Author: Admin

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The battle between the two high definition optical disc formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD has ended after sole HD DVD manufacturer Toshiba has announced it will no longer produce HD DVD players.

In a press conference yesterday, Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida announced and confirmed that Toshiba will terminate the R&D plan on HD-DVD products. The key issue to force Toshiba terminating their HD-DVD R&D plan was Warner Bros., who changed their R&D plan from HD-DVD to Blu-ray on January 4.

In what is a reverse of the VHS vs Betamax format war, Sony‘s Blu-ray has come out on top with the backing of major studios and retailers such as Warner Bros. but also Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Netflix, and Blockbuster who announced they would only support Blu-ray exclusively this past month.

Even though Toshiba is currently about to change their R&D plan from HD-DVD to NAND flash drives and micro drives and plan to build two factories in Iwate, Japan, the company will provide the maintenance service on discs and players in the future 8 years.

Sony bundled Blu-ray into their PlayStation 3 game system. Microsoft’s competing Xbox 360, comes with a $200 HD DVD add-on player, whose fate is now undetermined with the demise of HD DVD. Microsoft has said they will wait for what Toshiba has to say.

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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Evan Wolfson, the founder of the modern gay marriage movement, tells the waiter he would like an iced decaf and “the usual.” Wolfson, one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People in the World, is a man who unflinchingly knows what he wants and stays his course, whether it be in his choice of restaurant or in his choice of battle. And others always know when they see Evan coming what it is that he wants.

Since his time at Harvard Law School when he wrote a paper on the topic, what Wolfson wants is the right for gay people to marry. The issue gained national prominence in 1993 when the Hawaii Supreme Court held in Baehr v. Lewin that the government had to show a reason for the denial of the freedom to marry, not just deny marriage licenses to the plaintiff gay couples. Wolfson was co-counsel in the historic 1996 Hawaii trial in which he argued that the government does not have a sufficient reason for excluding same-sex couples from marriage. In 1999, Wolfson contributed to Baker v. Vermont, the case that led to the creation of civil unions; advised the lead attorneys in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the case that led to same-sex marriage in Massachusetts; and since 2003, when he founded the primary umbrella organization coordinating the efforts to win marriage for gay people, Freedom to Marry, Wolfson has played a role in every marriage equality case in the United States. He is the movement’s founder and leader, and his focus remains square on winning that right. “For years,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, “many of us were saying to him, ‘We’re not ready. The country’s not ready. And, by the way, you’re crazy.'”

When I make a statement to him about his devoting his life to gay marriage, he corrects me: “I’ve played a part in cases that span the entire spectrum of eliminating gay people’s exclusions and limitations on who gay people are, and I’ve also written on immigration and economic justice, and I have worked on cases involving race discrimination in jury selection and women’s inequality. I don’t think one has to pick one of these things; they work together.”

Indeed, he has. Wolfson was lead counsel before the Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, the case arguing against the expulsion of gay scoutmasters. As an intrepid young assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, Wolfson worked on People v. Liberta to end the exemption that allowed women to be raped by their husbands legally, a right in New York State as early as 1984. And he helped end the practice of choosing jurors based upon their race.

Wolfson’s entire career has been at the center of the most explosive legal and cultural issues of the last 30 years in the United States, and his influence has been profound. David Shankbone sat down with him to discuss some of the recent decisions affecting gay marriage, gender in marriage and reactions in the gay community to his fight for their rights.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Television producer and owner of the anti-Scientology website www.xenutv.com (XenuTV), Mark Bunker, also known as Wise Beard Man, chatted online with Wikinews for nearly three hours. More than 120 people followed the interview live (many from Project Chanology), which makes this exclusive Wikinews interview our most attended IRC interview to date.

Bunker started XenuTV in 1999 and began to make videos that he provided for the Lisa McPherson Trust. Bunker has been a critic of the Church of Scientology since 1997.

In 2006, he won a Regional Emmy Award after he and KUSI-TV news reporter Lena Lewis produced a documentary news video on the issues with the United States – Mexico border with San Diego, California.

A compilation of brief news reports for Thursday, December 4, 2008.

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On December 2, the Toronto city council voted in favor of banning the sales and distribution of bottled water on city property. The council also agreed to provide public drinking fountains on their properties, as well as on a measure that would make shoppers pay at least five Canadian cents for plastic grocery bags and force business owners to offer reusable bags and carry-out containers.

“Toronto’s decision to ban the bottle and turn on the tap sends a clear message that bottled water’s 15 minutes are up,” said Polaris Institute’s campaign coordinator, Joe Cressy.

All of the city’s facilities should be following the water ban by 2011, while businesses will have to implement their bag fees by 2010. Toronto has become the largest city in the world to ban bottled water on government property.

Related news

• “Calls for bottled water bans grow in Canada” — Wikinews, August 23, 2008

Sources

• “Toronto Bans Bottled Water” — CNW Group, December 3, 2008
• “Toronto council approves plastic bag charge, bottle ban” — CBC News, December 3, 2008

On Tuesday, American actor, Patrick Swayze, who suffers from pancreatic cancer, denied reports that he was near death. American tabloid National Inquirer reported on November 28 that Swayze’s cancer had spread to his liver and that he was preparing for his death.

“The only thorn in my side being that many tabloids have been consistently reporting lies and false information about me and those close to me,” said Swayze in a statement to the press who also added that he knows he is in “the fight for his life,” but that it is a fight that he “is winning.”

“I’m one of the lucky few that responds well to treatment,” added Swayze.

Swayze has starred in over a dozen films, including the 1987 hit film Dirty Dancing.

Related news

• “Wikinews Shorts: November 28, 2008” — Wikinews, November 28, 2008

Sources

• “Swayze denies ‘deathbed’ rumours” — BBC News Online, December 3, 2008
• “Patrick Swayze denies reports he is near death” — Reuters, December 2, 2008

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Due to the province-wide college strike, events at Humber College in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada have been cancelled or delayed.

Latin Jazz Night, set to happen on Wednesday evening at 8:00 pm is cancelled, as is an Evening of Sketch Comedy, which was scheduled for Sunday, March 12 at 8:00 pm.

The Evening of Sketch Comedy is organized by students of the Humber School of Comedy. Humber is the only institution to offer comedy courses at a post-secondary or post-graduate level. The Evening is a part of students’ marks.

Theatre Humber’s production of The Rover has survived the axe. Set to play from Friday, March 31 – Saturday, April 8 at the Humber Theatre, it has been pre-emptively postponed.

Faculty of 24 colleges across the province went on strike as of Monday night, after no deal was made in continued collective bargaining.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

As gas prices have risen in the United States, the regional transport authority for southeastern Pennsylvania, SEPTA, has seen a sharp increase in ridership, which has caused overcrowding on the trains.

“As fuel prices have continued to rise, SEPTA ridership has steadily increased and is the highest in 18 years,” said SEPTA General Manager Joseph Casey. Monthly ridership was 22 percent higher last month than a year ago.

“They have crushed loads on their rail lines, already where people are standing, and there’s not enough seats,” said Rich Bickel, the director of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

“At peak times some railcars are standing room only and commuter parking lots are nearly full. All Regional Rail lines are running near full capacity and the train station parking lots are at about 90 percent capacity or more,” SEPTA spokesperson Felipe Suarez said.

While SEPTA awaits new Silverliner V trains from Hyundai Rotem, which begin arriving in 2009, it had hoped to lease eight rail cars from New Jersey Transit, at an agreed-upon rate of US$10,000 per month. However, due to problems with insurance and liability indemnification, the deal fell through, according to Casey.

SEPTA has entered a new agreement to purchase the eight rail cars from NJ Transit. The transit authority will pay US$670,000 for the cars and assorted supplies plus one additional inoperative car which will be used for spare parts. The rail cars will be operated using a SEPTA provided locomotive as they are not self-propelled.

The cars are being disposed of by NJ Transit because it has switched from single-floor cars to double-decker cars.

SEPTA is expecting to raise US$3.1 million by selling rail that has been out of service since 1981 at auction.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

At least one person has been killed and at least thirty were injured as the result of a fire in the city of Lagos in Nigeria after an explosion in a building with fireworks stored in it. As many as nine other buildings in the Lagos Island fire yesterday were also impacted by the flames, according to authorities. The fire was reportedly the cause of the explosion, although this is yet to be confirmed.

Some local residents reportedly jumped out of the windows of buildings in fright in the large commercial area of Jankara. One man, Wasiu Olaleye, required treatment for a cut to his leg because “I had to jump from the first floor to save my life”, he said. Some local businesses were open when the incident occurred, but yesterday was a public holiday in Nigeria.

A school located in close proximity to the warehouse was significantly damaged in the incident. Numerous vehicles in the area were completely burnt out by the fire. The windows of several nearby buildings were also destroyed as the fire caused the windows of houses a few miles away to shake. Thick smoke was also sighted above Lagos.

Crowds of thousands of nearby people accumulated near the fire, with spectators and individuals intending to assist or gain information about relatives amongst them. Three fire service tanker vehicles attended the scene, but used up all their water supplies. Some people in the crowd attempted to assist fire crews with holding fire hoses and gathering water-filled containers. Some of these people were taken to hospital for treatment after experiencing injuries. One official reported military assistance was used. Additional water arrived later, as the severity of the fire slowly decreased.

The large crowds were part of the reason it took around an hour for fire service members to reach the scene of the fire. News agency Reuters was told by a government official that the possibility of further explosions from fireworks also interfered with the fire service’s rescue operation. “It’s very dangerous for the firemen to go in, because the government don’t want any of these men to be injured”, they said.

Ibrahim Farinloye from the National Emergency Management Agency reported one fatality to Agence France-Presse (AFP), saying: “We pulled out a body from the building”. Nicolas Adesile, of the Red Cross, told the same news agency that as many as thirty people have been treated thus far.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Robbie Hunter of South Africa has won stage 11 of the 2007 Tour de France. Hunter edged out Fabian Cancellara and Murilo Fischer in a tight sprint.

Michael Rasmussen of Denmark retained the overall lead finishing the stage with the first peleton. The biggest change in the chase for the yellow jersey was Christophe Moreau losing more than three minutes on the leaders and dropping out of the top ten.

For a good portion of the stage, Wegmann, Florencio, Gilbert, Millar and Fofonov had the lead. The five-man breakaway group was gobbled up by the peleton. With 30 km to go the peleton split into two clearly defined main groups with about 1:40 separating them. The gap grew to two full minutes with 20 km to go. The second peleton finished 3:17 behind Hunter’s time.

The 182.5 km stage 11, from Marseille to Montpellier, is the first of two transition stages between the Alps and the Pyrenees, with no major climbs.

In the wake of the doping test of Patrik Sinkewitz, German networks ZDF and ARD ended their live coverage of the Tour. In response, Tour organizers, Amaury Sport Organisation, signed deals with Sat.1 and ProSieben, so that German fans can continue to watch.

“With the agreement of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) a replacement solution has been found. We have leased the TV rights to Sat.1 and ProSieben,” Yann Le Moenner of ASO told Reuters.