WcP.Observer's blog

Original Source: BusinessWeek

(quote)

Global search engine colossus Google has been warned by the EU data protection chief that the "Street View" feature on its Google Maps service could run up against European privacy laws if it launches in EU countries. Peter Hustinx, the EU data protection supervisor, told reporters while presenting his annual data protection report on Thursday (15 May) that if Google launched such a feature in Europe, the company would first have to comply with European privacy legislation, which in many member states is stricter than in the United States.

Street View allows users of Google's online map service to have a full-colour, 360-degree look around city streets. Users can digitally walk up and down the virtual street, which is built from composites of photographs taken by roaming Google cars with roof-mounted cameras. The service, already launched for many US and Canadian cities, has wowed users, who report that Street View allows them to digitally make a trip to cities they have always wanted to visit. At the same time, privacy concerns have arisen, as people walking down a street are also captured by the photographs.

"Complying with European data protection law is going to be part of their business success or failure," Mr Hustinx added. "If they would ignore it, it is likely to lead to [court] cases, and I think they would be hit hard." The company has not launched the service in Europe yet, although it has announced plans to do so next year, and Google cars snapping away photos of the vias and rues of Rome and Paris have already been spotted.  read more »

Original Source: The Standard

"The death toll from the massive earthquake that struck central China yesterday killing at least 8,533 people in Sichuan alone is likely to rise sharply as rescuers face a desperate race against time to save victims, including nearly 900 students buried under the rubble of their school. In Beichuan county, just east of the epicenter, 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed and some 10,000 people were injured on top of the 3,000 to 5,000 killed in the district, Xinhua News said. The situation in at least two other counties remains unclear.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the most devastating in three decades, struck in the middle of the afternoon when classrooms and office towers were full 92 kilometers northwest of Sichuans capital Chengdu. Eight schools in the region completely or partially collapsed. The quake emptied office buildings more than 1,500 kilometers away in Beijing; could be felt as far away as Vietnam; crashed telephone networks; and hours later, left parts of Chengdu, a city of 10 million, in darkness. Beijing mobilized more than 5,000 soldiers and police to help rescue efforts in Sichuan and put the province on the second-highest level of emergency footing.

The earthquake rattled buildings in Beijing 1,500 kilometers to the north. People ran screaming into the streets in other cities, where many residents said they had never felt an earthquake. In Shanghai, skyscrapers swayed and office occupants went rushing into the streets. In Beijing, where hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected for the Olympics, which start on August 8, venues for the Games were undamaged.

The quake appears to be the deadliest since the most devastating in modern history, which killed 240,000 people in the city of Tangshan in 1976."

Photos courtesy of Reuters and AFP

Original Source: Associated Press

"MOSCOW (AP) — Missiles, tanks and other heavy weaponry rolled through Moscow's Red Square in the Victory Day parade Friday, the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that they have appeared in the annual event.

Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday, both honoring the enormous sacrifices of World War II, in which nearly 9 million Red Army soldiers are estimated to have died, and asserting the country's military strength.

Russia has nearly quadrupled its defense spending in recent years, aiming to resuscitate the military forces that deteriorated in the post-Soviet period.

Topol missiles, which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, were part of the display of more than 100 tanks, mobile missile units and armored vehicles that was aimed at underlining the military revival. But many of the heavy weapons shown were only slightly modernized versions of equipment developed decades ago.

Although the display was significantly smaller than in Soviet-era parades, the return of the tradition has raised concerns that Russia harbors aggressive ambitions."

Photos courtesy of AP

"YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's official media said Tuesday that 10,000 people were killed by a cyclone in just one town, confirming fears of a spiraling death toll from the storm's 12-foot tidal surges and high winds that swept away bamboo homes in low-lying coastal regions... Fishing boats were crushed by the tropical cyclone in the port of Yangon, Myanmar, on Sunday. Winds reached 120 miles per hour."

Images courtesy of Associated Press

Original Source

Microsoft has decided to withdraw its three-month-old offer to buy Yahoo, as expressed in a formal letter from Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer to Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang.

"The companies had finally engaged in merger talks this week and appeared closer than ever to a deal Friday, but they still remained billions of dollars apart in their assessment of Yahoo's worth. Ballmer said today that the company had raised its buyout price to $33 a share from the initial $31 offered, which added $5 billion to the deal that was initially worth $44.6 billion.

That would have represented a 70% premium over Yahoo's closing stock price on Jan. 31, the night that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft made its unsolicited offer.

But in recent talks Yahoo had insisted on receiving at least $5 billion more than that, or at least $37 a share, which Microsoft was unwilling to pay, Ballmer wrote in a letter to Yang.

Ballmer said he had decided against launching a hostile bid for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, including trying to take control of the company's board and offering the deal directly to shareholders. He said Yahoo had signaled that it would take action that could prolong such a proxy fight and make the company less valuable to Microsoft, including striking a partnership with Google Inc. in which the search giant would deliver ads alongside many of Yahoo's search results."

Image courtesy of The Los Angeles Times

Original Source

"Sky-high gas prices have more commuters switching to employer-subsidized transportation—and loving it"

Photo courtesy of BusinessWeek

Original Source

Today is Earth Day, 2008.

"Forty-five King Features cartoonists are doing Earth Day-themed comics Tuesday, the syndicate announced Monday afternoon.

The cartoons address Earth Day in a number of ways, ranging from funny to very serious.

..."

Original Source