New Yorkers find a changed city post-Sandy
- October 31, 2012
Wednesday 31 October 2012
New York-Sandy
Obama warns storm ‘not over’
Sandy leaves trail of devastation; Obama warns storm ‘not over’
WASHINGTON, OCT 31: Rescue workers began evacuating stranded residents from flooded neighbourhoods after Sandy, the most devastating megastorm in decades, hit densely populated US East coast region, even as President Barack Obama warned that the storm was “not yet over“.
The storm hit the East coast with fierce force, killing nearly 50 people across seven US states, plunging millions of homes into darkness and leaving the New York Stock Exchange shut for two straight days for the first time since 1888. Many of the victims were killed by falling trees, Fox news said.
Describing the crisis triggered by superstorm Sandy as “heartbreaking”, Obama warned the storm was “not yet over“.
“This storm is not yet over,” Obama said during his trip to the headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington.
Obama drove down to the Red Cross office headquarters to review rescue and recovery operation and said the federal government would push hard to provide resources to the States badly hit by Sandy.
According to a White House statement, Obama will travel to New Jersey to have a personal assessment of the devastation and take stock of the situation on the ground.
The trail of destruction left by the monster storm prompted President Obama to declare it a “major disaster” in New York and New Jersey.
New York and New Jersey combined together has one of the largest concentrations of Indian-Americans in the US. Quite a number of Indian-Americans, particularly in New Jersey, had to leave their homes and had to be evacuated after their houses were flooded.
Recovery efforts took off late last night. The number of people shivering without power fell below 7 million, down from nearly 8 million reported earlier in the day across 15 states and the District of Columbia.
Two of the New York area’s major airports, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty, were set to reopen today together with the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq exchange, which had been suspended since Monday in the markets’ first closure since the 9/11 attacks of 2001, officials said
Cyclone Nilam
Cyclone Nilam landfall likely at 6 pm between Puducherry and Nellore
Chennai: Cyclone Nilam is likely to make landfall between Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh at 6 this evening.
Tuesday 30 October 2012
cyclonic storm tomorrow
Coastal TN, AP brace for a cyclonic storm tomorrow
Coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh braced for a cyclonic storm that is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, as incessant rains hit normal life on Tuesday in Chennai. Authorities were put on high alert after a deep depression lying 500km south east of Chennai intensified
into a cyclonic storm and is expected to cross the coast between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh tomorrow, bringing in torrential rains in the region.
The system, named Nilam, as suggested by Pakistan under the cyclone naming procedure, would move northwestwards and cross the coast between Nagapattinam and Nellore by tomorrow afternoon/evening.
Under the influence of the storm, rainfall at most places, with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall, would occur over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during next 12 hours, a bulletin issued by Area Cyclone Warning Centre at 1pm said.
It forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall and isolated extremely heavy rainfall (25 cm or more) in the region during the subsequent 36 hours.
"Squally winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph would prevail along and off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts during next 12 hours. The wind speed would gradually increase thereafter as the system comes closer to coast," it said.
Sea will be "very rough to high" and fishermen in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts have been advised to stay off the sea.
Windspeeds can reach upto 90km in Chennai and there could be some disruption in communication lines, the bulletin said.
Danger signals ranging from five to seven have been hoisted at Chennai, Ennore, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Puducherry ports.
Normal life in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore and Villupuram was hit by incessant rains since Tuesday morning. A holiday was declared for schools and colleges.
In AP, a third warning signal has been issued in Krishnapatnam, Vadarevu, Machilipatnam and Nizampatnam ports while fishermen have been warned not to venture into sea.
Control rooms have been opened in the coastal districts, particularly SPS Nellore and Prakasam that are expected to face a major impact of the cyclone.
Apple's Cook
With changes, Apple's Cook takes decisive action for future
Summary: Apple's recent executive changes show a company configuring itself for the next decade -- and a chief executive who won't tolerate internecine warfare.
As Hurricane Sandy reconfigured the eastern seaboard of the United States, so did Apple chief executive Tim Cook, dismissing longtime exec Scott Forstall (most recently head of iOS) and retail chief John Browett in a series of executive changes announced last night.
Much will be made of the personality clashes that serve as the undercurrent to these changes, but the key takeaway here is that Tim Cook is circling the wagons after a rocky year in which the monolithic company began to reveal fissures.
That's why Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles at the company -- it seems that Cook thought there were too many cooks in the kitchen, with the result manifesting in products that increasingly grew apart.
Here's Fast Company's Austin Carr on just one battle, over skeuomorphic design, where digital things imitate the real-life objects they replace:
Inside Apple, tension has brewed for years over the issue. Apple iOS SVP Scott Forstall is said to push for skeuomorphic design, while industrial designer Jony Ive and other Apple higher-ups are said to oppose the direction. "You could tell who did the product based on how much glitz was in the UI," says one source intimately familiar with Apple's design process.
Apple's products will always be the collective effort of many people, but it's up to the company's leadership to smooth the edges so that the patchwork effect isn't jarring to the consumer. In the paragraph above, you can see teams beginning to push their own agendas rather than an agreed-upon direction for the product as a whole. That's usually the first step toward corporate catastrophe.
(If you want to read more on the various storylines, read posts by Om Malik, John Gruber and reports by Jess Lessin and Nicks Wingfield and Bilton. All take different angles on this story.)
I'd like to focus on Cook. Here, we see the chief executive begin to change what he had been handed in the wake of former chief executive Steve Jobs' death. Many of the names mentioned above were hand-picked by Jobs for roles at that moment; here, Cook is heading off further trouble at the pass with decisive action. Perhaps his only regret might be letting some of that internal tension manifest itself in the products, from UI design philosophy to the Maps fiasco to whatever else might be out there.
No matter. The house that Steve built is becoming the house that Cook built, albeit slowly. So far, both eras seem to share the same philosophy of simplification: instead of allowing Apple's various branches to grow in their respective directions, Cook has reaffirmed the company's course (and values) by pruning what's out of line. It's not necessarily the best management strategy, but it has worked well for Apple.
One last point: none of these changes address the company's recent quality control issues. Cook may have excised conflict from the top ranks of his company, but a higher bar of expectation starts with him. Half-baked products are a company culture issue. That starts with Cook.
Hurricane Sandy
Sandy’s aggravation spans globe for travellers
Hurricane Sandy grounded well over 10,000 flights across the Northeast and the globe and it could be days before some passengers can get where they’re going.
According to the flight-tracking service FlightAware, more than 13,500 flights had been cancelled for Monday and Tuesday, almost all related to the storm. By early morning, more than 500 flights scheduled for Wednesday also were cancelled.
Major carriers such as American Airlines, United and Delta cancelled all flights into and out of three area airports in New York, the nation’s busiest airspace. About one-quarter of all US flights travel to or from New York airports each day. So cancellations here can dramatically impact travel in other cities.
Delays rippled across the US, affecting travellers in cities from San Francisco to Atlanta. Others attempting to fly out of Europe and Asia also were stuck.
Narita, the international airport near Tokyo, cancelled 11 flights today nine to the New York area and two to Washington, DC All Nippon Airways set up a special counter at Narita to deal with passengers whose flights had been cancelled.
“All flights to New York yesterday and today are cancelled. What will happen tomorrow no one knows,” airline spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka said.
Sandy caused Eric Danielson to miss his first day of work at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. He thought he’d be looking at a two-hour layover in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on his way from San Francisco to Norfolk, Va.
But Sandy changed his schedule. “Now it’s beginning to be a 28-hour layover until tomorrow,” he said Monday.
Hurricane Sandy converged with a cold-weather system and made landfall over New Jersey on Monday evening with 80 mph winds. The monstrous hybrid of rain and high wind and even snow in some mountainous inland areas killed at least 16 people in seven states, cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Ohio, caused scares at two nuclear power plants and stopped the presidential campaign cold.
The storm was forecast to head across Pennsylvania before taking another sharp turn into western New York by Wednesday morning, bringing heavy rain and local flooding.
The flight cancellations were on par with a major winter storm in early 2011 that forced 14,000 flights to be scrapped over four days.
Monday 29 October 2012
A robot that plays table tennis like humans
A robot that plays table tennis like humans
Researchers have developed a robot that learns to play ping-pong from humans and improves as it competes against them.Katharina Muelling and colleagues at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany suspended a robotic arm from the ceiling and equipped it with a camera that watches the playing area.
The arm was physically guided by Muelling through different shots to return incoming balls.
The arm was then left to draw on its training to return balls hit by a human opponent, New Scientist reported.
When the ball was in a position it had not seen before, the arm used its library of shots to improvise new ones. After an hour of unassisted practise, the system successfully returned 88 per cent of shots.
Other robots have played table tennis in the past, but none have used human demonstration to learn the game. Ales Ude of the Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia says that doing so allows robots to play more like people.
The work, which will be presented at an AAAI symposium in Arlington, Virginia, next month, is part of a broader goal to develop robots that can do a range of tasks after being guided by their owners, Muelling said.
The arm was physically guided by Muelling through different shots to return incoming balls.
The arm was then left to draw on its training to return balls hit by a human opponent, New Scientist reported.
When the ball was in a position it had not seen before, the arm used its library of shots to improvise new ones. After an hour of unassisted practise, the system successfully returned 88 per cent of shots.
Other robots have played table tennis in the past, but none have used human demonstration to learn the game. Ales Ude of the Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia says that doing so allows robots to play more like people.
The work, which will be presented at an AAAI symposium in Arlington, Virginia, next month, is part of a broader goal to develop robots that can do a range of tasks after being guided by their owners, Muelling said.
Mobile units on rounds to trace fever
Mobile units on rounds to trace fever cases in Madurai
Herbal ‘kashayam’ being distributed in Melur block: Additional Collector
Surveillance of fever cases and public awareness campaign to prevent dengue were intensified across Madurai district on Sunday, especially in Melur block which has seen high incidence of suspected and confirmed dengue cases.
A special monitoring team from the district administration led by Additional Collector G.K. Arun Sundar Thayalan, visited dengue-hit hamlets in Melur block on Sunday along with officials from the Revenue and Health Departments.
The week-long intensive campaign to contain dengue fever which began on Saturday is going door-to-door to create awareness of the hazards of water stagnation and to screen people having fever in various hamlets of Melur block.
“We are going by what Collector Anshul Mishra said at a review-cum-coordination meeting on Friday. Five mobile medical units have been pressed into service in Melur block to trace fever cases and provide immediate medical attention. Even if it is normal fever, our team is keeping a track to rule out dengue,” Mr. Thayalan told The Hindu on Sunday.
Mosquito breeding sources in Melur block are being identified and eliminated through door-to-door survey, while persons having fever with dengue symptoms are being attended to by the mobile medical units. In cases where it is required, they would be referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital here.
Another control measure taken up for dengue fever control is distribution of Siddha medicine ‘nilavembu kashayam,’ the Additional Collector has said.
The distribution of herbal Siddha medicine is being monitored by T.N. Ramanathan, Commissioner of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, who has been deputed by the State government to oversee dengue control steps in southern districts.
Also, doctors of Primary Health Centres in the Melur block and public health staff have been asked to be on alert. Meanwhile, Mr. Mishra has given instructions to improve sanitation on the GRH premises too.
Following his orders, additional rounds of anti-larval wok and fogging are being done in GRH since Friday at the paediatric wing, special dengue wards and staff quarters. “We are doing water purification and cleanliness works on regular basis. Five workers have been engaged on daily wage basis and they are being paid from the hospital maintenance fund,” a supervisor in the sanitation wing of GRH said.
Keywords: dengue fever
Sunday 28 October 2012
Dengue fever
SYMPTOMS of Dengue fever
Dengue in its initial stage is not deadly. However, ignoring symptoms or being infected again by a different serotype of virus or having another chronic disease can up complication risks and may result in dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.
Symptoms usually last for 2–7 days, after an incubation period of 4–10 days. The characteristic symptoms of dengue include:
i) Sudden-onset of fever (40°C/ 104°F). Fever is usually biphasic in nature, breaking and then returning for one or two days
ii) Headache, pain behind the eyes
iii) Muscle and joint pains
iv) Swollen glands or skin rash that is similar to measles
v) Nausea, vomiting
When dengue advances into the critical stage it can result in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets in case of hemorrhagic fever, or dangerously low blood pressure in case of dengue shock syndrome. The critical stage can lead to:
i) Fluid accumulation in the chest and abdominal cavity due to increased capillary permeability and leakage, which leads to depletion of fluid from the circulation and decreased blood supply to vital organs
ii) Organ dysfunction and severe bleeding, typically from the gastrointestinal tract
iii) Respiratory distress, rapid breathing, fatigue, restlessness
iv) Severe abdominal pain
v) Persistent vomiting or blood in vomit
TREATMENT
There is no known vaccine to treat dengue; prevention is the only way to keep away from the virus. Hospitals offer only supportive care in order to maintain the body fluid levels and platelet transfusion in case it drops to extremely low. (A normal platelet count in a healthy individual is between 150,000 and 450,000 per microlitre of blood).
PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Prevention is the only way to combat the mosquito-borne disease. Prevent measures include:
i) These mosquitoes breed in accumulated water and unhygienic conditions. The best way is to eliminate all the possible breeding grounds for the mosquitoes
ii) Regular cleaning, emptying and covering of water storage containers
iii) Using mosquito repellents, nets
iv) Wear long-sleeved clothes
v) Active monitoring and surveillance of vectors
Dengue in its initial stage is not deadly. However, ignoring symptoms or being infected again by a different serotype of virus or having another chronic disease can up complication risks and may result in dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.
Symptoms usually last for 2–7 days, after an incubation period of 4–10 days. The characteristic symptoms of dengue include:
i) Sudden-onset of fever (40°C/ 104°F). Fever is usually biphasic in nature, breaking and then returning for one or two days
ii) Headache, pain behind the eyes
iii) Muscle and joint pains
iv) Swollen glands or skin rash that is similar to measles
v) Nausea, vomiting
When dengue advances into the critical stage it can result in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets in case of hemorrhagic fever, or dangerously low blood pressure in case of dengue shock syndrome. The critical stage can lead to:
i) Fluid accumulation in the chest and abdominal cavity due to increased capillary permeability and leakage, which leads to depletion of fluid from the circulation and decreased blood supply to vital organs
ii) Organ dysfunction and severe bleeding, typically from the gastrointestinal tract
iii) Respiratory distress, rapid breathing, fatigue, restlessness
iv) Severe abdominal pain
v) Persistent vomiting or blood in vomit
TREATMENT
There is no known vaccine to treat dengue; prevention is the only way to keep away from the virus. Hospitals offer only supportive care in order to maintain the body fluid levels and platelet transfusion in case it drops to extremely low. (A normal platelet count in a healthy individual is between 150,000 and 450,000 per microlitre of blood).
PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Prevention is the only way to combat the mosquito-borne disease. Prevent measures include:
i) These mosquitoes breed in accumulated water and unhygienic conditions. The best way is to eliminate all the possible breeding grounds for the mosquitoes
ii) Regular cleaning, emptying and covering of water storage containers
iii) Using mosquito repellents, nets
iv) Wear long-sleeved clothes
v) Active monitoring and surveillance of vectors
Saturday 27 October 2012
iPhone 5 starting price in India
It’s finally out: iPhone 5 starting price is Rs 45,500 in India
Apple iPhone 5 launch in India has been delayed by a week to November 2, but several Apple partners in India have confirmed that the starting price for the much-awaited phone will be Rs 45,500.
Getty Images
The prices have been shared by Redington, one of two distribution partners of Apple in India. According to Redington, the basic 16GB version of the iPhone 5 will be priced at Rs 45, 500, the 32GB and 64GB will be priced Rs52500 and Rs 59500 respectively. On Friday, Ingram, the other Apple India retailer, confirmed that Apple is set to launch the iPhone 5 on November 2, 2012. Redington and Ingram Micro already distribute iPad and iPods in the country.
Both black and white versions of the phone are expected to go on sale. But still stocks are extremely limited considering the global demand for the device.
Online retailers like Infibeam and Saholic have already started accepting the preorders for the 16GB variant of iPhone 5 with an advance payment of Rs 5,000. Saholic is listing the 16GB version for Rs45500 with an estimated shipping date of 4 November.
Apple’s iPhone 5 has been one of the fastest selling smartphones ever as the company sold nearly 5 million devices in the first weekend itself. India might not be on the top of the list as far as Apple is concerned but the launch of the iPhone 5 has been much awaited.
Key features of the iPhone are: a 4 inch screen with a higher screen resolution of 1136×640 pixel which comes to around 326 ppi. That’s Retina Display quality for you.
The iPhone5 has the quad-core A6 chip, an 8 megapixel rear camera with a sapphire crystal lens cover for ‘clearer pictures’ and a 1.2 megapixel front camera. The dock connector is now called Lightning, and is an eight-pin plug.
Friday 26 October 2012
To Get Microsoft's Windows 8
How to Get Microsoft's Windows 8
Microsoft's revamped Windows 8 operating system is finally ready for primetime. Redmond started selling digital downloads of the new OS at 12:01 a.m. local time this morning, shortly after it opened up the doors to its holiday pop-up store in New York's Times Square.
But how do you get it? There are a variety of options, from upgrades to entirely new systems. Read on for how to snag Microsoft's latest operating system.
Upgrade your existing PC online: PC users running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 can upgrade their PCs to Windows 8 Pro via a $39.99 download from now until Jan. 31, 2013. First, Microsoft will run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to make sure your computer can handle Windows 8. If you're in the clear, you will be walked through the upgrade process. Those with Windows 7 will have their files, apps, and settings automatically transferred to Windows 8 Pro (though it's always good to have a backup). If you have a PC with XP or Vista, you will have to reinstall apps.
New buyer upgrade: If you purchased a Windows 7 PC after June 2, 2012 you can get a Windows 8 Pro upgrade for $14.99. Microsoft started accepting upgrade registrations in August, but you can sign up now via windowsupgradeoffer.com. Starting today, Microsoft will send out promo codes via email. When you upgrade via Windows.com, Microsoft will display the $39.99 price for general upgrades; enter the promo code on the confirmation page to get the $14.99 price. Users have until Feb. 28, 2013 to use their promo code. For more, see Microsoft's FAQ.
Buy boxed software: If you're a little wary of upgrading your PC online, you can still buy a boxed version of Windows 8 Pro for $69.99. It's available from Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, and the Microsoft Store.
Buy a new PC: If your PC is ready for an upgrade, why not kill two birds with one stone and get the new OS and a new computer at once? This time around, there are a few more options when it comes to hardware, though. Do you want a traditional Windows-based laptop, a super-fast ultrabook, a Windows RT tablet, or a convertible tablet/laptop combo? Whatever you choose, Windows 8 will come pre-loaded on the device, so you don't have to worry about upgrading or installing the OS on your machine. To help you make up your mind, check out 5 Windows 8 PCs Worth Waiting For.
Monkey that looks like Albert Einstein.
THESE pictures are chimpangenious - it's a monkey that looks like Albert Einstein.
From his matching receding hairline to his sporadic moustache, the baby monkey is a double for the man behind the theory of relativity.
This unlikely double was snapped climbing on his pals and swinging from branches by Professor Mihail Nazarov, 66, at Taiping National Park in Malaysia.
And thanks to his wrinkled face, the Stump-tailed Macaque looks much older than his tender years and even more like the German scientist.
Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics for developing the E=MC2 equation.
Mihail, a physics professor has been dabbling in photography for nearly 60 years but this is the first time he has ever spotted anything like this.
He said: “As soon as I saw the baby monkey, my very first thought was that it looked like Einstein and that I needed to get some shots of it to prove it.
“When I got back home, I looked back through the shots and could see the similarities between the monkey and Einstein even more.
“I love these pictures and the feeling of capturing something which is so unusual and amazing."
Thursday 25 October 2012
Wednesday 24 October 2012
Microsoft's Windows 8
Microsoft's Windows 8 campaign goes live across 42 countries
After releasing commercials for Windows 8 and the upcoming Surface tablet, Microsoft is taking the Windows 8 advertising campaign for a global spin by launching 4 new commercials across 42 countries.
After releasing commercials for Windows 8 and the upcoming Surface tablet, Microsoft is taking the Windows 8 advertising campaign for a global spin by launching 4 new commercials across 42 countries.
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Gen Next robots to perform surgery and play football
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