature are generally “removals of questionable or illegal Wikimedia content following complaints,” according to Wikipedia’s policy on ‘Office Actions.’

A few minutes after, MaxSem, a Wikipedia administrator, deleted the edits related to the deletion request of Bauer’s article as a “courtesy” stating that there would be “legal problems” if the edits were not deleted.

Wikinews originally intended to publish an article at the start of the court case, although it was deleted from the article by Wikinews administrator Brian McNeil, who said that it was deleted “per consultation with Mike Godwin” as the posting of any material relating to Bauer, on Wikimedia sites, could be considered contempt of court. The deleted copy of this article was then leaked to Wikileaks, who released a press release saying that the Wikimedia Foundation censored Wikinews. At the time of this The Register reported that “Wikinews – like its sister site, Wikipedia – bills itself as a place without bias. Ostensibly, it’s a democratic news source that never answers to a higher power. But that’s just a setup for the latest act in the world’s greatest online farce.” The Register has a long history of denigrating Wikimedia projects.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Anti-virus software publisher Symantec has reported that outbreaks of two varieties of worm are imminent following system failures on two unnamed major corporate networks in the United Kingdom. After receiving several eyewitness accounts from on-site personnel this reporter noted similarities to the MSBlast worm which made headline news two years ago (on the 16th of July 2003) after causing massive outages.

The worms are limited to Microsoft Windows products based on the NT architecture such as Windows 2000 or Windows XP, exploiting administrator services applets which shut a computer down when a certain service fails. The worms cause these “administrator services” to fail, provoking the computer into shutting down immediately.

Microsoft has announced that a critical update is available for all users, evenfor those who use pirated versions of Windows.

Chrysler, Kraft Foods and many other US corporations are feeling the brunt of the attack as the US was in the middle of the work day when new more virulent variants emerged.

A compilation of brief news reports for Thursday, May 14, 2009.

Two travelers returning from Mexico to Thailand tested positive for the H1N1 swine influenza on Tuesday. According to Thailand’s health minister, this marks the first case of Southeast Asia.

On Wednesday, Chinese Ministry of Health officials reported a man had the disease. Currently, the officials are searching for people the man may have come into contact with.

Sources

• Xuequan, Mu. “China seeks passengers with exposure to new A/H1N1 flu case” — China View, May 14, 2009
• Kwok, Vivian Wai-yin. “Asian Swine Flu Risk Rises” — Forbes.com, May 13, 2008

The pope’s recent visit to the Middle East was expected to meet political “minefields”, according to the New York Times.

While in the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI told the Prime Minister of Palestine, “It is understandable that you often feel frustrated. Your legitimate aspirations for permanent homes, for an independent Palestinian state, remain unfulfilled. Instead, you find yourselves trapped in a spiral of violence.”

The pope was speaking about the Palestinian housing, and how there are refugee camps.

Sources

• Hider, James. “Pope Benedict XVI calls for Palestinian state on visit to refugee camp” — Times Online, May 14, 2009
• “The Pope in the Mideast’s Minefields” — The New York Times, May 13, 2009

After the controversy over the “Erotic Services” section on Craigslist, the Web service will require manual posting and a $5 – $10 USD fee.

Craigslist will delete the “Erotic Services” section to replace it with “Adult Services.”

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut claims that state investigators will monitor the section as well for extra insurance.

Sources

• Stone, Brad. “Craigslist Plans to Monitor ‘Adult’ Ads” — The New York Times, May 13, 2009
• Raphael, J.R.. “Craigslist’s ‘Erotic Services’ Shutdown Could Backfire” — PCWorld, May 13, 2009

Thursday, May 26, 2011

On Friday evening, an explosion in Chengdu, China caused partial shutdown of a facility operated by Foxconn, one of the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers and a major supplier to companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony, Apple, Motorola and Nokia. Initial investigations now suggest the explosion was caused by poor ventilation, which lead to high concentrations of combustible dust.

The blast happened at 7:18PM, around the time workers change shifts. A fire followed. Emergency services had control by 7:30PM. At least three people were killed, at least fifteen injured. Foxconn halted production to investigate, saying “All operations at the affected workshop remain suspended and production at all other workshops that carry out similar processing functions have also been halted pending the results of the investigation. All other production operations in our facilities in China continue operating normally.”

On Monday, city officials gave the cause as combustible dust in the air at a polishing workshop. Hong Kong-based labor rights group Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior said they reported aluminium dust problems in March when they reviewed working conditions at Foxconn. After the explosion, they commented that workers were complaining “the ventilation of the department is poor. Workers polish the iPad cases to make them shiny. In the process, there is lots of aluminum (aluminium) dust floating in the air. Workers always breathe in aluminum dust even though they put on masks. When workers take off their cotton gloves, their hands are covered with aluminum dust.”

Foxconn responded by saying the group was trying to “capitalize on the tragic accident” and misrepresented “Foxconn’s commitment to the health and safety of our employees.”

Foxconn is responsible for making iPads and iPhones for Apple. Research group IHS iSuppli said the explosion may cause loss of production of 500,000 iPads during this quarter of the year. They said there is a larger facility in Shenzhen, but it cannot cope with re-compensating the possible loss.