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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad periodically send location information back to the company, according to new reports. The data is transmitted to a secure database that only it can access, Apple claims.

Bruce Sewell, an attorney for Apple, sent a letter to two US Representatives last year, discussing the company’s data collection techniques and policies. The thirteen-page letter states that location information is recorded and sent to Apple every twelve hours, but only if the user enables the device’s location settings.

Apple began building a location database of its own when it decided to stop using similar services offered by Google & SkyHook Wireless. Location data is used in social networking applications and call routing.

In a statement to the Associated Press, Democratic Massachusetts Representative Edward Markey said, “Apple needs to safeguard the personal location information of its users to ensure that an iPhone doesn’t become an iTrack.”

Such data collection is not unique to Apple. Google’s Android operating system uses similar technology to provide location-based services to its users. Google has said that it also uses the data collected to provide accurate traffic data through its “Maps” applications on both Apple and Android devices. However, the company declined to comment on the latest findings regarding its data collection.

Apple was also recently in the spotlight after it was discovered that the iPhone and iPad were retaining location data on the device itself. This information is collected in an unencrypted file and is not transmitted elsewhere. The data file reportedly contains a variety of information, including longitude and latitude, cell phone tower identification data, wireless hotspot identification, and timestamps.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Penske Automotive Group, Inc., an Ohio-based investment group and Telesto Ventures have indicated separately that they are interested in purchasing the Saturn auto brand from General Motors (GM).

According to The Wall Street Journal, Nissan-Renault is interested in purchasing Saturn. Bloomberg, however, indicated that Nissan-Renault may be a partner of Penske’s potential bid. If Penske acquired the brand, they would distribute Saturn vehicles and outsource the assembly.

GM revealed that the Saturn brand along with Saab and Hummer were up for sale when unveiling their restructuring plans to Congress for governmental loans. While the Pontiac brand was originally to be a niche brand, GM had changed their plans recently and decided to eliminate the brand.

Telesto Ventures is an investment group that includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC of Oklahoma City and several Saturn dealerships. Initially, Telesto will purchase Saturn branded cars from GM then act as a general retailer for foreign brands. Telesto is in talks with several foreign manufacturers.

The Ohio group includes many former senior auto company managers plus private financial backers, chemists and engineers who live in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Florida. This group plans to initially purchase cars from GM then purchase existing but closed plants due to automaker restructuring. Additionally, one of the partners indicated a willingness to accept some “legacy” cost in relation to the United Auto Workers. The Ohio group is also pursuing possible loans or other support from national and state governments.

GM is reviewing several offers for Saturn. GM has contracted with S.J. Girsky & Co. to advise them on the sale.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Yesterday, World Bank released its 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development. India was mentioned over 300 times in the report, many more times than more developed countries like Spain which was mentioned 48 times, New Zealand which was mentioned 15 times, and Canada which was mentioned 22 times.

The report mentions the importance of gender equality for national development as it ties into improve productivity, improved outcomes for the next generation, and more representative decision making. Across the board for India, improved gender equality on the local level led to improvements in sanitation, water supplies, irrigation, and schools.

Nationally, the report found that a woman’s income correlated positively with the number of years her children spent in school. There is no gender gap in male/female school attendance for the richest 20% of Indian families, but males outnumber females by a ratio of 5 to 1 for the poorest 20% of Indian families. Girls in the bottom 20% on average only finish Grade 1 while males finish Grade 6. By age 15, according to Young Lives, Indian parents from Andhra Pradesh prioritize family outcomes for their male children over their female ones.

Indian women earn $0.64 for every $1 earned by their male counterparts. They fare better proportionally than their female German counterparts who earn $0.62 and Georgia who earn $0.60. In the developing world, they lag behind Malawi where women earn $0.90 for every $1 earned by men, Egypt where women earn $0.82, and Benin and Mexico at $0.80. A fifth of married Indian women, including those with their own income, do not make decisions on household spending. The 18% average puts Indian female control of their earnings equal to their counterparts in Mozambique. India is between Nigeria at 14%, and Zambia and Rwanda at 20%.

Indian women are having fewer children. The report found that while it took 100 years for the average woman in the United States to go from having six children to having three, it took India only 35 years. Women still have high maternal mortality rates, especially when compared to neighboring Sri Lanka. India’s rate is six times as high. Very young females still die at very high rates in India, especially in North India, because of gender preferences for male children. While according to the report this trend is spreading nationally, the overall number of excess females deaths dropped by 8,000 from 265,000 in 1990 to 257,000 in 2008. In China, the total excess female deaths grew by 202,000. The report cites improved access to ultra-sound and similar technologies as a cause for the very high rates in both India and China because it allows parents to select the sex of their child.

In a national exception, the height of North Indian women increased more slowly and they had worse anthropometric outcomes proportional to their male counterparts.

Estimates by the World Bank report writers based on Demographic and Health Surveys suggest 15% of Indian women think it is acceptable for a husband to beat his wife if she refuses to have sex with him, 20% if she burns food and 30% if she argues with him.

Economic well being plays a role in the number of children a woman has. The richest 20% of women average around 1.5 total children. The poorest 20% average about 4 children. India’s poorest 20% is comparable to Colombia and the Dominican Republic. The number is much lower than many Afrian countries including Niger, Mali, Zambia, Malawi, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya where the poorest 20% average over 7 children.

The Indian gains highlighted include several local ones. This includes using women’s self-help groups focused on taking best practices from research and applying them in farming in the state of Orissa. The Self Employed Women’s Association has assisted women in Gujarat by providing childcare. Quotas for women elected in local governments led to changes in underlying beliefs about the effectiveness of women in government. The creation of an all-women’s police force in Tamil Nadu led to increased reporting of crimes against women and general comfort in going to the police to report a problem.

The report offers several pieces of advice for Indian policy makers, including trying to change current role models to include more women who do not follow social norms. It advises laws be created and enforced to prevent sex selection of children. The report also encourages strengthening ownership and land rights, which should also address the agricultural productivity gender-gap.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

As of 9 am this morning, flaring is still being carried out by ExxonMobil at Jurong Island, Singapore.

This is the 3rd day flaring works are being carried out by the company to burn off excess fuel from the refinery plant.

The flame, according to Ms Eva Ho, Communications Manager of ExxonMobil, is dying. ExxonMobil wishes to assure members of the public that no health risk is posed as water and carbon dioxide are produced as a result of the flaring.

Meng Yew Choong, Assistant Director of Corporate Communication at the National Environment Agency also clarifies:

“The hydrocarbon gases are burnt safely into water vapour and carbon dioxide, both harmless gases. Hence, there are no health concerns.”

Regular STOMP contributor Mike Muk shot a video of the flaring as well and he sent it in to Stomp.

STOMPer NZSheep also sent a picture to a website, offering the closest look of the flaring activity, taken just outside the security fences surrounding Jurong Island.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Bajan Prime Minister David Thompson, 48, died this morning at 2:10 am local time after battling pancreatic cancer. It has been reported that his wife, Mara, and their three children were at his bedside when he died. Hours after his death, Deputy Prime Minister Freundel Stuart was sworn in as the island’s new Prime Minister.

Thompson was best known for restoring the island’s Democratic Labor Party back to parliamentary majority, decentralizing government, strengthening social services and improving the Barbadian economy according to the island’s government. His wife was quoted as saying, “Barbados has lost its loyal son and faithful servant before he had the time to realize his lifetime dreams. … We enjoyed and endured his public service experiences. He was always indebted to the people and the party for affording him the opportunity to see the mountain top” to the Caribbean Broadcasting Cooperation (CBC).

The opposition leader of Barbados was quoted as saying, “There will be times in the life of a nation when circumstances or events have the power to bring out the best in us all. This is one such time.”

The Prime Minister of Jamaica and the chair of CARICOM, Bruce Golding, has said that he is deeply saddened by the news and was quoted as saying, “The Caribbean has lost one of its youngest and most vibrant leaders who remained strong, determined and focused to the very end.” Golding also commended Thompson for fighting “a brave fight to the very end demonstrating the unconditional love for his country and a commitment to the people of Barbados.”

The opposition leader of Barbados, Owen Arthur, is calling the death a “tragic and staggering loss” and described Thompson as “one of the most remarkable Barbadians of his generation and whose whole life from very early was devoted to public service and politics.” The Bahamian Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, said that he was “deeply saddened” at the loss of his “friend and colleague.”

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar, has issued her “deepest condolences” on behalf of her administration and the people of Trinidad.

[He] wanted an opportunity to shape the future of his country, to make a difference to the lives of Barbadians.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Once you get a chance to talk to West Palm Beach, Florida native Whitney Cunningham, who placed seventh on the eighth cycle of the popular reality TV series America’s Next Top Model, you begin to understand what host Tyra Banks meant when she described her as the “full package.”

First of all, she is confident and headstrong, which is a must on these kinds of shows, almost as much as it is to take a beautiful modelesque picture. Second, she turns that confidence into drive. She has been receiving steady work as a model since leaving the show, and still believes that her goal of being the first woman to wear a size ten dress on the cover of Vogue is in reach. Third, and probably most important to television viewers, she obliterates the age-old model stereotype that to be pretty and photograph well, one must also be vapid and without a thought. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Cunningham also dreams of becoming a writer, and is working toward dual goals: a model who can express herself like no other model before her.

Cunningham recently sat down with Wikinews reporter Mike Halterman in an impassioned interview, taking hours to field questions from the reporter as well as from fans of America’s Next Top Model. Always in high spirits, Cunningham shows that she is a distinct personality who has carved her own niche in the Top Model history books. At the same time, she exhibits a joie de vivre that is oddly reminiscent of earlier Top Model fan favorite Toccara Jones, who showed America just how to be “big, black, beautiful and loving it.” However, Cunningham is quick to remind everyone that she isn’t big at all; she is simply a regular woman.

This is the first in a series of interviews with America’s Next Top Model contestants. Interviews will be published sporadically.