| College coders working with IBM's Project Zero
Students at North Carolina State University are learning to build business applications in the Web 2.0 mold using an IBM incubator project called Project Zero. Announced last year, Project Zero is a programming framework for rapidly building Web applications. Its pieces include a scripting runtime for Groovy and PHP (hypertext preprocessor), two hot dynamic languages, along with APIs (application programming interfaces) for creating REST (representational state transfer) Web services, user interfaces and mashups, according to IBM. It is available as a plug-in for the Eclipse integrated development environment, as well as in a version for developers who prefer to work from the command line. .
USDA extends ban on slaughterhouse USDA extends ban on slaughterhouse
CHINO Federal officials extended a ban on use of meat from a Chino slaughterhouse shut down this week for allegedly mistreating cattle, and said the facility had been previously cited for using electric prods on animals. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture told reporters Friday that problems documented in a 2005 "noncompliance record" appeared to have been corrected until a tape released by the Humane Society last week showed new abuses of cattle at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. The 2005 audit found too much electric prodding of cattle and other violations of federal humane slaughter policies at the Westland plant in Chino. The findings prompted a notification to the plant seeking corrective action. By May 2007 another review by the same auditor found the concerns had been "significantly corrected," said Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator at the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Gone but not forgotten
Presiding bishop of million-member Church of God in Christ. March 20. Robert E. Petersen, 80. Publisher whose Hot Rod, Motor Trend magazines helped shape car culture. March 23. APRIL: William Becker, 85. Co-founded the Motel 6 chain. April 2. Eddie Robinson, 88. Longtime Grambling coach; transformed small college into a football power. April 3. Johnny Hart, 76. Cartoonist whose "B.C." showed the Stone Age's humorous side. April 7. Kurt Vonnegut, 84. Novelist who captured the absurdity of the world in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five." April 11. Don Ho, 76. Hawaiian crooner ("Tiny Bubbles"); entertained tourists. April 14. Kitty Carlisle Hart, 96. Singer-actress; long career spanned Broadway, opera, television and film ("A Night at the Opera.") April 17.
Warren Jeffs Set to Enter Plea in Ariz.
KINGMAN, Ariz. - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has already been sentenced in Utah to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison. Now Arizona prosecutors get their shot at the Mormon fundamentalist.
Jeffs was scheduled to make his first court appearance in Arizona on Wednesday, where his lawyer says he'll plead not guilty to sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls to older men.
Arizona prosecutors filed charges against Jeffs even before he faced charges in Utah, where he was convicted last year of rape as an accomplice in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.
.
Tattle: Too hot for tunnel vision
IT'S ONE THING when a new Calvin Klein underwear ad in Times Square gets the decency folks riled up, but the London subway system has a bigger problem than Klein, Abercrombie or Victoria's Secret. Lucas Cranach the Elder. London's transport authority has refused to display a poster featuring Cranach's "Venus," saying it is overtly sexual. "Venus" was painted in 1532. But she's still hot. In London, it seems, 470 is the new 30. The painting, which depicts a golden-haired, milky-skinned woman cocking her hips behind a transparent veil, is one of 70 works due to go on display at London's Royal Academy of Arts on March 8. But Transport for London refused to display a poster of the work unless the bottom half was cropped out, the academy said. Cranach, after all, was the Seymour Butts of his time.
Distance Ed’s New Market — in Spanish
An online master's program in teaching Spanish for non-Spanish speakers at the Universidad de León, in Spain seemed to fit the bill. One of about 25 master's, 60 continuing education and two Ph.D. programs offered through a decade-old, Barcelona-based international alliance that set up shop in the United States in February, the program offered the dose of global vision Pol was seeking. “This is a new, evolving field. This program specifically gives you a global perspective," Pol said. For instance, he said, like in the United States, where Spanish instructors combat the influence of “Spanglish" on more formal study of the language, in Uruguay, teachers have to deal with “Portuñol," a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish. “I never would have known that unless I spoke with a teacher that is based out of Uruguay." “They're in my class.
SFGate: Daily Dish
The "Laguna Beach" regular had been due to start a 60-day jail sentence for a September 2006 assault case last week, but a Los Angeles judge has delayed that to allow Wahler to go to rehab. An unnamed relative tells People.com, "Jason's in rehab, and he's getting help. He's doing well, and he's going to be a new man. "There was a deal made (with prosecutors)." Wahler is in more trouble after reportedly hurling racial and homophobic abuse at police when he was arrested for punching a hotel security guard in Seattle last month. Los Angeles City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says, "His jail sentence has been suspended for now. But we'll be informing the court of Wahler's latest arrest in Seattle at his next progress report hearing on June 8." The Seattle arrest was Wahler's fourth run-in with the law in nine months, after being accused of beating up a truck driver in Los Angeles in March.
Avistar Adds Desktop Videoconferencing to IBM Lotus Sametime for ...
SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avistar Communications Corporation , has announced that Colgate-Palmolive Company, a multinational consumer products company, will deploy its desktop videoconferencing technology integrated with Lotus Sametime. Beginning with an initial installation this month, Colgate-Palmolive's aim is to benefit from the most innovative and effective combination of collaboration tools available for the corporate environment. Colgate-Palmolive recognizes the value that Avistar desktop videoconferencing adds to unified communications, by improving communication, fostering collaboration, and reducing travel expenditures, with their associated carbon emissions.
.
Hillary’s Looming Electability Crisis
But unfortunately the 800 superdelegates, the party leaders, will decide the nomination, and the Democratic penchant for seizing defeat from the jaws of victory doesn't bode well. Maybe they will wake up and smell the coffee. We will see. It's too bad that tomorrow is so definitive because Obama is clearly on an upward trajectory while Hillary is sinking. But it may be too late for that to be reflected in the votes. My only hope is that the superdelegates aren't bound to their endorsements and can switch all the way up to the convention. That's IF Hillary doesn't get the grand total. The good news is that unlike the Republicans, the Democrats allot by vote distribution in each district, not winner-take-all. We live in interesting times. DaSparky, I've never held my nose and I'm not about to start now.
|
