Softwares-Now

Discovery launch on Feb 24

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #464646; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/20b5784df345554e" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/20b5784df345554e" /></a><a href="http://thm-a01.yimg.com/nimage/1237e587b2be08dc" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a01.yimg.com/nimage/1237e587b2be08dc" /></a>The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin its final flight to the International Space Station Feb 24. It will carry a human-like robot to the permanent station, NASA said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The Discovery's 11-day mission will start at 2050 GMT, the US space agency said Friday.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Discovery's launch date was announced at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Xinhua reported.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://thm-a04.yimg.com/nimage/65f33627f3b59990" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a04.yimg.com/nimage/65f33627f3b59990" /></a>The six astronauts for the mission will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) to ISS. The PMM was converted from the multipurpose logistics module Leonardo and will provide additional storage for the station crew.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The PMM also carries Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space, which will become a permanent resident of the station.</div></div>

Discovery launch on Feb 24

The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin its final flight to the International Space Station Feb 24. It will carry a human-like ro...

Space weather could cause havoc in gadget-driven world

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div class="article-block" id="article-block" style="clear: both; color: #464646; font-size: 12px; padding-top: 10px; text-align: left;"><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">A geomagnetic space storm sparked by a solar eruption like the one that flared toward Earth on Tuesday is bound to strike again and could wreak havoc across the gadget-happy modern world, experts say.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Contemporary society is increasingly vulnerable to space weather because of our dependence on satellite systems for synchronising computers, airline navigation, telecommunications networks and other electronic devices.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">A potent solar storm could disrupt these technologies, scorch satellites, crash stock markets and cause power outages that last weeks or months, experts said Saturday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The situation will only get more dire because the solar cycle is heading into a period of more intense activity in the coming 11 years.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"This is not a matter of if, it is simply a matter of when and how big," said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator Jane Lubchenco.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"The last time we had a maximum in the solar cycle, about 10 years ago, the world was a very different place. Cell phones are now ubiquitous; they were certainly around (before) but we didn't rely on them for so many different things," she said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"Many things that we take for granted today are so much more prone to the process of space weather than was the case in the last solar maximum."</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The experts admitted that currently, little that can be done to predict such a storm, much less shield the world's electrical grid by doing anything other shutting off power to some of the vulnerable areas until the danger passes.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"Please don't panic," said Stephan Lechner, director of the European Commission Joint Research Center, drawing laughter from the scientists and journalists in the audience. "Overreaction will make the situation worse."</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The root of the world's vulnerability in the modern age is global positioning systems, or GPS devices, that provide navigational help but also serve as time synchronizers for computer networks and electronic equipment, he said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"GPS helped and created a new dependency," said Lechner, noting that the technology's influence extends to aerospace and defense, digital broadcast, financial services and government agencies.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">In Europe alone, there are 200 separate telecommunication operators, and "nothing is standardized," he said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"We are far from understanding all the implications here," he said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">World governments are hurrying to work on strategies for cooperation and information sharing ahead of the next anticipated storm, though forecasters admit they are not sure when that may occur.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"Actually we cannot tell if there is going to be a big storm six months from now but we can tell when conditions are ripe for a storm to take place," said the European Space Agency's Juha-Pekka Luntama.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://thm-a03.yimg.com/nimage/96042f8aa97e5dbc" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a03.yimg.com/nimage/96042f8aa97e5dbc" /></a>On Tuesday at 0156 GMT, a huge solar eruption, the strongest in about five years, sent a torrent of charged plasma particles hurtling toward the Earth at a speed of 560 miles (900 kilometers) per second.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The force of the Class X flash, the most powerful of all solar events, lit up auroras and disrupted some radio communications, but the effects were largely confined to the northern latitudes.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"Actually it turned out that we were well protected this time. The magnetic fields were aligned parallel so not much happened," said Luntama.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"In another case things might have been different."</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Space storms are not new. The first major solar flare was recorded by British astronomer Richard Carrington in 1859.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/bd3864a553efca0e" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/bd3864a553efca0e" /></a>Other solar geomagnetic storms have been observed in recent decades. One huge solar flare in 1972 cut off long-distance telephone communication in the midwestern state of Illinois, NASA said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Another similar flare in 1989 "provoked geomagnetic storms that disrupted electric power transmission" and caused blackouts across the Canadian province of Quebec, the US space agency said.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/2f52d0293950501c" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/2f52d0293950501c" /></a></div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">A panel of NASA-assembled scientists issued a report in 2009 that said a powerful solar flare could overwhelm high-voltage transformers with electrical currents and short-circuit energy grids.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Such a catastrophic event could cost the United States alone up to two trillion dollars in repairs in the first year -- and it could take up to 10 years to fully recover, the report said</div></div><div style="clear: both;"> </div></div>

Space weather could cause havoc in gadget-driven world

A geomagnetic space storm sparked by a solar eruption like the one that flared toward Earth on Tuesday is bound to strike again and could w...

Apple's iPad2 launch delayed

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #464646; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://thm-a03.yimg.com/nimage/33076b124f26c404" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thm-a03.yimg.com/nimage/33076b124f26c404" /></a>The launch of Apple Inc's iPad2 tablet will be delayed to June from April as maker Hon Hai faces production bottlenecks due to the device's new design, Taiwanese brokerage Yuanta Securities said in a note.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Component makers had to change their production processes after Apple made design changes to the iPad2 before the Lunar New Year at the beginning of February.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"Our checks suggest new issues are being encountered with the new production process and it is taking time to resolve them," Yuanta's head of downstream tech equities, Vincent Chen, wrote in the note on Tuesday.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Hon Hai declined to comment on the note. Apple was not immediately available for comment.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The note said that if the launch of the iPad2 is delayed by two months, total iPad shipments would be 23 million units this year, down from the broker's original forecast of 30.6 million units.</div></div>

Apple's iPad2 launch delayed

The launch of Apple Inc's iPad2 tablet will be delayed to June from April as maker Hon Hai faces production bottlenecks due to the devi...

'Google manipulated Egyptians'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #464646; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/government/tutankhamun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/government/tutankhamun.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">A top Russian official said on Tuesday that Internet giant Google was behind 'manipulations' of Egyptians whose mass revolt toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak.</div><div style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin brushed off comparisons between Mubarak's 30-year reign and the government in Moscow, insisting Russia had 'political stability'.</div><div style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"We need to more closely examine what has happened in Egypt. See, well, what senior managers of Google have been doing in Egypt, what kind of manipulations of the energy of the people took place there," he told the newspaper.</div><div style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">He appeared to be referring to Wael Ghonim, a 30-year-old Google marketing executive who galvanized protesters when he tearfully recounted the 12 days he spent in detention during a TV interview days before Mubarak's overthrow.</div><div style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Ghonim had been one of the architects of the youth-led protests, which made use of social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets to demand Mubarak step down.</div><div style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The 82-year-old leader resigned on February 11, handing power to a council of military commanders.</div></div>

'Google manipulated Egyptians'

A top Russian official said on Tuesday that Internet giant Google was behind 'manipulations' of Egyptians whose mass revolt toppled...

Pakistan bans BB services for foreign missions

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=409253448304&id=50a1c987c6d764e59625ef5e2c39d73a" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=409253448304&id=50a1c987c6d764e59625ef5e2c39d73a" /></a></div><a href="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=420822849120&id=8325d9b8922af5c03a7288af4d906583" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=420822849120&id=8325d9b8922af5c03a7288af4d906583" /></a><a href="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=423214920244&id=ea0ea510be44054d9703f8b7d38d34b4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=423214920244&id=ea0ea510be44054d9703f8b7d38d34b4" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=528547974676&id=e32339191cb83ca7f039d557b6843656" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=528547974676&id=e32339191cb83ca7f039d557b6843656" /></a></div><a href="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=396549960128&id=e896b7a74070f072b54f3d27ef35fa62" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=396549960128&id=e896b7a74070f072b54f3d27ef35fa62" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> Pakistani authorities have asked mobile telephone operators to stop BlackBerry services to foreign missions in the country amid concern about the security of the communications, industry sources said.<br />
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Two industry officials confirmed that the regulator, the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pakistan" style="color: #336797; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">Pakistan</a> Telecommunication Authority (PTA), had asked them to stop all Blackberry services to foreign missions.<br />
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"I can confirm that PTA has asked us to stop all BlackBerry services to foreign embassies and high commissions," a senior official at a mobile company, who declined to be identified, said.<br />
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Another industry official at another mobile company also confirmed receiving the instructions. "There are some other issues as well, mostly relating to BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server), which we are trying to resolve in consultation with the PTA," he said.<br />
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A PTA spokesman was not available for comment. BlackBerry maker <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Research-in-Motion" style="color: #336797; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">Research In Motion</a> has been buffeted by demands for access to its encrypted data from several countries, including <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/India" style="color: #336797; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">India</a> and<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/United-Arab-Emirates" style="color: #336797; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">United Arab Emirates</a>, worried by security and social mores.<br />
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Pakistani industry and government officials say that the government had never allowed BlackBerry services to foreign missions and inbound roamers when the services were launched in Pakistan in 2005.<br />
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The government also initially banned the more secure <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=BlackBerry%20Enterprise%20Server" style="color: #336797; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">BlackBerry Enterprise Server</a> (BES) services in Pakistan. BES allows users to send and receive secure email and messages, which is difficult for governments to intercept and read.<br />
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However, the instructions have since been flouted by all five Pakistani mobile operators. It was not clear why the government allowed them to do so or why it was acting now to enforce the restrictions.<br />
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An industry source said that the government had asked all operators in the country to enforce the restrictions. "The most critical issue is the provision of BlackBerry services to the foreign embassies, missions and high commissions," said the source.<br />
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"Therefore, all the operators have agreed to close all BlackBerry connections provided to them by January 31," he said, adding discussions would be held with the PTA to gain more time on the provision of BES to local customers as well as BlackBerry services to incoming roamers.<br />
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If fully enforced, the restrictions would mean no BlackBerry services for many of the multinational companies and aid groups, who use the BES service rather than the Blackberry Internet Service, or BIS, which is much less secure.<br />
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Last year, India demanded access to all BlackBerry services as part of efforts to fight militancy and security threats over the Internet and through telephone communications.<br />
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Last week, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=RIM" style="color: #336797; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">RIM</a> said there was no possibility of providing India access to corporate emails on BlackBerry devices.</span></div>

Pakistan bans BB services for foreign missions

Pakistani authorities have asked mobile telephone operators to stop BlackBerry services to foreign missions in the country amid concern ab...

5 safety tips for Facebook

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=422345124839&id=462bbff8c385f195a61a3a3f8fd77965&index=ch1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=422345124839&id=462bbff8c385f195a61a3a3f8fd77965&index=ch1" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=408225195539&id=d936115e429523bef4e2776a266ce1b1&index=ch1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=408225195539&id=d936115e429523bef4e2776a266ce1b1&index=ch1" /></a><a href="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=402710336709&id=5ba2714c0a7502bbfdfee4ca2b2485d6" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=402710336709&id=5ba2714c0a7502bbfdfee4ca2b2485d6" /></a></div><h1 style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">5 safety tips for Facebook</h1><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;">These days, Facebook may be the single best way online to keep in touch with friends, associates, far-flung family members, and people with similar interests. But if you're not careful, it's probably also the site most likely to get you into trouble.<br />
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Virtually every week, there's another news report about employers using Facebook to evaluate or screen employees or potential employees, making assumptions about character, trustworthiness, or conduct based upon Facebook postings or "friends."<br />
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Girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives, friends and neighbours can check out each other's Facebook pages with ease, possibly jumping to erroneous conclusions about what shows up.<br />
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So how can you enjoy what Facebook has to offer while limiting your risk? Follow these steps:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><h1 style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Know your privacy settings</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=405256278896&id=6fccd6593e3afcdd6500af4d96c3f200&index=ch1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=405256278896&id=6fccd6593e3afcdd6500af4d96c3f200&index=ch1" /></a></div><div><a href="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=544525389191&id=7e277f2e135b70a488d25d9448788ca7&index=ch1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=544525389191&id=7e277f2e135b70a488d25d9448788ca7&index=ch1" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;">Whether you're active or not on Facebook, if you haven't visited the Privacy Settings area, you should put this on the top of your to-do list. In short, Facebook pages get indexed very well by the major search engines, and unless you know both what's on your page and what could be on your page as a result of friends' postings, you should take control pronto.<br />
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From Facebook, click Account in the upper right-hand corner, and from the drop-down menu, choose Privacy Settings. The Choose Your Privacy Settings page opens. Under Sharing on Facebook, go directly to the "Customise settings" link at the bottom of the Settings table, and make the most appropriate selections for what you wish to share with the world, your friends, and friends of your friends.<br />
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But don't stop there. Under the Connecting on Facebook section, click the "View Settings" link. The Connecting on Facebook page appears, and from there you make important decisions such as whether you can be found as a result of a standard search on Facebook and whether others can view your list of friends.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><h1 style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Watch what you post</h1><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;">Consider Facebook a close relative of email. That means that anything you say, any picture you post, any member you befriend can be made public without too much trouble - regardless of your privacy settings. In the digital age, after all, everyone knows how to copy and paste, and screen captures can easily link you with a post on your wall. If you really want something to remain private, don't post it on Facebook.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><div class="navlft" style="background-color: white; display: table; width: 1001px;"><div class="clrb" style="clear: both;"></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="maintable12new" style="float: left; margin-left: 10px; padding-right: 12px; width: 665px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: #353535;"><div style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><div class="slidehead" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(134, 134, 134); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 20px;"><div style="float: left;"><h1 style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reign in third-party apps</h1><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;">A growing number of third-party social networking applications and websites -- such as TweetDeck for Twitter and Digsby for instant messaging -- are asking for access to your Facebook account so that updates can be sent two ways. Don't allow such access requests unless you know what you're getting into. Using third-party tools that are tied into Facebook might make you appear "online" on Facebook far more often than you actually are, for example - a potentially embarrassing situation.<br />
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Even when you do allow third-party access to your Facebook account, it's a good idea to visit the Apps and Websites section of your Facebook Privacy Settings page to see which programmes have been granted access. From Facebook, click Account, Privacy Settings,and then under Apps and Websites, click the "Edit your settings" link. Adjust the settings appropriately.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><h1 style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Houseclean regularly</h1><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;">It may seem like a fine idea to accept all of your five most recent friend requests. But inevitably one or two of them will prove to be a nuisance, as they hog your wall with posts and come to resemble spammers with the number of updates they provide.<br />
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Pruning friends is nothing to be ashamed of, and you should do it on a regular basis. Don't worry about whether your friends will be notified if you remove them. Facebook does not send out a notice to people you have removed as friends.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><h1 style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Deactivate if you don't use</h1><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px;">If keeping an eye on your Facebook account is proving to be too much trouble, or if you started a Facebook account and never use it, take the time at least to deactivate your account. Doing so will rid you of the worry of what does and does not show up on your Facebook page. To deactivate, click Account in the upper-right hand corner of your page, and select Account Settings. At the very bottom of the choices on the resulting screen, find Deactivate Account, and click the "deactivate" link to the right.<br />
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Note, however, that deactivating your Facebook account is not the same as deleting it. With a deactivated account, you might still receive emails from the site. To delete your account, you'll need to visit the Help center (under Account), search for the "permanently delete" question, follow the link, and read the directions. Or you can simply click this link: http://on.fb.me/3qsIFP. If you're logged in to Facebook, you'll be taken directly to the Delete page. </span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></span></div>

5 safety tips for Facebook

5 safety tips for Facebook These days, Facebook may be the single best way online to keep in touch with friends, associates, far-flung famil...

Phone app to identify paedophiles

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=502886312049&id=7f85020970e58d518372a328181db090&index=ch1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=502886312049&id=7f85020970e58d518372a328181db090&index=ch1" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=502886312049&id=7f85020970e58d518372a328181db090&index=ch1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"> Scientists have developed a new phone application to identify potential paedophiles.</span></div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">The software, called Child Defence, enables kids to scan webchat on their mobile phones to verify the age of people they are messaging.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Designed by Isis Forensics based in Lancaster University, the software uses the latest advances in technology to identify language quirks peculiar to different age groups, a Daily Mail report said.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">It can also link in with websites such as Facebook and Twitter, allowing children to scan chat text from their site.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Although there are other child protection softwares in the market, Child Defence is said to be the first software children can use themselves.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">But the charity National Society for Prevention of Cruetly to Children (NSPCC) said the application does not offer total protection from online paedophiles and warned parents not to be complacent.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Chris Cloke, head of child protection at NSPCC, said: "It can lull us into thinking that the child is safe and therefore we can move onto something else.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">"I would certainly say that measures of this sort can be helpful but they need to be seen as one of the wider armoury we have for tackling child sexual abuse."</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Last year paedophile Peter Chapman, 33, was jailed for a minimum of 35 years for the murder of 17-year-old Ashleigh Young in County Durham.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">He posed as a teenager, sending her a picture of a bare-chested handsome man instead of one of himself.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">He then picked her up in a car and raped and killed her before dumping her body close to the Little Chef on the outskirts of Sedgefield.</div><div id="p-tag" style="color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left;">Paedophiles are known to abuse social networks, assuming different identities to target vulnerable children and groom them for abuse.</div></div>

Phone app to identify paedophiles

Scientists have developed a new phone application to identify potential paedophiles. The software, called Child Defence, enables kids to sc...