The “restored” version of A Moveable Feast goes right up there with “New Coke” as a bad conception.
Posts Tagged ‘Idaho’
Frank Naif: Congressional investigations of CIA move ahead, Republicans flipflop to score political points
July 23rd, 2009 |
No Comments
In the wake of revelations that CIA had failed to disclose to Congress a planned terrorist assassination program for seven years, House Intelligence Committee Chairman…
Four US troops die in Afghanistan
July 20th, 2009 |
No Comments
Four US soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, the Nato-led international force says.
US military spokesman Lt Robert Carr confirmed the four were American soldiers. No further details were released about the deaths.
More foreign troops have been killed in July than in any other month since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
The spike in violence comes ahead of presidential and provincial council elections on 20 August.
Meanwhile, the family of a US soldier held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan say they have been "overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and concern" they have received.
Pte Bowe Bergdahl, who went missing from his base in a Taliban stronghold near the Pakistani border last month, was shown in a Taliban video on Sunday.
In the video, he said US troops are suffering from low morale and should be brought home "where we belong".
The 23-year-old from Ketchum, Idaho, is believed to be the first soldier seized in either Iraq or Afghanistan for at least two years.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Bowe Bergdahl: Soldier Captured In Afghanistan Identified As 23-Year-Old Idahoan
July 19th, 2009 |
No Comments
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Sunday confirmed that an American soldier who went missing from his base in Afghanistan has been captured and identified him as a private from Idaho serving with an Alaska-based infantry regiment.
The Defens…
Teen spirit
July 14th, 2009 |
No Comments
A report by a 15-year-old work experience student at an investment banking firm, about teenagers and the media, says young people don’t listen to the radio, go to the cinema or use Twitter. But are there other teenage habits that might come as a surprise
When Matthew Robson, on work experience from his London school at US bank Morgan Stanley, was asked to describe his friends’ media habits, he had little idea the impact his answers would have.
His report has been the talk of web bosses and media analysts, and even caused a ripple at a conference in Idaho, US, attended by some of the world’s leading figures in new media.
Although some of his findings were predictable – it was already well known that teenagers don’t like to pay for music – he also said that teenagers find it hard to make time for television, don’t like Twitter or traditional radio, and rarely go to the cinema.
But beyond the world of new media, what else do teenagers do Thirteen-year-old Scott Campbell, who lives in Aberdeenshire, gives his view.
ENVIRONMENT
Contrary to popular belief, the majority of teens are not particularly worried about the environment. There is a small minority of youngsters who are active in attempting to help the environment, but with homework, school, friendships and often a job, teens often do not have time to help the environment. Teens may also see that the gradually-worsening environment can have benefits (global warming brings warmer weather) at this current time, but often do not consider the future risks of not attempting to save it.
NEWSPAPERS
Teenagers have never been avid newspaper buyers. Today’s young teens think the act of parting with up to £1 for the very same words that can been read absolutely free on a newspaper website, borders on the perverse. Why pay for something that’s free And the "old media" is not as interesting to teens as it used to be, as it is often late with coverage of important events. For example, the death of Michael Jackson was on the web within minutes, whereas it was only in the newspapers the next morning. This does not mean there is a lack of teen intellect, it instead means that the majority of teenagers are utilising the new forms of media. Teens will often read free papers such as the Metro, which also include celebrity gossip and shocking stories and are more interesting than stories about the economy or swine flu.
VIDEO NEWS
A large percentage of teens prefer to get their news from popular YouTube stars, such as Philip DeFranco (general, odd news) and Michael Buckley (entertainment news), as it is presented in a more human, conversational format. YouTube is incredibly interactive; comments can be left and the presenter can be messaged; teens do not like a one-way conduit of information. It also takes out the inconvenience of having to trawl through news sources to try and find interesting stories, as news sources are often "polluted" with uninteresting news, for example, about the credit crunch or the expenses scandal. Human interest stories which either humiliate the subject or are particularly unusual are mostly preferred.
COMPUTER GAMES
While adults may think that computer games turn teens into gangsters, murderers and thugs (in a werewolf-like transformation), they do not. Teens play games to take on the role of the character that they are playing, and to try out the situations virtually. While games may provide the player to carry out acts which would be considered to be crimes, most games still provide the player with consequences to their actions, such as being arrested, and having weapons confiscated (in game, of course). The gamer will often begin to think morally about the situations when they take on the mantle of a particular character. Furthermore, many games present teens with a positive influence, such as Guitar Hero, which I don’t doubt has encouraged many teenagers to take up the guitar.
LAZINESS
The wide belief that teenagers are "lazy" and like to sleep in is not true. A large number of teens play sport, which regularly requires very early mornings. As well as this, most teenagers have to wake up earlier than the average adult worker to get to school on time. Also, a large amount of homework is set by multiple subject teachers, meaning that teens will have to stay up extra late to accommodate the extra tasks. Over the week (and at weekends if sport is involved) a large lack of sleep will make most people want to have a long lie.
Scott Campbell co-edits his own news website,Net News Dailyand wroteGiving up my iPod for a Walkman for the Magazine.
Add your comments on this story, using the form below.
<p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Twitter not for teenagers, says intern
July 13th, 2009 |
No Comments
Report on young people’s media habits written for investment bank by teenage intern causes huge interest in the City
A research note written by a 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern that described his friends’ media habits has generated a flurry of interest from media executives and investors.
The US investment bank’s European media analysts asked Matthew Robson, an intern from a London school, to write a report on teenagers’ likes and dislikes, which made the Financial Times’ front page today.
His report, that dismissed Twitter and described online advertising as pointless, proved to be “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen – so we published it”, said Edward Hill-Wood, executive director of Morgan Stanley’s European media team.
“We’ve had dozens and dozens of fund managers, and several CEOs, e-mailing and calling all day.” He said the note had generated five or six times more responses than the team’s usual research.
His colleague, Julien Rossi, added: “It’s an interesting starting point for debate.”
The rapid surge of interest in social networking and messaging sites has prompted speculation that sites such as Twitter or Facebook could be taken over. But Robson’s report, which was sent to Morgan Stanley’s clients as a research note last Friday, suggested that such a move could be folly. He said teenagers were using more and more media, but they were unwilling to pay for it.
“Teenagers do not use Twitter,” he wrote. “Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they realise that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting Twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). They realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their tweets are pointless.”
He warned that traditional media – television, radio and newspapers – are losing ground.
No teenager Robson knew reads a newspaper regularly since most “cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV”. The only newspapers that are read are the cheaper tabloids and freesheets.
His peers are also put off by intrusive advertising so they prefer listening to advert-free music on websites such as Last.fm to traditional radio. Teens see adverts on websites – pop ups, banner ads – as “extremely annoying and pointless,” Robson said. However, “most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing, as often it creates humorous and interesting content”.
He stressed that his peers were “very reluctant” to pay for music and most had never bought a CD, with a large majority downloading songs illegally from filesharing sites.
Money and time are instead devoted to cinema, concerts and video game consoles. Downloading films off the internet is not popular as the films are usually bad quality and have to be watched on a small computer screen and there is a risk of viruses, Robson said.
Game consoles like Wii, which are now able to connect to the internet and offer free voice chat between users, have emerged as a more popular choice for chatting with friends than the phone.
His report came as media moguls gathered at the Allen & Co conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. This annual event is a chance for the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to discuss the latest business and technology issues in a relaxed atmosphere.
When interviewed at the event, Murdoch appeared to rule out making a bid for the micro-blogging site Twitter. Asked if he was considering buying Twitter, Murdoch said, “No.” Asked about selling MySpace, he replied, “Hell no.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Broke California poised to shut parks
July 13th, 2009 |
No Comments
• Public may lose access to 80% of nature reserves
• State’s plan digs deeper financial hole, say critics
It is hard to envisage a no-entry sign tagged to a towering redwood tree. But the recession – writ on an epic scale in California’s proposal to close 220 state parks – is forcing the American public to confront the closure of the great outdoors.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, is trying to make up a $26bn (£16bn) budget shortfall, and has suggested that California can no longer afford to run its parks.
Conservationists are meanwhile arguing that California cannot afford not to. And this week the federal government appeared to partly agree, with the National Parks Service threatening to seize some of the sites if Schwarzenegger goes ahead with the closures.
The proposed shutdown of the parks would affect 80% of California’s nature reserves, historic sites and recreation areas, and restrict access to 30% of the state’s coastline. Affected areas would stretch from the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas to the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur, and to the deserts of San Diego, where some of the last peninsular bighorn sheep roam.
California is not alone. The crisis has also exposed hitherto hidden casualties of the economic downturn, with states from Oregon to Illinois, and New York to Tennessee, struggling to stretch resources.
Other states have proposed budgets that would put closed signs on parks and historic sites, though none so far has adopted measures as extreme as those being put forward in California.
Pennsylvania presented a budget proposal last month that would shut 35 of its 117 state parks. Several states have been forced to scale back opening hours and services, and dismiss rangers, faced with cuts to budgets – ranging from 39% in Georgia to 57% in Idaho.
The federal government does not have the resources to save more than a handful of California’s parks, let alone all of those across the US. Nonetheless, the National Parks Service issued a letter warning Schwarzenegger that it would use protection clauses under the original land deeds to the states, so as to take control of six parks in the San Francisco area, the dunes around the Big Sur and elsewhere.
“We really are just looking for ways we can keep those places open,” said David Siegenthaler, the National Parks Service’s manager for the state of California. “In these economic times it is probably even more important that people have access to good places.”
Conservationists believe parks can withstand a year or so of closure without lasting harm. But fewer ranger stations will mean increased risk of vandalism, and less maintenance will lead to environmental degradation.
“If it is a year or two I don’t think the damage will be a long lasting situation,” said Philip McKnelly, director of the National Association of State Park Directors. “But ultimately it is going to show as damage to resources.”
A survey of state park directors in mid-May suggested most states had cut spending on parks by 15% in their 2008 budgets, and were considering steeper cuts in the next fiscal year, which started on 1 July for many. In California, the loss will be immediate, conservationists say, putting some of the state’s most visited sites off-limits.
Critics also fear the closures could be irreversible. “Once those places are closed it becomes very difficult to re-open them,” said Traci Verardo Torres, of the California State Parks Foundation, which is protesting against the proposal.
The impact would be felt from the northern limits of the Sierra Nevada mountains — with the proposed shutdown of a park in memory of the doomed members of the Donner party, stranded travellers who resorted to cannibalism during the winter snows — to the deserts south of San DiegoSchwarzenegger’s proposal forces the closure of the only camp grounds inside the giant redwood forests to the north, and it blocks access to Lake Tahoe, though the site is shared by California with Nevada. “All of the parks in Lake Tahoe are proposed for closure,” said Verardo Torres. “If [they] close there would not be a way legally for the public to access the lakes.”
The order would also shutter urban tourist attractions such as San Francisco’s Angel Island — the Ellis Island of America’s Pacific Coast, where the barracks where Chinese migrants were quarantined are preserved. It is not immediately clear, in any case, how California will put vast tracts of land off-limits. “They would have to fence it and guard it to keep people out, and the effort they would have to extend to keep people out would cost just as much to run the park,” said Siegenthaler.
California could be digging itself into a yet deeper financial hole by its actions, some say. Many of the parks are a source of revenue for state and local communities. “Each visitor to a state park is worth $57 per visit. The parks have generated millions throughout California,” said Tim Gibbs, programme manager at the National Parks Conservation Association. “It’s almost as if they are shooting themselves in the foot.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Broke California poised to shut parks
July 13th, 2009 |
No Comments
• Public may lose access to 80% of nature reserves
• State’s plan digs deeper financial hole, say critics
It is hard to envisage a no-entry sign tagged to a towering redwood tree. But the recession – writ on an epic scale in California’s proposal to close 220 state parks – is forcing the American public to confront the closure of the great outdoors.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, is trying to make up a $26bn (£16bn) budget shortfall, and has suggested that California can no longer afford to run its parks.
Conservationists are meanwhile arguing that California cannot afford not to. And this week the federal government appeared to partly agree, with the National Parks Service threatening to seize some of the sites if Schwarzenegger goes ahead with the closures.
The proposed shutdown of the parks would affect 80% of California’s nature reserves, historic sites and recreation areas, and restrict access to 30% of the state’s coastline. Affected areas would stretch from the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas to the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur, and to the deserts of San Diego, where some of the last peninsular bighorn sheep roam.
California is not alone. The crisis has also exposed hitherto hidden casualties of the economic downturn, with states from Oregon to Illinois, and New York to Tennessee, struggling to stretch resources.
Other states have proposed budgets that would put closed signs on parks and historic sites, though none so far has adopted measures as extreme as those being put forward in California.
Pennsylvania presented a budget proposal last month that would shut 35 of its 117 state parks. Several states have been forced to scale back opening hours and services, and dismiss rangers, faced with cuts to budgets – ranging from 39% in Georgia to 57% in Idaho.
The federal government does not have the resources to save more than a handful of California’s parks, let alone all of those across the US. Nonetheless, the National Parks Service issued a letter warning Schwarzenegger that it would use protection clauses under the original land deeds to the states, so as to take control of six parks in the San Francisco area, the dunes around the Big Sur and elsewhere.
“We really are just looking for ways we can keep those places open,” said David Siegenthaler, the National Parks Service’s manager for the state of California. “In these economic times it is probably even more important that people have access to good places.”
Conservationists believe parks can withstand a year or so of closure without lasting harm. But fewer ranger stations will mean increased risk of vandalism, and less maintenance will lead to environmental degradation.
“If it is a year or two I don’t think the damage will be a long lasting situation,” said Philip McKnelly, director of the National Association of State Park Directors. “But ultimately it is going to show as damage to resources.”
A survey of state park directors in mid-May suggested most states had cut spending on parks by 15% in their 2008 budgets, and were considering steeper cuts in the next fiscal year, which started on 1 July for many. In California, the loss will be immediate, conservationists say, putting some of the state’s most visited sites off-limits.
Critics also fear the closures could be irreversible. “Once those places are closed it becomes very difficult to re-open them,” said Traci Verardo Torres, of the California State Parks Foundation, which is protesting against the proposal.
The impact would be felt from the northern limits of the Sierra Nevada mountains — with the proposed shutdown of a park in memory of the doomed members of the Donner party, stranded travellers who resorted to cannibalism during the winter snows — to the deserts south of San DiegoSchwarzenegger’s proposal forces the closure of the only camp grounds inside the giant redwood forests to the north, and it blocks access to Lake Tahoe, though the site is shared by California with Nevada. “All of the parks in Lake Tahoe are proposed for closure,” said Verardo Torres. “If [they] close there would not be a way legally for the public to access the lakes.”
The order would also shutter urban tourist attractions such as San Francisco’s Angel Island — the Ellis Island of America’s Pacific Coast, where the barracks where Chinese migrants were quarantined are preserved. It is not immediately clear, in any case, how California will put vast tracts of land off-limits. “They would have to fence it and guard it to keep people out, and the effort they would have to extend to keep people out would cost just as much to run the park,” said Siegenthaler.
California could be digging itself into a yet deeper financial hole by its actions, some say. Many of the parks are a source of revenue for state and local communities. “Each visitor to a state park is worth $57 per visit. The parks have generated millions throughout California,” said Tim Gibbs, programme manager at the National Parks Conservation Association. “It’s almost as if they are shooting themselves in the foot.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
HP, Acer Developing Google Chrome OS Netbooks, Schmidt Says
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
HP and Acer netbooks running Googles new Chrome OS could be available as soon as this year, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt announced at the annual Allen Co. conference. Chrome OS may give Schmidt reason to leave Apples board, but he declined to acknowledge Microsoft as a competitor.
– Netbooks running Chrome OS, Googles newly announced operating system, may
be available later this year, according to a report from Reuters, which
quoted Google chief executive Eric Schmidt at the Allen amp; Co. media and
technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho,
on July 9.
“Everybody wev…
Schmidt to address Apple concerns
July 10th, 2009 |
No Comments
Google boss Eric Schmidt says he will have to discuss his role as director of Silicon Valley rival Apple in the wake of his company’s decision to launch its own computer operating system.
Schmidt, who has been on the board of Apple since 2006, said he would be talking to Steve Jobs and others after some critics voiced concerns over a possible conflict of interest.
“I’ll talk to the Apple people,” he told reporters on Thursday. “At the moment, there’s no issue.”
Google said on Tuesday that it was planning to launch a new operating system next year, called Google Chrome OS. News of the system – which will be aimed at the users of small laptop computers – created enormous buzz, as the clearest signal yet that Google intends to directly challenge Microsoft’s Windows and its continuing dominance of the computer industry.
However the announcement – which was possibly timed to spoil a similar announcement due next week from Microsoft – also meant that Google is more directly competing with Apple, which makes its own operating system.
Schmidt’s role at the trendy maker of the iPod and iPhone has already been under fire for the two company’s interests in mobile phone systems and web browsers, and the Google chief executive recuses himself from the discussion of Apple’s iPhone during board meetings to avoid conflicts.
Despite scrutiny from US regulators over so-called “interlocking directorships” – who are concerned that the link could promote collusion, Schmidt has said in the past that he had never considered quitting his board role.
His latest comments came at the Sun Valley conference in Idaho, where an exclusive guest list of the world’s most powerful media executives are gathered for a retreat. Earlier in the day he had enjoyed lunch with Bill Gates, despite their rivalry, though it is believed the two did not discuss recent events.
This year, alongside moguls including Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller and Warren Buffett, the event is also playing host to senior technology industry figures – including Schmidt, Gates, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The Sun Valley conference, organised by investment bank Allen & Co, famously acts as a relaxed retreat where the press are barred and powerful media executives can talk business while engaging in activities such as biking, hiking and playing golf.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds