OSLO (AFP) – In Norway, many motorists are up in arms over why they have to pay the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in Europe when the country is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter and a recent tax hike has done little to cool tempers.
“It is really strange: we have lots of oil and we’re a rich country. Why do we have to pay so much?” asks Per-Arne Skjerpingstad, a 38-year-old hospital porter as he fills up the tank of his Peugeot 307 at an Oslo gas station for 750 kroner (94 euros, 148 dollars).
Diesel costs 14.23 kroner (1.78 euros, 2.82 dollars) a litre (quarter gallon) and 95 unleaded 13.84 kroner, putting it at the top of the European league, EU figures show.
And while many countries are discussing how to soften the blow of skyrocketing oil prices on consumers, Norway on July 1 increased its already heavy tax take by 0.05 kroner per litre on petrol and 0.10 kroner (0.1 euro cent, 0.2 dollar cent) on diesel.
In oil-rich Norway, petrol prices most expensive in Europe – Yahoo! News.
The ‘eight don’t asks’ of the Olympics
July 22, 2008
Posters are appearing around Beijing guiding locals about how to interact with the (few) foreigners coming for the Summer Games.
The posters instruct residents on the “eight don’t asks” when chatting with foreign guests. Here’s a rough translation, courtesy of the Peaceful Rise blog:
Don’t ask about income or expenses, don’t ask about age, don’t ask about love life or marriage, don’t ask about health, don’t ask about someone’s home or address, don’t ask about personal experience, don’t ask about religious beliefs or political views, don’t ask what someone does.
With No Frills or Tuition, a College Draws Notice
July 22, 2008
BEREA, Ky. — Berea College, founded 150 years ago to educate freed slaves and “poor white mountaineers,” accepts only applicants from low-income families, and it charges no tuition.
“You can literally come to Berea with nothing but what you can carry, and graduate debt free,” said Joseph P. Bagnoli Jr., the associate provost for enrollment management. “We call it the best education money can’t buy.”
Actually, what buys that education is Berea’s $1.1 billion endowment, which puts the college among the nation’s wealthiest. But unlike most well-endowed colleges, Berea has no football team, coed dorms, hot tubs or climbing walls. Instead, it has a no-frills budget, with food from the college farm, handmade furniture from the college crafts workshops, and 10-hour-a-week campus jobs for every student.
Berea’s approach provides an unusual perspective on the growing debate over whether the wealthiest universities are doing enough for the public good to warrant their tax exemption, or simply hoarding money to serve an elite few. As many elite universities scramble to recruit more low-income students, Berea’s no-tuition model has attracted increasing attention.
With No Frills or Tuition, a College Draws Notice – NYTimes.com.
A mail server crash and unexpected fiber-optic line problems are the latest in a long string of hiccups that have soured the launch of Apple’s new MobileMe internet service and recently left some subscribers without email access for as many as five straight days.
Apple’s support forums are rife with complaints from affected users, many of which are just as frustrated with the company’s poor communication over the matter as they are with the service outage itself. Several also doubt an official assessment of the scope of the problem posted to the MobileMe support site, which states that only 1 percent of subscribers have lost access to their email.
“I know at least 10 people with MobileMe and all of them have not had access to MobileMe mail since last Thursday or Friday, including me,” one subscriber told AppleInsider. “Now either it’s just a coincidence that everyone I know is in the 1 percent, or Apple is flat out lying.”
AppleInsider | Server, connectivity problems add to Apple’s MobileMe woes.
Tsk tsk. I briefly mentioned a little problem Apple was having with MobileMe web apps when they launched it last week. That was fine because users, myself included, were able to access email, calendar and contacts through other means (desktop, iPhone, etc). However, this recent issue is something else. Fortunately, I am not included in the “1%” but I know at least one person who is. Five days without email access is unacceptable!! Some use this service for business purposes. At $100/year, you would think Apple would at least have a backup server.
Woman Says She Sat In Urine-Soaked Airplane Seat
July 21, 2008
WINCHENDON, Mass. — A Winchendon woman said an airline did not help her after she sat in a urine-soaked seat on a West Palm Beach, Fla., to Boston flight on Sunday night.
“I was sitting maybe 30 seconds to minute and realized that my pants were soaked,” Jennifer Castellano said.
Castellano said she went to the lavatory to check her jeans and long sweater.
“I then realized I was saturated in urine from the smell,” she said.
Castellano said a flight attendant told her someone had gone to the bathroom in the seat during the previous flight.
“A flight attendant told me that on the previous flight a man had urinated on himself in that particular seat. And I said, ‘I’m not sitting on a three hours flight soaked in someone else’s urine. That is absolutely disgusting,’” Castellano said.
Woman Says She Sat In Urine-Soaked Airplane Seat – Boston News Story – WCVB Boston.
I would be ‘pissed’ too.
McCain ad blames Obama for rising gas prices
July 21, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain is launching a new television ad that blames Democratic rival Barack Obama for rising gasoline prices.
The ad, airing on national cable and in 11 battleground states, argues that the cost of fuel is rising because of opposition to oil drilling in the United States.
The announcer in the ad says, “Gas prices – $4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America. No to independence from foreign oil. Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?”
A photograph of Obama appears on the stage as a voiceover of a crowd chants: “Obama, Obama, Obama!”
McCain ad blames Obama for rising gas prices – Jul. 21, 2008.
You gotta be effing kidding me?!
Roche makes $43.7bn Genentech bid
July 20, 2008
Swiss drugs firm Roche has offered to buy all outstanding shares in its US partner Genentech for $43.7bn(£22bn).
Roche – which makes the antiviral drug Tamiflu – acquired a majority stake in Genentech in 1990 and currently owns 55.9% of all outstanding shares.
It has offered $89 per share to buy up the remaining stake, a 8.8% premium to Genentech’s Friday closing share price.
BBC NEWS | Business | Roche makes $43.7bn Genentech bid.
I wish I had held onto my Genentech stocks from January!
best of craigslist : Ask a silly question
July 20, 2008
I have 2 dogs & I was buying a large bag of Pal at Big W and standing inline at the check out.
A woman behind me asked if I had a dog.
On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Pal Diet again although I probably shouldn’t because I’d ended up in the hospital last time, but that I’d lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV’s in both arms.
I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Pal nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.
I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her.
Horrified, she asked if I’d ended up in the hospital in that condition because I had been poisoned. I told her no; it was because I’d been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me.
I thought one guy was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard as he staggered out the door.
Stupid b*tch…why else would I buy dog food??
Oxytocin: The Asocial Cure?
July 20, 2008
For centuries artists have tried to capture the essence of love, and now scientists may have found it in the brain. Known as oxytocin (from the Latin word for “quick birth”), the naturally occurring hormone is best known for controlling contractions during labor, but it also plays a key role in other fundamental human urges — including the desire to connect with others. “Somehow, the peptide increases trust, or alters the way individuals see each other,” says Tom Insel, director of the National Institute for Mental Health.
Without oxytocin people would be far less inclined to seek social interaction, let alone fall in love and mate for life (or, as scientists call it, “pair bond”). The brain releases gobs of it during orgasm, mothers are awash in it during breastfeeding and, in clinical trials, a spritz of oxytocin has been shown to reduce anxiety, increase feelings of generosity and even ease the symptoms of shyness. Conversely, researchers are beginning to discover that low levels of the hormone — or the body’s faulty response to it — may contribute to severe social dysfunctions like depression and autism.
Smaller PCs Cause Worry for Industry
July 20, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The personal computer industry is poised to sell tens of millions of small, energy-efficient Internet-centric devices. Curiously, some of the biggest companies in the business consider this bad news.
In a tale of sales success breeding resentment, computer companies are wary of the new breed of computers because their low price could threaten PC makers’ already thin profit margins.
The new computers, often called netbooks, have scant onboard memory. They use energy-sipping computer chips. They are intended largely for surfing Web sites and checking e-mail. The price is small too, with some selling for as little as $300.
Smaller PCs Cause Worry for Industry – NYTimes.com.
I don’t understand how this is at all bad for Intel (or Microsoft). Intel’s highly anticipated Atom processor, which just started shipping recently, is powering most of these netbooks. Either that, or it’s Celeron chip (a win-win either way). It isn’t surprising that Intel’s stock (INTC) has performed quite well recently. It was one of the few tech stocks not in the red during Friday’s tech selloff and up +7% for the week (hint, hint). Furthermore, most use these netbooks as a second laptop. If anything, it is adding to Intel’s revenue. In the same vain, it allows Microsoft to sell more Windows licenses.
Related: The Mini-Laptop Changing the Game (the more likely scenario).
For eight years, Arnold Kim has been trading gossip, rumor and facts about Apple, the notoriously secretive computer company, on his Web site, MacRumors.com.
Arnold Kim, founder and senior editor of MacRumors.com.
It had been a hobby — albeit a time-consuming one — while Dr. Kim earned his medical degree. He kept at it as he completed his medical training and began diagnosing patients’ kidney problems. Dr. Kim’s Web site now attracts more than 4.4 million people and 40 million page views a month, according to Quantcast, making it one of the most popular technology Web sites.
It is enough to make Dr. Kim hang up his stethoscope. This month he stopped practicing medicine and started blogging full time.
My Son, the Blogger – An M.D. Trades Medicine for Apple Rumors – NYTimes.com.
Hey, it’s arn from MacRumors! I had no idea he was an MD. I just assumed it was his full time job. How the heck did he manage med school and the blog at the same time?! It seems like he’s constantly updating the front page (and he’s always in the forums).
BEIJING — London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower , San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge and now Beijing has an iconic structure that’s likely to identify the city forever.
It’s an audacious monolith that looks like two drunken high-rise towers leaning over and holding each other up at the shoulders.
The eye-catching building, which is nearly finished, will be the headquarters of China Central Television, the staid propaganda arm of China’s ruling Communist Party , and it’s perhaps the boldest and most daring of several new buildings that have given Beijing a stunning new appearance for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games.
In keeping with the playful nature of the new buildings, all have weird popular names. There’s “the egg” and the “bird’s nest.” The “water cube” isn’t far away, and lastly there’s “short pants,” also known as the “twisted doughnut.”
The last of them is the new television building, the CCTV headquarters, and it can nearly make one dizzy standing on the ground and looking up at its odd, teetering 49-story towers connected by a multistory, cantilevered, jagged cross section over open space at a vertiginous 36 stories up in the air.
Thanks to Olympics, Beijing gets its Eiffel Tower, of sorts – Yahoo! News.
iPhone 3G, the day after (playing with 3G and GPS)
July 19, 2008
The biggest selling point of the new iPhone is its 3G capabilities so I thought I’d run it through its paces to see just how fast it really is. In short, it was well above my expectations!
The left is 3G and the right is my home Wifi connection (you can also tell by the icon next to the carrier’s name).
I had to run some errands in the morning and thought I’d test out the GPS! This is me in the parking lot.
More details after the jump.
Zimbabwe introduces Z$100bn note
July 19, 2008
Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth Z$100bn in response to rampant inflation – but the note will barely cover the cost of a loaf of bread.
Some Zimbabweans are already calling for higher denominations in a country where the official annual inflation rate has exceeded 2,200,000%.
Independent economists believe the real rate is many times higher.
Zimbabwe’s meltdown has left at least 80% of the population in poverty, facing mass shortages of basic goods.
The country’s central bank has introduced several new notes already this year in response to the hyperinflation.
In January, a Z$10 million note was issued, followed by a Z$50 million. By June the denominations had reached tens of billions.
How your behaviour can change your children’s DNA
July 19, 2008
For Beatrix Zwart being young means having fun. She works hard, and out of hours she plays hard — including plenty of nights on the town with her friends.
“I lead a similar lifestyle to a lot of young professionals in Britain and I don’t intend to have any children until I’m well into my thirties,” said Zwart, a 25-year-old Belgian who lives in London.
“I’ve never really thought my lifestyle now could have any effect on my future children or grandchildren.”
Until recently that would also have been the opinion of most scientists. Genes, it was thought, were highly resilient. Even if people did wreck their own DNA through bad diet, smoking and getting fat, that damage was unlikely to be passed to future generations.
Now, however, those assumptions are being re-examined. At the heart of this revolution is a simple but controversial idea: that DNA can be modified or imprinted with the experiences of your parents and grandparents.
How your behaviour can change your children’s DNA – Times Online .
We were just talking about epigenetics on my molecular genetics class. Does this imply that if someone were to have a child, say at the age of 16, and another at the age of 40, that these children would inherent different genes (assuming everything else is the same)?
