Eeyore's News and view

MacBook pledges 8-hour battery life
Eight hours. Repeat it to yourself, slowly and carefully if you like. Eight hours. That's the battery life claimed for, and apparently delivered by, the $2,799 17-inch MacBook Pro recently shipped by Apple Inc.
Not having surveyed every last portable computer in the retail channel today, I won't swear to it, but I believe this is the longest notebook battery life out there, at least in terms of a "standard" battery that fits inside the notebook itself. Some "extended life" batteries can be attached to portable computers, creating a bulge (or a carrying handle of a sort). But in terms of self-contained batteries, the MacBook Pro likely takes the cake.
I did not run the battery down to zero, watching each minute tick off. But in test after unplugged test, the time remaining registered pretty darned close to eight hours and almost always more than seven. Compare that to the previous-generation 17-inch MacBook Pro that I use daily; fully charged, I can get about three hours out of the battery.
The new computer is also unique in terms of the battery itself: You can't swap it out for another battery. Apple has sealed the battery in the computer and claims it will last through five years of recharges. The company will replace the battery if need be, but this also marks a first, I believe, for the portable Mac line. By doing this, however, the firm is able to make the notebook thinner than previous models, while still clocking in at 6.6 pounds. No one would mistake this for the interoffice-envelope-friendly MacBook Air, but it's ergonomics are impressive.
Even with the battery life, however, many might wonder who would need a $2,799 notebook computer. I know of several folks who really do. The kinds of users who need and appreciate this kind of computer are involved in video or sound editing, photography, publishing, design, Internet work, that sort of thing — and we need to have this kind of power in a portable package. Things don't just happen in offices anymore, and I have a colleague who's as likely to edit high-definition video in the Amazon jungles of Brazil as in his editing bay in Silver Spring.
For these people — and perhaps for a few more — the new MacBook Pro represents a stunning achievement of design, engineering and performance. It is the kind of computer you can depend on when work beckons, and it'll probably deliver a fair load of fun, too.
On the work side, my test unit came with a 320 gigabyte hard disc drive and 4GB of RAM, both of which are more than enough for most needs. Video-heads may want to upgrade the hard drive independent of Apple, and a high-speed 500GB hard drive is due from Seagate later this month. But the "standard issue" hard drive and memory are double what roughly the same amount of moolah bought two years ago, so that's certainly progress.
The keyboard is also different from my workday MBPro: it's the "Chiclet" style now popular on Mac portables, and that's not difficult to type on. Some large portables include a separate numeric keypad, but this one doesn't. Apple says the aesthetics are better this way, and I can't argue. If you need to crunch numbers, separate keypads can be found.
Also nice here is the touchpad, which is "clickable" in place of mouse-buttons. You can also use various finger movements to "swipe" through Web pages and other applications. It's well done.
Graphics hounds will appreciate the two separate graphics processors. The standard graphics chip, from NVIDIA (STET), is the default processor and helps the unit deliver that close-to-eight-hour battery life. When you need to amp things up, a "discrete" NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT processor can kick in to help performance. That's more for my friend Dan Weber the video editor than it would be for me, and its use trims battery life by about three hours. But I have the feeling Dan would appreciate a five-hour graphics powerhouse nonetheless.
Overall, this is an excellent, if "niche" machine — it's not for every kid going back to school. It's my hope that many of the high-end features here will migrate to other Mac portables at lower prices.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/16/kellner-macbook-pledges-8-hour-battery-life/

Russia weighs Cuba, Venezuela bases:
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday. "This is possible in Cuba," General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force's strategic aviation staff, told the Interfax-AVN military news agency.
The comments were the latest signal that Moscow intends to project its military capability in far-flung corners of the globe despite a tight defence budget and hardware that experts consider in many respects outdated.
Zhikharev indicated that Russia was looking only at occasional use of the facilities -- not setting up permanent bases in the region.
He noted that the Venezuelan constitution prohibited establishment of military bases of foreign states on Venezuelan territory and described the Russian possibile use of the facility there as "we land, we complete the flight, we take off."
Zhikharev said Cuba had a several air bases equipped with the long runways needed by the heavy bombers and said the facilities there were "entirely acceptable" for use by the Russian aircraft during long-distance patrols.
"If the will of the two states is there, the political will, then we are prepared to fly there" to the bases in Cuba, the agency quoted Zhikharev as saying.
The general also said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had offered to let Russian strategic bombers use a military airfield on La Orchila island, a military base off the west coast of the country.
"Yes, there has been such a proposal from the Venezuelan president," Zhikharev said.
"If a relevant political decision is made, this is possible," he added.
Russia resumed patrols by its long-distance strategic bombers in August 2007 after a 15-year hiatus, noting at the time that it was mirroring the United States which never suspended its global bomber patrols after the Cold War.
Last year, Russia temporarily based a pair of Tu-160 bombers at an airbase in Venezuela in a carefully-choreographed display of force regarded by as a warning message to the United States.
A Russian flotilla led by the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great also joined Venezuelan navy vessels for manoeuvres in the Caribbean late last year, timed to coincide with a visit to the region by President Dmitry Medvedev.
The previous US administration of George W. Bush officially shrugged off the Russian aviation and naval moves in Latin America, characterising them as more for show than anything representing a military worry for the United States.
Last July however, a top US air force officer warned that Russia would cross "a red line" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba.
"If they did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz said on July 23.
The Interfax report said there were three types of Russian aircraft capable of long-distance bomber patrols: The Tu-95MS, the Tu-160 and the Tu-22.
It was Tu-160 strategic bombers that were sent to Venezuela for temporary basing last year. Each aircraft of this type is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles that can be fitted with nuclear warheads
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.9776268a25e75ad5b44b4d87e8a32a02.4a1&show_article=1
More information about the same story is found here also
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/15/general-muses-over-basing-bombers-near-us/

Rescued AIG says it has to pay $165M in bonuses immediately
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of the White House economic team and the Senate's top Republican bellowed about bonuses at a bailed-out insurance giant and pledged to prevent such payments in the future.
From one Sunday talk show to the next, they tore into the contracts that American International Group asserted had to be honored, to the tune of about $165 million and payable to executives by Sunday — part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million. The company has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue.
AIG has agreed to Obama administration requests to restrain future payments. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed the president's case with AIG's chairman, Edward Liddy, last week.
"He stepped in and berated them, got them to reduce the bonuses following every legal means he has to do this," said Austan Goolsbee, staff director of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
"I don't know why they would follow a policy that's really not sensible, is obviously going to ignite the ire of millions of people, and we've done exactly what we can do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again," Goolsbee said.
Added Lawrence Summers, Obama's top economic adviser: "The easy thing would be to just say ... off with their heads, violate the contracts. But you have to think about the consequences of breaking contracts for the overall system of law, for the overall financial system."
Summers said Geithner used all his power, "both legal and moral, to reduce the level of these bonus payments."
The Democratic administration's argument about the sanctity of contracts was more than Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky could bear.
"For them to simply sit there and blame it on the previous administration or claim contract — we all know that contracts are valid in this country, but they need to be looked at," McConnell said. "Did they enter into these contracts knowing full well that, as a practical matter, the taxpayers of the United States were going to be reimbursing their employees? Particularly employees who got them into this mess in the first place? I think it's an outrage."
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not address the bonuses but expressed his frustration with the AIG intervention.
"It makes me angry. I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG," Bernanke said. "It's — it's just absolutely — I understand why the American people are angry. It's absolutely unfair that taxpayer dollars are going to prop up a company that made these terrible bets — that was operating out of the sight of regulators, but which we have no choice but to stabilize, or else risk enormous impact, not just in the financial system, but on the whole U.S. economy."
AIG reported this month that it had lost $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history.
In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy said outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.
Liddy said in his letter that "quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied," although he said that in light of the company's current situation he found it "distasteful and difficult" to recommend going forward with the payments.
Liddy said the company had entered into the bonus agreements in early 2008 before AIG got into severe financial straits and was forced to obtain a government bailout last fall.
The bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.
Goolsbee acknowledged the AIG example could make it harder to sell the administration's financial plan to Congress.
"Yes, you worry about that backlash. But you're also angry that this would happen at an institution that has been so troubled and you're trying to save. So I think that's perfectly fair," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/insurance/2009-03-15-summers-aig_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Minister beaten after clashing with Muslims on his TV show
Minister beaten after clashing with Muslims on his TV show
By Jonathan Petre
Last updated at 4:39 PM on 15th March 2009
Comments (32) Add to My Stories A Christian minister who has had heated arguments with Muslims on his TV Gospel show has been brutally attacked by three men who ripped off his cross and warned: ‘If you go back to the studio, we’ll break your legs.’
The Reverend Noble Samuel was driving to the studio when a car pulled over in front of him. A man got out and came over to ask him directions in Urdu.
Mr Samuel, based at Heston United Reformed Church, West London, said: ‘He put his hand into my window, which was half open, and grabbed my hair and opened the door.
Frightened: TV minister Noble Samuel
He started slapping my face and punching my neck. He was trying to smash my head on the steering wheel.
Then he grabbed my cross and pulled it off and it fell on the floor. He was swearing. The other two men came from the car and took my laptop and Bible.’
The Metropolitan Police are treating it as a ‘faith hate’ assault and are hunting three Asian men.
In spite of the attack, Mr Samuel went ahead with his hour-long live Asian Gospel Show on the Venus satellite channel from studios in Wembley, North London. During the show the Muslim station owner Tahir Ali came on air to condemn the attack.
Pakistan-born Mr Samuel, 48, who was educated by Christian missionaries and moved to Britain 15 years ago, said that over the past few weeks he has received phone-in calls from people identifying themselves as Muslims who challenged his views.
‘They were having an argument with me,’ he said. ‘They were very aggressive in saying they did not agree with me. I said those are your views and these are my views.’
He said that he, his wife Louisa, 48, and his son Naveed, 19, now fear for their safety, and police have given them panic alarms. ‘I am frightened and depressed,’ he said. ‘My show is not confrontational.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1162039/Minister-beaten-clashing-Muslims-TV-show.html