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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Every September, the Apple iPod is redesigned. Last year saw the release of the iPod Nano 5th generation, bringing a video camera and a large range of colours to the Nano for the first time. But as Apple again prepares to unveil a redesigned product, the company has released their quarterly sales figures—and revealed that they have sold only 9m iPods for the quarter to June—the lowest number of sales since 2006, leading industry anylists to ponder whether the world’s most successful music device is in decline.

Such a drop in sales is not a problem for Apple, since the iPhone 4 and the iPad are selling in high numbers. But the number of people buying digital music players are concerning the music industry. Charles Arthur, technology editor of The Guardian, wrote that the decline in sales of MP3 players was a “problem” for record companies, saying that “digital music sales are only growing as fast as those of Apple’s devices – and as the stand-alone digital music player starts to die off, people may lose interest in buying songs from digital stores. The music industry had looked to the iPod to drive people to buy music in download form, whether from Apple’s iTunes music store, eMusic, Napster or from newer competitors such as Amazon.”

Mark Mulligan, a music and digital media analyst at Forrester Research, said in an interview that “at a time where we’re asking if digital is a replacement for the CD, as the CD was for vinyl, we should be starting to see a hockey-stick growth in download sales. Instead, we’re seeing a curve resembling that of a niche technology.” Alex Jacob, a spokesperson for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the worldwide music industry, agreed that there had been a fall in digital sales of music. “The digital download market is still growing,” they said. “But the percentage is less than a few years ago, though it’s now coming from a higher base.” Figures released earlier this year, Arthur wrote, “show that while CD sales fell by 12.7%, losing $1.6bn (£1bn)in value, digital downloads only grew by 9.2%, gaining less than $400m in value.”

Expectations that CDs would, in time, become extinct, replaced by digital downloads, have not come to light, Jacob confirmed. “Across the board, in terms of growth, digital isn’t making up for the fall in CD sales, though it is in certain countries, including the UK,” he said. Anylising the situation, Arthur suggested that “as iPod sales slow, digital music sales, which have been yoked to the device, are likely to slow too. The iPod has been the key driver: the IFPI’s figures show no appreciable digital download sales until 2004, the year Apple launched its iTunes music store internationally (it launched it in the US in April 2003). Since then, international digital music sales have climbed steadily, exactly in line with the total sales of iPods and iPhones.”

Nick Farrell, a TechEYE journalist, stated that the reason for the decline in music sales could be attributed to record companies’ continued reliance on Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, saying that they had considered him the “industry’s saviour”, and by having this mindset had forgotten “that the iPod is only for those who want their music on the run. What they should have been doing is working out how to get high quality music onto other formats, perhaps even HiFi before the iPlod fad died out.”

When Jobs negotiated a deal with record labels to ensure every track was sold for 99 cents, they considered this unimportant—the iPod was not a major source of revenue for the company. However, near the end of 2004, there was a boom in sales of the iPod, and the iTunes store suddenly began raking in more and more money. The record companies were irritated, now wanting to charge different amounts for old and new songs, and popular and less popular songs. “But there was no alternative outlet with which to threaten Apple, which gained an effective monopoly over the digital music player market, achieving a share of more than 70%” wrote Arthur. Some did attempt to challenge the iTunes store, but still none have succeeded. “Apple is now the largest single retailer of music in the US by volume, with a 25% share.”

The iTunes store now sells television shows and films, and the company has recently launced iBooks, a new e-book store. The App Store is hugely successful, with Apple earning $410m in two years soley from Apps, sales of which they get 30%. In two years, 5bn apps have been downloaded—while in seven years, 10bn songs have been purchased. Mulligan thinks that there is a reason for this—the quality of apps simply does not match up to a piece of music. “You can download a song from iTunes to your iPhone or iPad, but at the moment music in that form doesn’t play to the strengths of the device. Just playing a track isn’t enough.”

Adam Liversage, a spokesperson of the British Phonographic Industry, which represents the major UK record labels, notes that the rise of streaming services such as Spotify may be a culprit in the fall in music sales. Revenues from such companies added up to $800m in 2009. Arthur feels that “again, it doesn’t make up for the fall in CD sales, but increasingly it looks like nothing ever will; that the record business’s richest years are behind it. Yet there are still rays of hope. If Apple – and every other mobile phone maker – are moving to an app-based economy, where you pay to download games or timetables, why shouldn’t recording artists do the same?”

Well, apparently they are. British singer Peter Gabriel has released a ‘Full Moon Club’ app, which is updated every month with a new song. Arthur also notes that “the Canadian rock band Rush has an app, and the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, led by Trent Reznor – who has been critical of the music industry for bureaucracy and inertia – released the band’s first app in April 2009.” It is thought that such a system will be an effective method to reduce online piracy—”apps tend to be tied to a particular handset or buyer, making them more difficult to pirate than a CD”, he says—and in the music industry, piracy is a very big problem. In 2008, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimated that 95% of downloads were illegitimate. If musicians can increase sales and decrease piracy, Robert says, it can only be a good thing.

“It’s early days for apps in the music business, but we are seeing labels and artists experimenting with it,” Jacob said. “You could see that apps could have a premium offering, or behind-the-scenes footage, or special offers on tickets. But I think it’s a bit premature to predict the death of the album.” Robert concluded by saying that it could be “premature to predict the death of the iPod just yet too – but it’s unlikely that even Steve Jobs will be able to produce anything that will revive it. And that means that little more than five years after the music industry thought it had found a saviour in the little device, it is having to look around again for a new stepping stone to growth – if, that is, one exists.”

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Gerasimos Macridis, 39-years-old, left the court room discharged without conviction after hacking into the New Zealand Reserve Bank’s phone system and then asking for money for his services after pointing out these security flaws to both the Reserve Bank and Telecom New Zealand in May, 2006, and offering to fix them. He had identified himself as a security consultant.

The New Zealand Police then raided his home and took his computer on 21 September. Macridis told police that he did not think it was illegal, but knew he was not authorised to access the phone systems. Telecom then took him to court.

Colin McGilicray, police prosecutor, said: “Macridis has a significant number of previous fraud convictions and it appeared he was trying to obtain money through virtue of his technical knowledge.”

Macridis, who represented himself, told the court that for 11-years he had worked as a casual security consultant and he had worked for Telecom, police and Department of Internal Affairs.

Macridis thought himself as an honest, law abiding citizen as his 1994 conviction had ‘turned his life around’.

Judge Ian Mill said this case was very unusual and also noted that Macridis ended his offending over 10-years ago.

Mill said: “Macridis used his talents to identify security risks and he had identified a grave risk to the Reserve Bank and its customers. Macridis provided a report of his findings, requested payment albeit without a contract and for his troubles was prosecuted. He did not pass the information on to others and did not use it for personal gain.”

“In my view his intentions were honourable,” Mill added.

Mill discharged him without conviction on the basis that a conviction would be out of proportion with his actions.

Friday, May 19, 2006File:148888main sts121atpad lg.jpg

On Friday in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Space Shuttle Discovery began its 4.2 mile, 7 hour long journey to the launch pad, completing successfully. Discovery weighs approximately 4.5 million pounds.

The launch was supposed to occur in May, but NASA pushed back the date because of a faulty fuel sensor.

This will be Discovery’s second mission since the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry in 2003. Engineers believed that foam falling from the shuttle and smashing into the wing caused the disaster. After the accident, NASA grounded the shuttle fleet to determine the cause.

In 2005 cameras had shown during launch that a piece of foam being shed from the external tank, as well as smaller tile and foam dings. NASA and the crew decided that mission specialist Stephen Robinson should attempt to pull out the protruding gap fillers. Cameras also detected a small piece of thermal blanket near the cockpit that fell off, but later tests in wind tunnels had shown the piece to be of little concern and Discover landed safely.

NASA is scheduling the launch for Discovery to be between July 1 and July 19, 2006 and Steve Lindsey will Commander of the mission, flying with pilot Mark Kelly, two spacewalkers, Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers and mission specialists Stephanie Wilson and Lisa Nowak. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter is also part of the crew but he will remain on the International Space Station (ISS) for several months.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Wikinews reporter Iain Macdonald has performed an interview with Dr Isabella Margara, a London-based member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). In the interview Margara sets out the communist response to current events in Greece as well as discussing the viability of a communist economy for the nation. She also hit back at Petros Tzomakas, a member of another Greek far-left party which criticised KKE in a previous interview.

The interview comes amid tensions in cash-strapped Greece, where the government is introducing controversial austerity measures to try to ease the nation’s debt-problem. An international rescue package has been prepared by European Union member states and the International Monetary Fund – should Greece require a bailout; protests have been held against government attempts to manage the economic situation.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

A leak at an offshore oil drilling rig has caused an oil slick off Australia’s coast. According to the rig’s operator, it could take weeks to fully plug it.

Gas and oil started leaking from a hole beneath the sea floor on early Friday. It has caused an oil slick about nine miles long and thirty yards wide

Officials, however, said that there was no threat to the environment and it was improbable the slick would reach the Australian coast. Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said that “there’s no threat to the Australian coast. It is evaporating naturally and the work of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will merely assist in that evaporation.”

69 people were evacuated from the rig on Friday, amid fears that a fire could start from the condensate oil.

The rig is located approximately 150 miles off the coast of Kimberley.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

After almost two months of delay, NASA has set March 11 as the launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery. On February 22, NASA had stated that they indefinitely delayed the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, which was originally scheduled for takeoff on February 12. Launch was then further delayed until February 25 before being delayed indefinitely on February 22. NASA cited the need for additional time to evaluate the shuttle’s hydrogen fuel flow control valves.

Liftoff is set for nighttime on Wednesday, March 11, at approximately 9:20 p.m. (EST) from Launch Complex 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The official countdown to launch will commence Sunday, March 8.

“The team came through, worked hard and was efficient. It’s time now to step back and think of everything else we need to watch before launch on the 11th. There’s no better team than this one and I thank them for putting the right analysis together,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA.

NASA wanted to perform additional tests on the valves which control the amount of hydrogen fuel pumped into the external tank when the shuttle is taking off before making a decision to launch. When Space Shuttle Endeavour went into space in November 2008, one of the valves broke. NASA fears that if one breaks off on this mission, then it could damage the outside of the shuttle.

The current scheduled mission, STS-119, is set to fly the Integrated Truss Structure segment (“S” for starboard, the right side of the station, and “6” for its place at the very end of the starboard truss) and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The arrays consist of two 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet, including the equipment that connects the two halves and allows them to twist as they track the sun. Altogether, the four sets of arrays can generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power for more than 40 average homes.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery’s crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Nico Rosberg won the opening race of this year’s Formula 1 season in Australia yesterday. TV commentators spoke of “fascination throughout the field” as big names retired and new names proved themselves.

Former champion Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole but problems were evident by the second lap when he received a team radio message telling him “we need to retire… save the engine, save the engine!” Another followed rapidly, however, telling him to “just stay out, stay out, just keep on rolling”. Hamilton left the race on the fourth lap.

Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel did not fare much better, having only qualified twelfth, with engine woes of his own. He too quit the race in the early stages, staying behind to watch the race and, according to commentator and retired Scottish F1 racer David Coulthard, learn what he could from the sidelines.

Vettel and Hamilton were not the only stars retiring early. Veteran racer Felipe Massa was rammed from behind by Kobiashi’s Caterham, sending both cars out and prompting deployment of yellow flags for several laps while the debris was recovered. The crash was triggered by Kobiashi clipping Kimi Raikkonen, damaging the front of Kobiashi’s car. Raikkonen stayed in the race and managed to finish eighth. The first ten cars over the finish line score points towards both the driver’s and constructor’s championships.

Coulthard and fellow commentators believe Kobiashi, who took responsibility for the accident, may receive points on his racer’s licence in a new system to deal with transgressions introduced this year. Kobiashi called the crash “My mistake[… I] should have braked earlier, and I apologise to Felipe”. Massa said Kobiashi “cannot do a start like that, every time” he does so will lead to an accident.

More drama followed shortly after when Valteri Bottas clipped a wall on lap 10, breaking the rim of his back-right wheel. The rim was left on the track, followed shortly thereafter by the tyre off the wheel. The safety car was deployed for several laps until the debris was recovered. Despite the setback Bottas climbed back up the standings and finished in sixth place.

Many drivers, including cars at the front of the pack, took advantage of the safety car period to do pit stops. Some are now considering using less fuel than the maximum allowance in a move the FIA never expected technologically possible when drafting the rules several years ago.

It was a day for débutantes at Albert Park, a street circuit where racing took place in close proximity to busy public roads. Newcomer Kevin Magnussen scored third place on his first F1 race, while fellow rookie Daniil Kvyat came in tenth and became the youngest-ever F1 points scorer. Kvyat takes the record from Vettel by several months while Magnussen becomes the first Dane on an F1 podium.

Not every débutante was so lucky; Caterham driver Marcus Eriksson dropped out of his first race after being radioed “Stop the car, stop the car, engine oil pressure”. Established racers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean, both Lotus drivers, also stopped with technical trouble. All three cars pulled up at the side of the track on different laps, each triggering yellow flags. Despite the retirements, fourteen cars finished which was more than some commentators were expecting.

Hamilton was upbeat about his retirement, saying “It’s tough for everyone but that’s the way it is” and adding “We’re not the only ones [to have difficulties]”. Vettel was more pessimistic, claiming this is “going to be a long season”. Asked about the cause of his engine troubles, Hamilton said “One of the cylinders, I think, was not firing”.

The race was unusual from start to finish, having been shortened by one lap after the first start was aborted by amber lights instead of just green. The end is more controversial; home driver Daniel Ricciardo scored his first-ever Australian Grand Prix podium finish in second place but was later disqualified for an alleged breach of fuel regulations. Ricciardo had been the first Australian driver to stand on the podium in his home country since Formula 1 brought the event into the championship format used today.

His disqualification is not final, however. His team, Red Bull, have vowed to appeal. If the appeal fails all the drivers below him move up one position, meaning first-time entrant Magnussen will have come in second place and Kvyat will be ninth. That would see Sergio Perez score a point for Force India by moving into tenth. Perez’s race was hampered early by a puncture picked up in the opening lap.

Ricciardo was reported to the stewards by technical delegate Jo Bauer who claimed his car “exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow of 100kg/h”. 100kg is also the maximum fuel allowed on board cars, a new limit set for this season. The fuel flow rule is also new this year; F1 cars averaged about 170kg/h last year.

Ricciardo was disqualified after five hours of steward deliberations. Red Bull have hit back with a statement saying many teams have found the FIA’s fuel flow meter to be faulty. They say they are “confident the fuel supplied to the engine is in full compliance with the regulations.” Today Andrew Westacott, chief executive of the Australian Grand Prix, said the appeal outcome may not be known for weeks.

Prior to Ricciardo’s disqualification, the remaining point-scorers were Jensen Button in fourth, Fernando Alonso in fifth, Nico Hulkenberg in seventh, and Jean-Eric Vergne in ninth.

Racers and fuel rules were not the only things fresh for this race. Williams are on the back of their worst-ever season and have changed their livery to brighter, whiter cars. Another new innovation is the introduction of red lights on the rear of cars that blink when the vehicle is not using electricity, warning the car behind of possible deceleration. F1 cars also now sport hybrid turbo engines.

Rosberg, speaking after what is his first Australian victory, said it is “Such a pleasure to have such a fast car.” He came a full 24 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. It is also the hundredth victory by an F1 car powered by a Mercedes engine.

“Whatever the outcome I’m really proud of what I did today”, Ricciardo said as he awaited the stewards’ disqualification decision. “There are more positives than negatives”.

Friday, January 15, 2010

American radio host and conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh and televangelist Pat Robertson have drawn criticism from the White House for comments made on Thursday criticizing the relief efforts for Haiti following Tuesday’s earthquake there.

When asked by a caller on his radio show about the president urging Americans to contribute to the Red Cross to help those affected, Limbaugh responded, “Would you trust that the money is going to go to Haiti? Would you trust that your name is going to instead end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?”

“Besides,” Limbaugh added, “We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

Limbaugh went on to say that the American president “runs around the world apologizing for” the United States, and that “he now turns to us as its president and asks people who have lost their jobs because of his policies to donate to WhiteHouse.gov to the people of Haiti, and we will do it. We are the most charitable and the most generous people on the face of the earth. Each and every time a natural disaster like this happens, we step up. We are there. We have yet another crisis simply too good to waste. This will play right into Obama’s hands. He’s humanitarian, compassionate. They’ll use this to burnish their, shall we say, ‘credibility’ with the black community—in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It’s made-to-order for them. That’s why he couldn’t wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there.”

Robertson’s remarks on Thursday were also considered to be inflammatory when he suggested on his television show, The 700 Club that the current situation in Haiti is a direct result of a deal Haitians made with Satan in the late 1700s.

Robertson stated that the Haitian people in that time, “were under the heel of the French, uh, you know Napoleon the 3rd and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They [the Haitian leaders] said, ‘We will serve you [Satan] if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story. And so the Devil said, ‘Okay, it’s a deal.’ And, uh, they kicked the French out, you know, with the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by, by one thing after another, desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It’s cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti on the other side is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is, is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etcetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now we’re helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.”

When asked about these two statements during his press briefing Thursday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs replied to them both respectively, “In times of great crisis, there are always people that say really stupid things. I don’t know how anybody could sit where [they] do, having enjoyed the success that [they have], and not feel some measure of sorrow for what has happened in Haiti. I think to use the power of your pulpit to try to convince those not to help their brothers and sisters is sad. My sense is that most people, though, because they understand we’re part of an amazing world, won’t listen and instead will seek to help those that they know, because it is through no fault of their own, have suffered an unspeakable tragedy.”

Chris Roslan, spokesperson for the network that broadcasts Robertson’s show defended the remarks stating, “Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath. If you watch the entire video segment, Dr. Robertson’s compassion for the people of Haiti is clear. He called for prayer for them.”

Rush Limbaugh and the radio network that carries his show still have yet to reply to the criticism from The White House and elsewhere.