Mainstream News

Google to challenge telecoms with fleet of solar-powered balloons

"In recent months, Google Inc has announced plans to bring free wireless Internet access to 7,000 Starbucks cafes across America, eventually displacing AT&T Inc; it has asked U.S. regulators for broader access to wireless airwaves; and it has launched 30 solar-powered balloons over the South Pacific ocean, designed to beam the Internet to remote regions. Then there is Google Fiber, the high-speed cable TV and Internet service that was introduced in Kansas City late last year and that will be expanded soon to Austin and Provo, Utah. Fiber delivers Internet speeds at 1 gigabit per second, as much as 100 times faster than the average U.S. network." Continue reading →

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Brewer says his just-add-water beer mix tastes ‘just as good’ as the original

"Enjoying the great outdoors has spawned an entire market catering for campers who want to enjoy a hearty meal without overloading their rucksack. Camping shops now sell a whole range of dried, lightweight foods - from all day breakfasts to chicken tikka masalas. But now a new - and some might say revolutionary - addition to their food shelf has been added: Dried beer. A U.S. brewer has managed to create a concentrate that simply requires water being added and carbonated shortly before it is drunk. Pat's Backcountry Beverages has managed to create a near waterless formulation that claims to offer all the taste, aroma and alcohol of the traditional beverage." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrewer says his just-add-water beer mix tastes ‘just as good’ as the original

These 12 technologies will drive our economic future

"Most of the writing you see about the economy speaks to narrow questions: What will growth be this year? When will the unemployment rate get back to normal? And so on. But the things that will determine standards of living a generation from now have almost nothing to do with this month’s jobs report or the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting. Those determinants, instead, depend on companies’ innovations — in particular, whether those innovations turn out to have major economic consequences. Researchers at the McKinsey Global Institute have a new study in which they have taken their best shot at predicting exactly that." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThese 12 technologies will drive our economic future

Thanks, IPhone: Demise of the Desk Phone Means No End to the Workday

"Silicon Valley companies big and small are pulling the plug on desk phones in favor of mobile devices. While consumers have been cutting the cord for years, businesses are joining the trend at an accelerating rate thanks to the increasing capabilities of mobile devices, which make it easier for workers to be productive and stay connected from any location at all hours. Demand for business land lines is plunging, cutting into revenue at phone-equipment makers. It also steps up pressure on service providers such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. to get more revenue from wireless sales and lessen their reliance on operations that are dwindling." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThanks, IPhone: Demise of the Desk Phone Means No End to the Workday

Why Are So Many College Graduates Driving Taxis?

"In 1970, only 1 in 100 taxi drivers and chauffeurs in the U.S. had a college degree, according to an analysis of labor statistics by Ohio University’s Richard Vedder, Christopher Denhart and Jonathan Robe. Today, 15 of 100 do. Similarly, in 1970, only about 2 percent of firefighters had a college degree, compared with more than 15 percent now, Vedder and his colleagues found. And, according to research by economists Paul Harrington and Andrew Sum of Northeastern University, about 1 in 4 bartenders has some sort of degree." Continue reading →

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Unemployed Spaniards rush to play slaves in Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’ film

"Thousands of Spaniards in the depressed southern region of Andalusia are queueing up to play the role of slaves in film-maker Ridley Scott’s Biblical epic 'Exodus', hoping for a way out of unemployment. In a region with unemployment at 35 percent, the prospect of work as an extra with a daily wage of 80 euros ($107) has sparked a rush in Almeria where casting is being held for the story of Moses and the Jewish exodus to the promised land. Some 10,000 people turned up at a casting call in the city of Almeria, and another 5,000 in the nearby town of Pechina, one of the casting organisers said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnemployed Spaniards rush to play slaves in Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’ film

Greek teen’s death after argument with bus ticket inspector sparks anti-austerity protests

"The incident quickly touched a nerve in Greece, where the government is using increasingly tough methods to collect revenue under pressure from its international lenders to fix its finances. About 300 people, among them anti-bailout groups, marched to the cemetery where Kanaoutis’s funeral was held on Friday evening. After the service, dozens of youths pelted riot police with stones near the spot where he died. Protesters smashed the windows of a bus in the area and scrawled 'Murderers' in red paint on the windshield. 'Kanaoutis died because he didn’t have a ticket worth 1.20 euros ($1.59),' said the main opposition Syriza party in a statement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreek teen’s death after argument with bus ticket inspector sparks anti-austerity protests

Doctors Without Borders closes all operations in Somalia after 22 years

"Somalia’s embattled government, selected in November in a UN-backed process, was hailed at the time by the international community as offering the best chance for peace in Somalia since the collapse of central government in 1991. A 17,700-strong African Union force fighting alongside the national army has forced Shebab fighters from a string of towns in the past two years. But Somalia’s often rag-tag security forces, incorporating multiple militia forces into its ranks, has also been repeatedly accused by rights groups of a string of abuses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoctors Without Borders closes all operations in Somalia after 22 years

Muslim Brotherhood pushes for more protests after bloody ‘Day of Rage’

"The Muslim Brotherhood defiantly called for a week of protests across Egypt starting on Saturday, a day after more than 100 people died in clashes between Islamists and the security forces. Undeterred by the bloodshed in which about 700 have been killed since Wednesday, the Brotherhood urged its supporters back onto the streets to denounce the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and a crackdown on his followers. Saudi Arabia threw its weight behind the army-backed government on Friday, accusing its old foe the Muslim Brotherhood of trying to destabilize Egypt. The Coptic Church authority 'strongly supports the Egyptian police and armed forces'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMuslim Brotherhood pushes for more protests after bloody ‘Day of Rage’

Four suspected Egyptian militants killed in first confirmed Israeli drone strike

"Although reports of Israeli drone use over Sinai have surfaced in the past, this is the first to come with official acknowledgement. In a statement on its website, the jihadist Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group confirmed that its militants had been the target of the Friday strike. It listed the name of four fighters who had been killed. Security officials said that the attack had taken place with the consent of the Egyptian authorities, Reuters and the Associated Press reported. If true, this level of cooperation would be a departure from that experienced under the rule of President Mohamed Morsi, ousted during a military takeover last month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFour suspected Egyptian militants killed in first confirmed Israeli drone strike