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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Google has started phasing out support for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), following a hacking attempt that exploited an IE6 vulnerability, despite the flaw being fixed promptly.

From March 1 on, some services, such as Google Docs, will not work “properly” when accessed from the browser. Google recommends that both firms and end-users upgrade “as soon as possible”. Google now only officially supports Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox 3+, Chrome 4+ and Safari 3+.

Hackers exploited a weak spot in Internet Explorer to find the contents of Gmail accounts of human rights activists in China. Following this, both the French and German governments advised that users should switch to a different browser until the flaw had been plugged.

Microsoft issued a patch quickly after the revelations, pushing out a scheduled update just under three weeks earlier than they had scheduled. The software giant normally issues updates once a month, but the high press coverage led it to run an unscheduled update. However, Microsoft admitted that they knew about the problem “since early September”, and were planning to patch it in February, leaving the hole open for five months.

Rajen Sheth, the Senior Product Manager for Google Apps, said in a blog post that the web had “evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications including video and voice”, and that “very old browsers cannot run many […] new features”.

20% of users still use the browser, released in August 2001 in order to complement the then-new Windows XP operating system, including many governments. Microsoft will support the browser until 2014, although the browser has attracted strong criticism among people in the web industry.

The bad publicity garnered from the attacks has allowed rivals, such as Mozilla Firefox and Google’s own browser, Chrome, to gain market share, allowing the open-source Firefox, of which a new version (3.6) has just been released, to claw a 40% share, close to overtaking Microsoft’s 45%.

Last July, Google also dropped IE6 support from the popular video sharing site, YouTube. Popular sites, such as Facebook and Digg, have also dropped support. IE6 does not support several key technologies, making compatible web-design hard to do. For example, it does not render partial transparency in png images, and many site designers must work around the fact that Internet Explorer 6 does not support many important parts of the cascading style sheets (CSS) family of standards, which is how the majority of websites are designed.

Friday, July 17, 2009

On July 16, 2009, the largest skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois was officially renamed Willis Tower. Willis Group Holdings became a major tenant of the building in March, 2009. As part of the deal whereby they agreed to lease 140,000 square feet of the building, they were given the naming rights to the tower, which had been known as the Sears Tower since its opening in 1973. It is the largest skyscraper in the United States and was for a time the largest skyscraper in the world; though it has since been surpassed.

Sears, Roebuck and Company owned the building from its conception until it sold it in 1994. It is currently owned by American Landmark Properties of Skokie, Illinois. Sears had mostly moved out of the building by 1992, and closed its last offices there by 1995. However, they retained the naming rights until 2003. Since no deal had been worked out to rename the building by that date, it retained the Sears Tower name until Willis Group Holdings negotiated the naming rights as part of their lease on the building. The naming rights did not cost Willis any additional money, and they will retain those rights until at least 2024.

Willis Group Holdings is a London-based insurance company, incorporated in Bermuda. They are leasing 140,000 square feet of the building at a rate of $14.50 per square foot, and are consolidating their five Chicago-area offices to the new space.

Though lettering on the building had been changed on July 15, the official change did not occur until July 16, during a private ceremony involving 500 Willis employees and invited guests. The date and time name change was kept quiet until the actual lettering was changed, though the change was anticipated for several months. The tourist areas to the building, which includes a 103rd floor observation deck, will retain its current name, Skydeck Chicago.

The renaming has received some criticism from columnists in local papers, such as the Chicago Tribune, as Willis has almost no name recognition in the Chicago area. Several local residents have expressed their displeasure in the renaming, including one who started the website www.itsthesearstower.com. Chicago Historical Society senior curator John Russick has stated of the name change, “The Sears Tower has been an icon here for the last quarter of a century. For the generation that grew up calling it the Sears Tower, it’ll be hard for people to shift and start calling it something else.”

Monday, April 11, 2005

Anna Ayala, the Las Vegas woman who claims to have found the notorious “chili finger” at a Wendy’s outlet in San Jose, California, has filed lawsuits against other businesses, according to researchers at the Associated Press. Her previous court battles included the national El Pollo Loco chicken-chain, a previous employer, and even General Motors.

Ayala successfully won her suit for medical expenses against El Pollo Loco, after her daughter Genesis contracted salmonella poisoning from eating at the restaurant. However, Ayala lost another suit in 2000 claiming that a wheel fell off her car.

Ayala’s original account of the incident spoke “emotionally and with disgust” to the San Jose Mercury News when she described it to the paper.

“Lies, lies, lies, that’s all I am hearing. They should look at Wendy’s. What are they hiding? Why are we being victimized again and again?” Ayala recently told The Associated Press. Ayala is now in her Las Vegas home, avoiding reporters.

“It doesn’t prove anything,” family spokesman Ken Bono told the San Francisco Chronicle. “My mom has 10 lawsuits. A lot of people have lawsuits. Why would she sue for money? She has plenty of money,” he said.

Nick Muyo, a spokesman for the San Jose Police department, said not to expect new information in the case for at least a week.

“We just want to step back and take a deep breath,” Muyo told Knight Ridder Newspapers. “From a law enforcement point of view, once you establish it is a human finger, you have to wonder is this a case of industrial accident or is this a case of unreported homicide,” he said.

Las Vegas police searched Anna Ayala’s home on Wednesday, retrieving a cooler and other effects from her home, such as a makeup case.

Despite the incident, which has dramatically reduced sales at Northern California Wendy’s outlets, die-hard Wendy’s fans are still turning up for lunch, even at the outlet where the finger was found, at 1405 Monterey Highway, just south of downtown San Jose.

“We’ve eaten here for years,” a police officer told the San Francisco Chronicle under the condition that he remain anonymous. “They’re very nice people. When we work Spartan Stadium, we always eat here,” he said.

San Jose City Council candidate Andrew Diaz still eats the chili. And he witnessed the finger discovery.

“I walked away real slow,” Diaz told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I didn’t want any commotion,” he said.

Monday, March 1, 2021

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Thursday, February 4, 2021

The East Gippsland Shire Council, a local government body in Australia which governs towns such as Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance and Mallacoota, on Tuesday passed a motion supporting the prohibition of nuclear weapons. The motion originated from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a global campaign supporting implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The motion called upon the council to write to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in indication of their support for the treaty.

The motion was moved at Tuesday’s council meeting by Councillor Tony Crook, and seconded by Councillor Jane Greacen. While Crook acknowledged “clearly this forum has very little influence over the use or production of nuclear weapons”, he acknowledged Australia’s role in the nuclear fuel cycle, stating nuclear weapons “have bought untold misery to communities around the world”. Councillor Arthur Allan opposed the motion, saying while he agreed with what Crook and Greacen had stated, the issue of nuclear weapons was a “federal issue” and the motion amounted to “virtue signalling”.

Deputy Mayor Mark Reeves supported the motion, contending it was an issue of “moral standing” and representing the views of the community, quipping “nobody’s said to me — ‘You know what we need? A really good intercontinental ballistic missile in the shire.'” Councillor Trevor Stowe called the motion “feel-good stuff” and “an absolute waste of time”.

The vote ultimately resulted in a tie, with Crook, Greacen, Reeves, and Mayor Mendy Urie voting in support, and Councillors John White and Kirsten Van Diggele, as well as Allen and Stowe, voting against. Councillor Sonia Buckley abstained. Mayor Urie broke the tie in favour of the motion.

The Australian government has previously boycotted prohibition treaty talks, with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stating “a ban treaty risks undermining the [non-proliferation treaty] which Australia rightly regards as the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture”. The opposition Labor Party has pledged to sign and ratify the treaty if elected to government.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou survived a confidence vote by the Greek parliament late Tuesday night, thus allowing Papandreou to form a new cabinet constituted to address Greece’s severe financial debt crisis. The vote’s outcome is viewed as a measure of confidence in the government’s ability to resolve the problems of the deeply-indebted nation and implement the stringent austerity measures necessary for Greece to receive future bailout packages from the European Union (EU).

Papandreou managed to face down internal dissent within his own Panhellenic Socialist Movement over the extremely unpopular austerity measures (he has said the measures are an issue of “life or death”) and the final vote of 155 to 143, with two abstentions, matched Papandreou’s 155 seats. Meanwhile, Greeks were angrily demonstrating against the measures outside, throwing bottles at the parliament building as riot police stood by.

Following the confidence vote, Greece will be in a position to look for further financial aid from the EU to avoid defaulting on its enormous debt, but help from the EU is dependent on the real work that must be done first: the Greek parliament’s implementation of the hugely unpopular austerity measures.

Government spokesman Elias Mossialos said in an interview with Skai Television before the vote that Greece will be unable to pay wages and pensions after July 15 if the government does not secure the EU financing.

The vote came in the midst weeks of widespread anti-austerity protests and strikes in major cities throughout Greece, involving clashes between police and demonstrators angry with the proposed slew of layoffs in the public sector which are to accompany the Socialist cabinet’s program.

On Wednesday, Pimco, the biggest bond fund in the world, said it was unimpressed with Tuesday’s vote of confidence, saying it believes Greece and perhaps other European economies will ultimately default on their debts. Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, said, “Nothing has been done to enhance growth. No single (Greek) indicator has shown strength.”

“For the next three years, we’re going to see different economies work out different problems. For European economies, especially Greece, it would be through default,” said Mohamed El-Erian in a video conference.

The euro fell against the dollar on Wednesday as financial markets indicated that the eurozone debt crisis is far from over.

George Papandreou gave an emotional speech to parliament on Wednesday, saying “We have a unique opportunity (to change the country). If we falter, if we lose heart and squander it… history will judge us very harshly.”

Meanwhile, when the new austerity measures move to parliament for a vote, Greece’s major unions are planning to hold a 48-hour general strike.

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

The US Army Corps of Engineers decision to place restrictions on issuance of nationwide pollution permits has been upheld by a federal court. In National Association of Home Builders v. Army Corps of Engineers, the District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Corps of Engineers had not acted in an “arbitrary” or “capricious” manner in changing the terms and conditions for issuance of a national pollution permit, including reducing the size of area into which pollutants may be discharged from 10 acres to 1 acre, raising the threshold for requiring additional permits from 1 acre to 1/10 acre,

A nationwide permit allows an organization to engage in certain industrial activities on a national basis (such as mining and construction), reducing the amount of paperwork and filings needed for otherwise minor environmental impacts, as opposed to an ordinary permit for a specific location which will engage in activities which generate water pollution.

Due to concerns over the amount of discharge taking place in waterways, the Corps of Engineers began in the 1980s to reduce the authority granted by nationwide permits and to bar use of the permits in certain ecologically sensitive areas.

Some industry groups, including the plaintiff in the above case, The National Association of Home Builders, sued the Corps of Engineers in 2000 over the change in an attempt to block its implementation. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, were given permission to intervene in the case in support of the actions of the Corps.

Environmental groups were pleased with the decision, but are concerned over other actions of the Bush Administration, such as the attempts to weaken provisions of the 2002 Clean Water Act to allow additional dumping of construction and mining waste into waterways as fill material.