Saturday, May 5, 2007

A small, “nicely trained” Jack Russell Terrier gave his life to help save a group of five children from two aggressive pitbulls last Sunday in Manaia, Taranaki, New Zealand.

The dog named George is being described as a hero, gathering a huge amount of international media interest in the process.

The dog suffered massive injuries that the vet had never seen to that extent before, which resulted in 69-year-old Alan Gay, the dog’s owner, allowing George to be put down. He now regrets this decision.

The two pitbulls rushed at the group of children that George was following to the dairy, including a four-year-old. George then started barking loudly at the pair of dogs, and put himself between the dogs and the children. Mr Gay told Fox News, “If it wasn’t for George, those kids would have copped it.”

Despite having received offers of new dogs, Mr Gay has said that he will wait a while before getting another Jack Russell Terrier, as he is afraid it could happen again.

It is also believed that the two attacking dogs, which have been destroyed, were bred to be aggressive, including being fed the drug methamphetamine, commonly referred to as “P” in New Zealand.

Mr Gay has said that Manaia has had a problem with stray dogs before, but he never expected that George would become a victim.

One story ran in USA Today, which prompted over 120 comments, and one reader to personally call Alan Gay expressing their condolences.

Responding to the huge amount of media interest, Mr Gay said, “This really surprises me, and it’s marvellous. I never expected this … I’m surprised it got around the world as it did.” He says he has been getting a huge amount of phone calls from the media and the public. “The phone has been going since about half past seven this morning. Every time I hang up it rings again. It’s worn out; I might have to get a new one.”

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Computer systems used by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for the handling of tax filing data for Canadians have been temporarily shutdown due to infrastructure problems.^[1] A March 7 article in the Toronto Star^[2] states that due to errors in the electronic filing system, Canada Revenue Agency will be unable to accept any tax filings electronically or corrections to prior filings.

A fact sheet from the CRA ^[3] states that “until the problem is resolved, we cannot process returns filed on paper, or returns filed electronically before the system interruption. Refunds will be delayed until processing is resumed”.

A check of the taxing authority’s website^[4] regarding the issue states “We have temporarily shut down public access to electronic services to ensure the integrity of taxpayer information.” and that “We have now traced the source of the problem to software maintenance conducted on March 4, 2007. We are currently working to bring all systems back online gradually.”

A CRA press release dated March 6 ^[5] states “Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Michel Dorais today instructed some computer applications related to personal income tax filing to be temporarily halted.” he also said, “there is no indication that this situation was caused by intrusion, hacking, or computer virus”. Further, “These applications include online services like Efile, Netfile, and My Account. Mr. Dorais said that he instructed that this preventative measure be taken following indications that CRA computer systems have run into infrastructure problems. In order to safeguard existing systems and to maintain the integrity of CRA’s taxpayer information holdings, Mr Dorais ordered tax filing processes halted.”

An article in The Globe and Mail ^[6] states that taxpayers “can wait for Netfile to return to service, or they can print their returns and mail them to the CRA”, which will be processed when the computer glitch is resolved.

The deadline for Canadians to submit tax returns is April 30. The CRA indicates it is too soon to speculate on whether the filing deadline will be extended. They expect to restore all services, including EFile and Netfile, well in advance of the filing deadline.^[7]

The shutdown also affects third-party companies that prepare tax returns and electronically file the data using the EFile facility on behalf of clients. According to the CRA, millions of individual Canadians use the Netfile service each year.

The Agency will provide updates daily to the media until the situation is resolved.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Yesterday, at this year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), company CEO Steve Jobs unveiled iPhone 4, along with the new iOS 4 operating system for Apple mobile devices.

The announcement was long-awaited but not a very big surprise. In April, the technology blog Gizmodo obtained a prototype of the new phone and published details of it online. While introducing iPhone 4, at the annual conference, Jobs started by hinting at the incident, saying, “Stop me if you’ve already seen this.”

The new iPhone was praised by Jobs as “the biggest leap we’ve taken since the original iPhone.” It is only 9.3 millimetres (0.37 inches) thick, making it “the thinnest smartphone on the planet”, a 24 percent reduction from Apple’s previous model, the iPhone 3GS. Structure-wise, iPhone 4 has a new stainless steel frame, which acts as an antenna, supposedly boosting its signal reception abilities and possibly reducing the amount of dropped calls. It also has a new screen, dubbed a “retina display,” which displays images at 326 pixels per inch. During the keynote, Jobs demoed the device’s new internal gyroscope as well. Even though it now uses Apple’s faster A4 processor (first used in its iPad tablet), iPhone 4 has a claimed seven hours of 3G talk time, up two hours from the 3GS.

In addition to its design features, Jobs showed off iPhone 4’s new video calling abilities. This feature is called FaceTime, and connects with other iPhone 4s via Wi-Fi. The phone has two cameras: one on the front for video chats, and one on the back for taking pictures and other videos. The rear camera has a resolution of five megapixels, is capable of recording high-definition video, and has an LED flash.

The iPhone 4 will use Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 4. Formerly “iPhone OS,” iOS 4 was first introduced by Apple in April, and includes multitasking capabilities. Jobs called the new software “the most advanced mobile operating system in the world.” iOS will support Apple’s new mobile advertising service, iAd, which goes live on July 1.

iPhone 4 will be available on June 24 in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. It comes in two colors—black and white—and two storage capacities. The 16GB version is priced at US$199 and the 32GB version at US$299. The iPhone 3GS’s price will be reduced to US$99, and the iPhone 3G will be discontinued. iOS will be available as a free software update to users of compatible older Apple devices (including the 3GS) on June 21. In the U.S., iPhone 4 will only be available on AT&T’s cellular network, despite calls for Apple to let the iPhone be used on other carriers, such as Verizon.

Competition-wise, the BlackBerry mobile device is still the most popular smartphone right now. Apple is also facing some serious competition from web giant Google’s Android operating system, as well as Palm’s webOS. Earlier this year, Android phones managed to outsell iPhones. iPhone users, however, account for over half of those surfing the Internet on a mobile browser in the U.S. Jobs also noted that over five billion iOS applications, commonly called “apps,” have been purchased from Apple’s App Store. The App Store currently has around 225,000 different apps for sale.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

At 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Eastern Time (2045 UTC), the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. Its cargo: a US$100,000 Tesla sportscar, the personal property of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, which he hopes will soon be in its own orbit around the Sun. This is the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V of Project Apollo was retired in 1970. The rocket is meant to follow a course called a Hohmann transfer orbit.

“It’ll be a really huge downer if it blows up,” Musk told the press the day before the launch, but went on to say, “If something goes wrong, hopefully it goes wrong far into the mission so we at least learn as much as possible along the way. I would consider it a win if it just clears the pad and doesn’t blow the pad to smithereens. That’s four million pounds of TNT equivalent so there’s probably not going to be much left if that thing lets loose on the pad.” The car was equipped with a fully space-suited dummy, cameras to monitor its trip into space, a copy of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a radio blasting Space Oddity by David Bowie.

The Falcon Heavy has a total of 27 engines and stands 230 feet (70.1 m) tall. According to SpaceX, the Falcon Heavy uses three boosters, the same kind as the company’s smaller cargo rockets. After the rocket exited the Earth’s atmosphere, two of these boosters detached from the main body of the rocket and, in a first for space technology, were successfully guided back down to the landing pad about ten minutes after launch. The third was to have landed on a drone ship, but missed by around 100 yards (about 90 meters) and hit the ocean “at around 200 miles per hour,” according to Musk. The reusability of the boosters makes an enormous difference in the cost of the launch.

Even the relatively heavy-hauling U.S. Space Shuttle program, which was closed in 2013, did not rely on rockets as powerful as those used in Project Apollo, the program in which NASA, the U.S. Government space agency, sent manned missions to the Moon in the 1960’s and 70’s. Most recent space projects have focused on smaller, lighter machinery, such as Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne in 2004, which reached space after being carried part of the way by a carrier jet instead of launching from the ground. As of last week, the most powerful rocket in use was the Delta IV, operated by the United Space Alliance. It costs about US$435 million per launch, while SpaceX says the Falcon Heavy will cost US$90 million per launch.

NASA is also working on a heavy-duty rocket, the Space Launch System, but there have been delays.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Lexmark International introduced the Lexmark P450 in the USA yesterday, the first printer to have a built-in CD burner. The CD burner allows users to copy photos from their camera directly to CD without requiring the printer to be connected to a computer.

The P450 is a small, portable printer that can print 4in by 6in photos. Photos can be printed from USB flash drives, memory cards, Bluetooth devices and PictBridge compatible digital cameras. The printer includes a 2.4-inch color LCD from which users can perform basic editing tasks such as cropping, rotating, and removing red-eye.

“The Lexmark P450 brings more photo processing functions to the home. People can now save and organize their digital photos on CD, print from a cell phone, view their photos on a television and much more. The Lexmark P450 is quite intuitive, easy to use and affordably priced,” said Najib Bahous, president of Lexmark’s Consumer Printer Division.

This printer will compete with many other portable printers such as the popular and slightly cheaper HP Photosmart 375.

The Lexmark P450 is scheduled to be released in the USA in October, with an estimated retail price of $199USD, and Canada in November, with an estimated retail price of $299CAD. It is scheduled to be released in other countries shortly thereafter.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

A former US soldier has been sentenced to life in prison for raping a teen and murdering her and her family while on active duty in Iraq. The jury failed to reach the unanimous verdict required for the death penalty sought by the prosecution.

According to testimony given by two soldiers, Steven Dale Green was part of a group who decided they wanted to rape a girl they had seen walking through her village, 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. They walked to her house while disguised as insurgents and separated her from her parents and younger sister.

Green then shot dead Abeer’s family while two other soldiers raped the girl. He then raped her himself while she wept before covering her face with a pillow and fatally shooting her. The gang then covered her naked body with a blanket soaked in kerosene, using a lighter to start a fire before walking 200 yards to a nearby checkpoint where they cooked a meal.

Green had already been discharged from the army when his crimes were discovered. He had previously spoken of a desire to murder Iraqi civilians and his defence argued he should never have been allowed to return to duty. A nurse had decided he would not carry out his desires. A US civilian court tried him, the first such prosecution of a soldier under a law allowing servicemen to be charged with crimes carried out abroad.

The judge described his actions as “unimaginable, unjustified and inexcusable” and sentenced him to five consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole. Four others had already been sentenced. Three are all serving life with parole after ten years, and a fourth who acted as a lookout is serving a 27-month sentence.

It took months for the offences to be discovered, even though Green had quickly confessed to a sergeant. Soldiers speaking to stress counsellors talked of the crimes after the abduction and murders of two other soldiers. When news of the soldiers’ actions broke, insurgents killed several American servicemen in revenge.

The prosecution described Green as “criminal and perverse” while the defence called him a “broken warrior.” Green said he was acting upon orders from former Specialist Paul Cortez, another of the attackers, and told the court “Y’all can act like I’m a psychopath or a sexual predator or whatever. But if I had never gone to Iraq I would never have got caught up in anything like this.”

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Just days away from Halloween, Wikinews interviewed Kristian Hanson, producer-director of independent slasher film Sledge. The film has been a recent source of discussion in horror fan circles, primarily due to its production budget of only US$800. Sledge is Hanson’s fourth film to direct, according to Internet Movie Database.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Yannis Dalianides, a Greek film director who worked on over 60 movies, has died at the age of 87. Dalianides died after spending a month in hospital. He was known as the “godfather” of the Greek musical and the “Gentle Knight of Popular Cinema”.

Born in 1923, Dalianides was placed in a children’s home until he was adopted. He made his first appearance in children’s theatre at the age of 10. He studied at the Drama School of the Thessaloniki Conservatory, before moving to Vienna and studying dance. Dalianides tried choreography before turning to cinema.

After appearing as an actor he directed his first film in 1959, titled, Mousitsa (The Temptress). He continued to have success with films such as Some Like It Cold, Downhill, and Training Old Man Yorgis. From 1961 to 1977, Dalianides worked exclusively for the Fino’s Film Company. Dalianides is credited with the introduction of the musical into Greece but preferred the term “musical comedy”.

Dalianides worked into his seventies. His last project was Mikres Amarties, a television series made in 1999. Dalianides funeral will take place on Monday; he will be buried at Athens’ First Cemetery.