Sunday, June 8, 2008

NASA has stated that the Mars Phoenix lander is having trouble analyzing soil samples that its robotic arm is collecting. According to NASA, the soil appears to be too clodded to pass through screens on the way to Phoenix’s Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA).

Images taken by the lander’s camera shows that the robotic arm has dumped a large portion of soil over the TEGA, but it failed to register any soil which might have passed through the screens leading into the analyzer. The screen is designed to let through particles up to one-millimeter (0.04 inch) across while keeping out larger particles, in order to prevent clogging a funnel pathway to a tiny oven inside. An infrared beam crossing the pathway checks whether particles are entering the instrument and breaking the beam. It is now believed that the particles are either too large to pass through the screen, or the soil is too clumpy.

“I think it’s the cloddiness of the soil and not having enough fine granular material. In the future, we may prepare the soil by pushing down on the surface with the arm before scooping up the material to break it up, then sprinkle a smaller amount over the door,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University located in St. Louis, Missouri. Arvidson is the Phoenix team’s science lead researcher for Saturday and digging czar for Phoenix’s mission.

NASA also plans to use a shaker inside the TEGA to shake any material or samples longer than previously planned in an attempt to break up the larger particles and clumps. Phoenix already utilized this method on Friday June 6, shaking the soil for five minutes before dumping it onto the screen. NASA plans to tell Phoenix to shake the material a little longer in order for the soil to be tested.

While scientists ponder ways to fix the issue, TEGA will not be analyzing any samples. Instead Phoenix is expected to have completed tasks today such as horizontally extending a trench where the lander dug two practice scoops earlier this week, and taking additional images of a small pile of soil that was scooped up and dropped onto the surface during the second of those practice digs.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that computer systems involved with the processing of tax returns for individuals are back online.

Tax processing had been halted on March 6, 2007, due to a computer glitch. The source of the problem had been traced back to software maintenance performed on March 4.

In an update on the CRA website, dated March 14, Michel Dorais, Commissioner of the Agency, stated that all of the databases had been restored and CRA employees are processing the backlog of returns and payments.

Tax processing for businesses had not been affected by the computer shutdown.

In his statement, Dorais thanked taxpayers “for their patience and understanding” during the service outage. He also stated that “the integrity and safety of personal data was never at risk”.

The CRA suggests that it would work quickly to process the resulting backlog of tax returns.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Viktor Schreckengost, the father of industrial design and creator of the Jazz Bowl, an iconic piece of Jazz Age art designed for Eleanor Roosevelt during his association with Cowan Pottery died yesterday. He was 101.

Schreckengost was born on June 26, 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, United States.

Schreckengost’s peers included the far more famous designers Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes.

In 2000, the Cleveland Museum of Art curated the first ever retrospective of Schreckengost’s work. Stunning in scope, the exhibition included sculpture, pottery, dinnerware, drawings, and paintings.

Thursday, February 3, 2005Despite assurances from the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Charles McCreevy that the Council would adopt its controversial Common Position text covering Software Patents, members voted to restart the entire process with a new directive.

MEP Michel Rocard noted several “inelegancies” by the Commission in his speech against the directive, such as not taking into account any of the Parliament’s substantive amendments in its recommendation to the Council. He also took the Dutch and German governments to task for ignoring their respective parliaments. The Irish Presidency’s sponsorship by Microsoft was also criticised, as were the attempted ratifications at fishery Council meetings.

There was also confusion over the actual effects of the proposed directive with industry players confirming that the Council text allowed pure software patents, while the Commission claimed it would not.

“In the debate, broad agreement prevailed over the fact that the current proposal was counter-productive and far from a good basis for a decision,” said Italian MEP Monica Frassoni.

The computer-implemented inventions directive was voted down by members of European Parliament (MEP) in the legal affairs committee. 19 MEPs voted in favour of re-starting negotiations, 2 against with one abstention.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Macomb, New York Councilman Steve Burke took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Burke, an insurance adjuster and farmer, was elected councilman in Brookhaven, New York in 1979. He left the town after being accused and found not guilty of bribery in the 1980s. Since 1987 he has served as Macomb councilman off-and-on and currently holds the post. From 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2002 he worked as chairman of the Democratic Party of St. Lawrence County, New York. Among his many political campaigns, Burke unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1992 and recently attempted to run for U.S. Congress in 2014 but too many of his ballot petition signatures were found invalid. Burke filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in the 2016 election on September 18, 2015 and has qualified for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, Burke discusses his political background, his 2016 presidential campaign, and his policy proposals.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned that the state of the housing market in the United Kingdom is the current biggest domestic threat to the country’s economy, due to lack of house building, and regulatory issues.

In an interview to be aired on Sky News today, he said the housing market is the “biggest risk” to the economy and has “deep, deep structural problems”. Of house building he said: “There are not sufficient houses built in the UK. To go back to Canada, there are half as many people in Canada as in the UK, twice as many houses are built every year in Canada as in the UK and we can’t influence that.”

“We’re not going to build a single house at the Bank of England. We can’t influence that. What we can influence […] is whether the banks are strong enough. Do they have enough capital against risk in the housing market?”

Carney also said the Bank of England would look into the procedures used to issue loans and mortgages to see if they were being granted appropriately: “We’d be concerned if there was a rapid increase in high loan-to-value mortgages across the banks. We’ve seen that creeping up and it’s something we’re watching closely.”

Kris Hopkins responded to Carney on behalf of the government, saying the government “inherited a broken housing market, but our efforts to fix it are working”. “We’ve scrapped the failed top-down planning system, built over 170,000 affordable homes and released more surplus brownfield sites for new housing. We’ve also helped homebuyers get on the housing ladder, because if people can buy homes builders will build them. Housebuilding is now at its highest level since 2007 and climbing. Last year councils gave permission for almost 200,000 new homes under the locally-led planning system and more than 1,000 communities have swiftly taken up neighbourhood planning. It’s clear evidence the government’s long-term economic plan is working.”

Earlier this month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development called on the UK government to “tighten” access to the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme introduced by George Osborne and the coalition government in 2013. ‘Help to Buy’ has also recently been criticised by three former Chancellors of the Exchequer — the Conservatives Norman Lamont and Nigel Lawson, and former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling. Darling said: “Unless supply can be increased substantially, we will exacerbate that situation with schemes like Help to Buy.”

Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Kathmandu, Nepal —King Gyanendra of Nepal has today announced a new 10-member cabinet, after yesterday sacking the coalition government. The King, who some Nepalis view as a reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, made the announcement on the state run television and radio service. “A new Cabinet will be formed under my leadership,” he said. “This will restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years.”

Gyanendra named Rames Nath Pandey as foreign minister, Dan Bahadur Shahi as Home Minister, as well as Radha Krishna Mainali, a member of the communist party, as minister for sports and education. The king has decided to head the new administration himself, after accusing the old administration of failing to ensure the small nation’s security. Nepal is in the midst of a Maoist insurgency that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since 1996.

All telephone lines and mobile telephone networks have been cut with the outside world. Flights into and out of the capital of Kathmandu, have also been stopped. However one flight did leave for New Delhi overnight. Local radio stations are also reported to have been shut down, and Nepali websites are inaccessible from outside Nepal.

The United Nations, Britain, the United States and India criticized the king’s action, and Australia has advised its citizens not to travel to Nepal.

Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the UN has said that the king’s actions are “a serious setback for the country … steps should be taken immediately to restore democratic freedoms and institutions” The US administration added that the sacking was a “step back from democracy” and India joined into the chorus by saying that the developments were a “cause of grave concern”. The UK, the USA and India have all provided Nepal with arms and given the army training under the banner of security aid. The Nepalese army has tripled in size in less than 10 years. The US alone is estimated to have supplied 20,000 M-16 rifles as well as night-vision and communications equipment, and counter-insurgency training.

The Indian Express newspaper is reporting that the Indian government tried to dissuade King Gyanendra from a “power grab” a few weeks ago.

A statement from New Delhi said “”These developments constitute a serious setback to the cause of democracy in Nepal and cannot but be a cause of grave concern to India,” an Indian foreign ministry statement said. The latest developments in Nepal bring the monarchy and the mainstream political parties in direct confrontation with each other. This can only benefit the forces that not only wish to undermine democracy but the institution of monarchy as well.” India shares an open border with Nepal.

The leader of the Maoist rebels, Prachanda, likened the kings actions to “medieval feudal autocracy”, and said that the King was trying “to push the Nepalese society of the 21st century back to the 15th.”. In a statement to a Maoist website he said “We heartily call upon the entire pro-people forces of the world to raise their voices against this autocratic step and in the favor of the Nepalese people’s democratic movement,”

Prachanda, denounced King Gyanendra as a “national betrayer” and told Nepalis to “shut down Nepal” in a three day general strike from Wednesday to Friday, however witnesses in Kathmandu said life was going on as normal, and there are no obvious signs of additional security. Meenakshi, a street sweeper outside the gates of the King’s palace said “I just don’t know anything. I am just here like any other day,” The King has imposed a state of emergency which forbids mass gatherings.