Gunman's body found after Finland mall shootings

Finnish police have confirmed they have found the body of a gunman responsible for killing five people in a shooting rampage in the southern city of Espoo.

Investigators said 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli shot dead three men and a woman with a 9mm pistol at a grocery shop inside the Sello shopping centre.

One of the shop's employees, Shkupolli's ex-girlfriend, was later found dead at a flat in the city.

The incident is Finland's third major shooting in the past two years.

Local police were first notified about Thursday's shooting inside the Prisma grocery store at 1008 local time (0808 GMT).

A witness told Finland's state broadcaster, YLE, that the gunman appeared to have opened fire at random.

The victims were aged 27, 40, 42 and 45, and worked at the shopping centre, police said.

Another witness said chaos had ensued after the shots were heard.

"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the witness told Finnish radio.

The gunman was later seen walking towards another shop.

A fifth victim, a Prisma employee identified by YLE as Mr Shkupolli's ex-girlfriend, was later found dead at a flat on the outskirts of Espoo. Investigators said the killing was believed to have had a "domestic" motive, and that there had been a restraining order in place against Mr Shkupolli.

When police then went to Mr Shkupolli's flat, they found his body.

"The four victims in the shopping centre were, in a way, outsiders. It looks like the incident is linked to the fifth victim," Chief Inspector Jukka Kaski told a news conference.

"She seems to have been the gunman's main target and the whole shooting is tied up with the relationship between her and the gunman," he added.

The Sello centre remains cordoned off, and trains are not stopping at the local railway station. Ambulances and police are still outside.

Gun laws tightened

There is a long tradition of hunting in Finland, which has vast areas of forest and wilderness, but until recently gun crime has been rare.

But two deadly shootings in recent years focused attention on gun laws in a country where young people were permitted to own and use a firearm at 15 years of age if they had parental consent.

In November 2007, an 18-year-old went on a gun rampage at his school in Tuusula, killing seven pupils and a teacher, before turning the gun on himself. He had posted a video warning of the attack on the internet.

Then, in September 2008, a 22-year-old trainee chef killed 10 people at a college before killing himself.

He, too, had put a video on the internet showing himself shooting a gun. After doing that he was interviewed by police, but they decided it was not sufficient reason to revoke his gun licence.

After the second attack, stricter rules on permits for pistols and revolvers were introduced.

Handgun permits would no longer be granted to first-time applicants, the interior ministry said.

Instead, they must train for at least a year at a gun club before being allowed to apply for a permit.

All applicants must also provide a note from a doctor about their mental health and sit an interview with police.

Source: BBC UK Tuesday, 31 December 2009

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So Much for That Free Google Phone Idea

A quick update on the Nexus One, the Android phone Google will likely uncrate at the Jan. 5 media event announced yesterday. According to documents leaked to Gizmodo, Google plans to sell the device unlocked and unsubsidized for $530 or with a two-year T-Mobile contract for $179.99.

If these documents are legitimate, they would appear to confirm that Google (GOOG) does indeed hope to rebalance the wireless market power structure, disintermediating carriers by selling the Nexus One directly to users, who will be allowed to choose the wireless provider of their choice.

But that $530 price point is a bit daunting, and it seems unlikely that many customers will be eager to pay it upfront–even if they’re given a post-purchase carrier subsidy once they select a provider and a wireless contract. So while the Nexus One might shake up the current wireless market model a bit, it’s probably not going to upend the market as it might have had Google opted to sell the device at cost or subsidize it with online advertising.

Google’s plan, may, however, set the bar for how an Android phone should be done and set the stage for some much improved second-generation Android devices.

Source: Digital Daily by John Paczkowski All Thinks Digital

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India survey says Facebook affects productivity

Indian firms are losing productivity because office staff spend too long on social networking sites, a survey says.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) says workers use Orkut, Facebook, Myspace and Linkedin for "romancing" and other purposes.

Office employees questioned in the survey spent on average an hour a day on sites like Facebook, leading to a loss in productivity of nearly 12.5%.

The findings were based on responses from nearly 4,000 corporate employees.

'Dangerous'

"Close to 12.5% of productivity of human resource in corporate sector is misappropriated each day since a vast majority of them while away their time accessing social networking sites during the office hours," according to the findings of Assocham's Social Development Foundation survey.

"As a matter of fact, [the] growing use of browsing sites can be dangerous for overall productivity and IT companies have already installed software to restrict its use," Assocham secretary general DS Rawat said.

The survey questioned 4,000 employees between the ages of 21 and 60 in Delhi, Bangalore, Madras (Chennai), Cochin, Indore, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai (Bombay), Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Lucknow and Kanpur.

The survey found that 77% of workers who had Orkut accounts used them during work hours.

Nearly half of office employees accessed Facebook during work time.

Moreover, four in every 10 workers built their entire Orkut or Facebook profile at work, the survey found.

Some 83% saw nothing wrong in surfing at work during office hours.

According to the survey, 19% of companies allow use of social networking sites only for business purposes, while 16% allow limited personal use.

Only 40% of the employees interviewed said that their companies allowed staff full access to social networking sites.

The survey also says that 84% of respondents in India's major cities show signs of internet addiction - they do not take breaks at appropriate times, they spend more than a "normal" amount of time online, and can get irritable if they are interrupted while surfing.

In September, Portsmouth City Council in southern England banned staff from accessing Facebook on its computers after it was revealed they spent on average 400 hours on the site every month.

The move was expected to stop the "waste of public cash".

Source: BBC UK Tuesday, 29 December 2009

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Google loses Canadian Groovle domain name claim

A Canadian company behind a search engine called Groovle.com has won a case filed against it by online search giant Google.

Google said the domain name used by the small business, 207 Media, was too similar to its own, but mediators the National Arbitration Forum disagreed.

In the complaint, Google asked for the judges to rule that 207 Media transfer the domain name over to it.

But three judges appointed by the forum refused the request.

They said the name was not similar enough to confuse people and the word 'groovle' was more closely linked to "groovy" or "groove" rather than Google.

Legitimate interest

The judges also refused to examine other claims made by Google, including that the Canadian business had no "legitimate" interest in the domain name and had registered it in "bad faith".

The entrepreneurs behind Groovle.com said they had used the site for more than two-and-a-half years without any complaints by Google.

The site is powered by Google but describes itself as a way for users to create a customised internet homepage.

People can upload personal images onto the site and then go on to search the web from that page.

The National Arbitration Forum is an agency, approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, to sort out domain name disputes.

It is only the second time out of 65 that a complaint made by Google against companies about domain names has been rejected.

In 2004, Richard Wolfe, the owner of froogles.com managed to persuade an arbitration panel his site could not be confused with Google.com.

Source: BBC UK Tuesday, 29 December 2009

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Ad-Classified is Online classified advertising for Free

Website: www.Ad-Classified.com, Click here to visit

Ad-Classified.com, Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, e.g. free ads papers or Pennysavers. Classified advertising differs from standard advertising or business models in that it allows private individuals (not simply companies or corporate entities) to solicit sales for products and services.

Overview

Classified advertising is usually text-only and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold and a telephone number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products ("pants and sweaters, size 10" as opposed to "clothing", "red 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix" as opposed to "automobile"). There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used.

Classified advertising is called such because it is generally grouped within the publication under headings classifying the product or service being offered (headings such as Accounting, Automobiles, Clothing, Farm Produce, For Sale, For Rent, etc.) and is grouped entirely in a distinct section of the periodical, which makes it distinct from display advertising, which often contains graphics or other art work and which is more typically distributed throughout a publication adjacent to editorial content.

A hybrid of the two forms — classified display advertising — may often be found, in which categorized advertisements with larger amounts of graphical detail can be found among the text listings of a classified advertising section in a publication. Business opportunities often use classifieds to sell their services, usually employing 1-800 numbers. Classified ads are also among the tools used by many companies in recruitment for available job opportunities.

Printed classified ads are typically just a few column lines in length, and they are often filled with abbreviations to save space and money.

Developments

In recent years the term "classified advertising" or "classified ads" has expanded from merely the sense of print advertisements in periodicals to include similar types of advertising on computer services, radio, and even television, particularly cable television but occasionally broadcast television as well, with the latter occurring typically very early in the morning hours.

Like most forms of printed media, the classified ad has found its way to the Internet.

Internet classified ads do not typically use per-line pricing models, so they tend to be longer. They are also more readily searchable unlike their offline brethren, tend to be local, and may foster a greater sense of urgency as a result of their daily structure and wider scope for audiences. Because of their self-policing nature and low cost structures, some companies offer free classifieds such as Craigslist, Kijiji and Gumtree internationally. Other companies focus mainly on their local hometown region, while others blanket urban areas by using zip codes. Craigslist.org was one of the first online classified sites, and has grown to become the largest classified source, bringing in over 14 million unique visitors a month according to comScore Media Metrix. A number of online services called aggregators such as Trovit and sumavisos.com crawl and aggregate classifieds from sources such as blogs and RSS feeds, as opposed to relying on manually submitted listings.

Additionally, other companies provide online advertising services and tools to assist members in designing online ads using professional ad templates and then automatically distributing the finished ads to the various online ad directories as part of their service. In this sense these companies act as both an application service provider and a content delivery platform. Social classifieds is niche that is growing in online classified ads.

Statistics

In 2003, the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online) according to market researcher Classified Intelligence. The worldwide market for classified ads in 2003 was estimated at over $100 billion. Perhaps due to a lack of reporting solidarity Market Statistics vary concerning the total market for internet classified ads. The Kelsey Research Group lists online classified ads as being worth $13.3 billion, while Jupiter Research provides a conservative appraisal of $2.6 billion (2005) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau lists the net worth of online classified revenue at $2.1 billion (April 2006).

Newspapers have continued their downward trend in classifieds revenue as internet classifieds grow. Classified advertising at some of the larger newspaper chains has dropped 14% to 20% in 2007 while traffic to classified sites has grown 23%.^[1]

As the online classified advertising sector develops, there is an increasing emphasis toward specialization. Vertical markets for classifieds are developing quickly along with the general marketplace for classifieds websites. Like search engines, classified websites are often vertical in nature with sites providing advertising platforms for niche markets of buyers of sellers.

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Carrefour refuses to sell Alfa, files appeal

French-based retail giant Carrefour has defied the anti-monopoly watchdog’s order to sell its Alfa subsidiary and has instead filed an appeal against the verdict.

In November, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) found PT Carrefour Indonesia guilty of unfair business practices following the acquisition of the PT Alfa Retailindo.

The commission ordered the retail giant to sell all of its shares in Alfa worth Rp 675 billion (US$ 71.55 million) within a year and fined the company Rp 25 billion.

Irawan Kadarman, Carrefour Indonesia's corporate communications director, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday the retail giant would not comply with the orders until a final legal decision in the courts had been reached.

An appeal against the verdict had been filed at the South Jakarta District Court, Irawan said.

“We maintain our position that Carrefour has in no way been conducting monopoly practices,” he said.

The first court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2010.

KPPU spokesman Ahmad Junaidi said that Carrefour’s rejection was based on a lack of facts.

“It’s their right to file an appeal,” he said.

“We, however, are optimistic the court will rule in favor of us. Our ruling is based on deep analysis and investigation, which has resulted in convincing evidence that Carrefour has conducted unfair business practices,” he said. (bbs)

Source: The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 12/30/2009

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Former Indonesian President Wahid dies

Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has died aged 69, according to party officials.

Wahid, who was often referred to by his nickname Gus Dur, ruled the country between 1999 and 2001.

He was the first elected president after the fall of the 32-year Suharto regime in 1998.

Wahid had been suffering from a number of medical problems in recent years. He was a diabetic and was known to have had a series of strokes.

Short tenure

"Gus Dur just passed away," Lukman Edy from Wahid's National Awakening Party told reporters.

"We lost a great statesman who had dedicated all of his life to the nation, struggling for the sake of those suffering from injustice," his brother Solahuddin Wahid told The Associated Press.

According to local television reports Wahid died of heart failure, but this has not yet been confirmed.

The partially blind Muslim cleric came to power after defeating Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of founding President Sukarno, in October 1999.

His win was a surprise - Mrs Megawati's party had won far more votes in the legislative polls - and a testament to Wahid's ability to build coalitions with other parties.

He used this skill to try to bring unity in the tumultuous post-Suharto years.

But he not been in the job long before his opponents accused him of failing to tackle the economic crisis, and doing little to resolve the secessionist conflicts in several provinces of Indonesia.

In July 2001, less than two years into the job, he was sacked by the country's national assembly amid unproven allegations of corruption and incompetence.

Educated in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq and Canada, Wahid had a reputation for religious tolerance and moderate politics.

As well as his prominent political role, he was also a leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim group with some 40 million members - and one of the largest independent Islamic organisations in the world.

He suffered several strokes and was confined to a wheelchair in his later years, but despite his fading health he remained an influential figure in politics.

Source: BBC UK Tuesday, 29 December 2009

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Jakarta closing in on year-end target for East Flood Canal

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo announced that the East Flood Canal project would reach the ocean
Dec. 31.

“As we promised, the construction will be completed by Dec. 31,” Fauzi said Tuesday.

“However, we admit that there are certain spots that haven't reached the required width,”
Fauzi said.

Chief of the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Bureau at the Public Works Ministry, Pitoyo Subandrio, said some sections, such as those at Sunter River, Pahlawan Revolusi bridge, Pondok Kopi, Rawa Bebek and Marunda in North Jakarta, were not fully dredged.

“Some of the sections are still 15 meters in width, compared to the required 70 meters,” Pitoyo said.

Despite the unfinished sections, he claimed that the situation would not hinder the flow of water to the sea, since the dredged parts are between 4 and 7 meters deep.

“The construction is not finished yet, but we have pushed the contractors to connect the canal to the sea by the end of December to make us better ready to face the annual flood in January,” Pitoyo said.

He said the construction of the East Flood Canal was 96.5 percent completed. The inspection roads, bridges and wire fence are the remaining projects.

“Employees will work the next two days, break on Jan. 1 and continue the work from Jan. 2,” he said.

Pitoyo said he believed the contractors would finish the remaining construction before their contract term finished in June because the city had completed the hardest part – the land procurement – on Dec. 18.

“We have finished with the land procurement,” he said. “I believe the contractors will quickly finish the job because it will save money.”

When the construction is finished, the 23.5-kilometer-long canal, which will be 10 meters deep and between 100 and 300 meters wide, will push 390 cubic meters of water per second.

It will control six major rivers in the city, including Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jatikramat, Cakung and Blencong. The canal is estimated to reduce flooding across the 270-square-kilometer flood-prone area in the east and north parts of the city.

The canal will stretch along 13 subdistricts in East and North Jakarta; Cipinang Besar Selatan, Cipinang Muara, Pondok Bambu, Duren Sawit, Pondok Kelapa, Malaka Sari, Malaka Jaya, Pondok Kopi, Pulo Gebang, Ujung Menteng, Cakung Timur, Rorotan and Marunda.

Pitoyo said he was deploying a number of officers to monitor the canal around the clock to prevent people from fishing and throwing garbage into the Rp 4.6 trillion (US$474 million) project.

Late November, Umar, a 27-year-old man, allegedly drowned while looking for fish in the canal in the East Flood Canal in East Jakarta.

Source: Indah Setiawati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 12/30/2009

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Indonesia court throws out Facebook defamation case

An Indonesian court has thrown out a hospital's criminal defamation case against a mother-of-two whose e-mail complaint appeared on Facebook.

Prita Mulysari had e-mailed friends to say the hospital had misdiagnosed her. Her complaint was then posted on other internet sites without her knowledge.

The Omni International Hospital filed civil and criminal defamation charges against the 32-year-old bank worker.

The case sparked huge controversy in Indonesia and she gained wide support.

She wept and people in the courtroom cheered when the panel of judges dismissed the hospital's complaint.

People power

"The e-mail sent by the defendant doesn't contain any defamation. It constitutes criticism so the public will be protected from mistreatment by any hospital or doctor," the judges said in their ruling.

"I can't believe this. This is the power of God," Ms Mulysari told local MetroTv shortly after the court announced its ruling, which was broadcast live on television.

"From the beginning, I believed there would be an end to this problem. God never sleeps," she said, adding that justice had been done.

"It never crossed my mind that I would end up in court over an e-mail I sent to friends."

If found guilty, Ms Mulysari could have faced up to six years in jail.

She had already spent three weeks in jail without charge, while still breast-feeding her second child, following her arrest on 13 May.

Public donations

The hospital earlier this month offered to drop its civil charge against Ms Mulysari if she apologised.

But she opted instead to challenge the fine of 204 million rupiah ($21,400, £13,320) - much more than a year's salary for most Indonesians - in the Supreme Court.

That court decision has not yet been reached, but donations worth $50,000 so far have been collected to help her if necessary.

If she does not have to pay the fine, she says she will donate the money to charity.

Ms Mulysari's e-mail to 20 friends, telling them the hospital had misdiagnosed her with dengue fever when she had mumps, was posted on the Facebook social networking site and elsewhere without her knowledge.

A Facebook support group of 100,000 then prompted donations from across the nation, often from poor people able to contribute only small coins.

Taufik Basari, a human rights lawyer from the People's Legal Aid Foundation, told AFP news agency that the case illustrated a deep "imbalance" in favour of the rich and powerful at the heart of Indonesia's legal system.

"The powerless people, either politically or economically weak, are always at a disadvantage. There's always unequal treatment for them. This is supported by the corrupt behaviour of law enforcers," he said.

Source: BBC UK Tuesday, 29 December 2009

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Google is sued by Chinese author Mian Mian

谷歌是由中国作者起诉眠眠

A Beijing judge has told the Chinese novelist Mian Mian, who is suing Google over its plan to create an online library, to hold settlement talks.

After a two-hour hearing, the court ordered both sides to talk but did not set a deadline for reporting back, according to the author's lawyer.

She is seeking damages of 61,000 yuan ($8,950; £5,576) and a public apology.

The lawsuit was filed in October after Google scanned one of Mian Mian's books, Acid House, into its library.

Google said it had removed the book as soon as it learned of the lawsuit, but had no further comment on the case.

Mian Mian writes risque novels - including titles such as Panda Sex and Candy - about China's underworld of sex, drugs and nightlife. Most of her work is banned in China.

She is not alone in complaining about copyright issues raised by Google's online library. The China Written Works Copyright Society is also looking for compensation for other Chinese authors whose work is included in the project.

In France, a court ordered Google to stop digitising French books without the publisher's approval. The search engine was also told to pay 300,000 euros ($430,000; £268,000) in damages and interest to French company La Martiniere, which had sued for copyright infringement for scanning book excerpts.

In the US, Google agreed a $125m settlement with American authors and publishers - although this is still waiting for final court approval.

Source: BBC UK Tuesday, 29 December 2009

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Taufik Kiemas: George labeled me RI 1.5 in his book

People Consultative Assembly chairman Taufik Kiemas said Monday controversial author George Junus Aditjondro had labeled him as RI 1.5 in a book titled Oligarchy with Three Pillars: Palace, Barrack, and Ruling Party.

"He [George] wrote that I controlled the economy when Megawati Soekarnoputri was the Indonesian president," Taufik said as quoted by Kompas.com. " However, I and my family did not respond to it because the facts were not like what he claimed."

He said George had written many books about Indonesian presidents including Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid.

George's latest book titled Unmasking the Cikeas Octopus: Behind Century Scandal, which disclosed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's four foundations and their involvement in Bank Century scandal, has sparked controversy.

Amien Rais: Cikeas Octopus book uses secondary data

Former chairman of the People Consultatives Assembly Amien Rais said Sunday a controversial book titled Unmasking Cikeas Octopus: Behind the Century Scandal used merely secondary data.

"The book takes facts from internet, journal, newspapers, not from a field research conducted by the author," Amien said as quoted by Kompas.com.

George Junus Aditjondro is the author of the book.

Amien added academicians would not rate the book too high because of the use of secondary data

Source: The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 12/28/2009

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Thailand starts action to send Hmong back to Laos

PHETCHABUN, Thailand -- Thailand early Monday morning launched an operation to close a refugee camp and send some 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to Laos, despite concerns about their safety.

Col. Thana Charuwat, the Thai Army's field coordinator for the operation, said it began at 5:30 a.m. Monday morning, and involved a total of 5,000 troops.

He said the soldiers were unarmed, but equipped with shields and batons, which he described as meeting international standards for dealing with such situations, where people are being moved back against their will.

Many of the Hmong claim they face persecution in their homeland because of its communist government's alleged antagonism toward them. Hmong hill tribe people fought on the side of a pro-American government during the Vietnam War, but the communist side -- popularly known in the West as the Pathet Lao -- emerged triumphant in 1975.

Thailand claims most of the Hmong at the camp have no legitimate claim to refugee status, but are simply economic migrants who have entered the country illegally.

Shortly before 5 a.m., journalists staying at a press center about seven miles (12 kilometers) from the camp observed at least two dozen trucks head toward the refugee camp. There appeared to be about 20 soldiers on each truck. A large contingent of troops were already inside the camp, which has been sealed off to journalists and other outsiders.

Col. Thana said the army hoped to complete the operation within 24 hours. He said the Hmong would be taken to a nearby staging area where they would be put on buses, which would take them to the Thai border town of Nong Khai, and then across to Laos, with their destination there being Paksane district in the central province of Bolikhamsai.

Human rights groups warned earlier that the planned expulsion could turn violent. Thana said the army's initial action would be an effort to have the Hmong agree to be sent back voluntarily.

Sunai Phasuk, a Thai representative for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said mobile phone signals inside the camp had been jammed so nobody could call out. Rights groups fear the Hmong will resist the deportation, as they have during smaller-scale repatriations.

According to Human Rights Watch, one of several groups trying to monitor the situation, soldiers, police and other security personnel were mobilized near the camp and told to wear body armor. There also were reports that 100 trucks and buses were standing by.

"It never happens smoothly," Mr. Sunai said. "If the Hmong resist it and there is an eruption of violence, the army may react in full force."

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said earlier that Bangkok has secured an agreement with Laos to repatriate the group before the end of the year.

The U.S. and human rights groups have expressed concern about their expulsion, saying some of the Hmong could qualify for refugee status and should not be sent back.

Laos has in the past denied the Hmong are Lao citizens, describing them as Thailand's problem, though Bangkok says Laos has agreed to take this group back.

The Thai government has sought to quiet international concerns, saying measures will be taken to ensure that human rights are not violated.

"We have assurances from the top level of Laos that these people will be safe and sound," Mr. Panitan said.

The U.S. State Department has urged Thailand not to hastily expel the entire group, noting that in the past the Thai government has said many of them are in need of protection. Acting spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement Thursday that to repatriate such people would "imperil the well-being of many individuals' and violate international principles.

Mr. Toner said the U.S. had raised the issue many times with Bangkok, most recently this week during the visit of a senior State Department official.

Copyright © 2009 Associated Press

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Trends, models and brand watches for 2010, Limited Edition

Panerai Radiomir Titanium

Based off of the original design from 1938, Panerai has created another rare masterpiece, a titanium encased Radiomir which will see a production run of 12 timepieces. Panerai has accented it with subtle details of gold in the hour hands, minutes, and small seconds and in the knurled ring surrounding the watch dial. Movement is a hand wound, in-house OP XXVII with a power reserve of 55 hours. Link / Source

Omega Museum Collection Milestone 1941

Based on a stainless steel watch design from the late 30s, The Omega Milestone 1941 is a nod to the brand's watchmaking heritage while seamlessly blending modern horological technology. The watch is powered by Omega's Calibre 3203, a manual-wound movement that boasts a Co-Axial escapement, and a column wheel chronograph mechanism. On the outside you'll find a 18 Ct white gold case matched with a black alligator strap and white gold buckle. Link

Louis Vuitton Tambour Travel Alarm Clock

The Tambour Travel Alarm Clock amplifies Louis Vuitton's signature timepiece design into a oversized 57mm case. The clock features a steel case, built-in stand, dual time zones, and a Damier Graphite case. Link: $2,570

Uniform Wares

Another player in the minimalist movement comes via Uniform Wares, a new company out of London with a taste for contemporary, clean lines. The watches will be available in a limited run of eight different colors, each featuring anodized aluminum cases and Japanese Quartz movements. Link: $141 / Source

Nixon Antique Gold Watches

Complementing the Antique Silver pieces they released not too long ago, Nixon is releasing Antique Gold colorways that give some of their popular styles a retro, steampunk-like look and feel. Link

Ikepod Horizon by Jeff Koons

Famed American pop-artist, Jeff Koons, is teaming up with Marc Newson's watch company, Ikepod, on a special edition version of their Horizon timepiece. The Horizon will feature Koons' artwork on the dial and while the pricing hasn't been announced we can imagine its as far from wallet-friendly as you can get, well that is unless you have a Black Card in your wallet. Link

Tag Heuer Silverstone Limited Edition Re-release

Admired by Heuer fans and watch fans alike, the Heuer Silverstone is getting re-released in February 2010 in a limited 1,500 model run of each color. The new Silverstones will be released in brown and blue colorways with perforated alligator straps and an updated Caliber 11 movement with a Dubois-Depraz module. Link: $6,500

Xetum Watches

Xetum is a great new watch company out of San Francisco that rely on a minimalistic yet modern approach to watch design while also being eco-friendly. While the designs are mocked up in San Francisco, the watches are expertly crafted in Switzerland's Jura Valley. Each watch houses a Swiss automatic movement and features vegetable-tanned leather straps with renewable cork lining, and they've even made sure to give the watches eco-friendly packaging with rubberwood watch boxes and cartons made from ecological fibers. Link: $1,000-$1,400

Dunhill Classic Watch

Dunhill looked to none other than Jaeger-LeCoultre to help craft their elegant "Classic" Watch which houses an automatic JLC movement and a beautiful diamond pattern guilloché dial. The watch is also available in a striking Black PVD Stainless Steel model with moonphase function which you can view after the jump. Link

..Continued

Omega De Ville 4-Counters Co-Axial Chronograph

If anyone could make something as complex as a chronograph look elegant its Omega. Their De Ville 4-Counters Co-Axial Chronograph features four subdials each featuring small seconds, a seven day counter, 12 hour counter, and a 30 minute counter. Also above and below the subdials are individual day and date windows. Link

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Infotainment should not be broadcast: Minister

the Religious Affairs Minister, Suryadharma Ali.

Criticism of entertainment news on television has escalated, with more people saying that infotainment programs aired by private television stations present baseless rumors and violate the privacy of local celebrities.

The latest condemnation came Saturday from the Religious Affairs Minister, Suryadharma Ali.

"I personally agree with *Muslim organization* Nahdlatul Ulama's *NU* stance that infotainment programs that delve into people's private lives must be discontinued," Suryadharma said after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the President's Cikeas residence on Saturday.

The minister said all people, including the media, should respect individual privacy. Although he shared NU's view on the issue, Suryadharma refused to comment on what his ministry would do to act on the NU statement.

"It is not good to watch people being hounded *by reporters* and to have details of their private lives exposed on television," Suryadharma was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

On Friday, NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi demanded television stations stop broadcasting infotainment programs, saying the shows had no redeeming values and were a negative influence on the audience and society at large.

According to the NU website, Muzadi said television programs that exposed private lives to the public threatened family harmony.

"Infotainment is not an example of either democracy or freedom of expression. It is character assassination and is the cause of family breakups," he said, adding that the government, especially Information and Communication Minister Tifatul Sembiring, should immediately act against these programs.

At a meeting of Muslim leaders in Surabaya, East Java, in 2006, the NU had declared infotainment programs haram (forbidden under Islamic law) because it presents ghibah (gossip), which is forbidden in Islam.

Last August, the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) also warned against the negative influence of infotainment programs. MUI chairman Amidhan said Muslims must not watch infotainment programs as they presented ghibah.

The issue peaked recently with a dispute between actress Luna Maya and infotainment journalists, who, backed by the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), filed a police report accusing the actress of making disparaging comments on their profession via a message she sent out on Twitter.

Source: The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 12/27/2009

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Japan Funding Scandal, Economy Weigh Down Hatoyama

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama unveiled a $1.015 trillion budget Friday that he hopes will shore up his three-month-old government's popularity as a political-donations scandal concerning two former aides threatens to drag it down.

Tokyo prosecutors indicted the prime minister's former secretary on Thursday on the charge of falsifying Mr. Hatoyama's funding reports beginning in 2000. The aide, Keiji Katsuba, couldn't be reached for comment.

Mr. Hatoyama has denied knowledge of the aide's alleged actions. He apologized and said he intends to stay in office.

"It would be wrong for me to resign now, as that would mean abandoning my responsibility to meet peoples' expectations of me to make new policy," he said Thursday. "I should respect it if calls for resignation rise to an overwhelming extent. But I will do my best not to let that happen by explaining fully."

Prosecutors in Tokyo accused Mr. Katsuba of padding income and listing dead people as donors on political-funding reports.

Mr. Hatoyama's lawyers said Mr. Katsuba did falsify the reports, doing so because he didn't want Mr. Hatoyama -- who was a senior official in the Democratic Party of Japan at the time -- to look like an unpopular politician who couldn't raise money from a broad number of people.

According to the prime minister's lawyers, Mr. Hatoyama's mother donated 15 million yen ($164,000) a month, from summer 2002 until June 2009, which was registered as coming from people who didn't exist. Mr. Hatoyama's mother was unaware of how the donations were being booked, the lawyers said. Mr. Hatoyama said he would pay any unpaid donation taxes, which could total 600 million yen.

A second former aide, Daisuke Haga, was accused of negligence Thursday for not noticing discrepancies in the funding reports, and ordered by a Tokyo court to pay a 300,000-yen fine. Mr. Haga couldn't be reached for comment.

Some political analysts say the episode adds to pressures on Mr. Hatoyama that include a weakened economy.

"The scandal in itself is not so serious, but it... tarnishes his reputation further and diminishes his power to be an effective prime minister," said Seiji Adachi, senior economist with Deutsche Bank. Mr. Adachi said he sees the potential for Mr. Hatoyama to resign next year if his public support doesn't improve.

Newspaper polls show the Hatoyama government's approval rating has fallen below 50%, from levels above 70% when it first took office in September.

The indictments are particularly painful for Mr. Hatoyama because they run contrary to his image as a reformer, political analysts say. The DPJ's predecessor in Tokyo, the Liberal Democratic Party, was tarred by a series of scandals in recent years that eroded its public support.

That means Mr. Hatoyama faces increased pressure to carry out his domestic agenda. His budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1 offers a slew of programs for the public but could raise worries about the nation's fiscal health.

The government hopes the budget's inclusion of steps such as allowances for families raising children and free public high-school education will help boost its popularity going into an upper-house election next summer. Mr. Hatoyama's DPJ campaigned on similar promises, contributing to its landslide election victory in August.

The budget reflects the DPJ-led government's focus on social spending over the type of big public-works projects that were a mainstay of previous administrations.

"I believe that we have delivered all we can without compromising fiscal discipline," Mr. Hatoyama said Friday. "Our country's economic and employment conditions are very severe. The most important thing for us is to protect the lives of the Japanese citizens."

Tokyo predicts Japan's economy will expand by 1.4% on a price-adjusted basis and 0.4% on a nominal basis.

The budget will require massive debt issuance that could add to concerns about the fiscal health of Japan, which has a debt level at 180% of gross domestic product, the highest among industrialized nations. Tokyo plans to issue 44.303 trillion yen in new government bonds, the highest yet for an initial Japanese budget plan. That was slightly above its goal of keeping the debt float at about 44 trillion yen.

"He can rely on a bedrock of public support to get him past next year's elections, but he has to deliver," said Peter Tasker, strategist at Arcus Research. "I would be surprised if he steps down, but if after another year he has not proved his worth, then it will be a different story."

Source: The Wall Street Journal By TAKASHI NAKAMICHI, ALISON TUDOR and TAKASHI MOCHIZUKI

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Why Does Facebook Want to Suck the Fun Out of Unfriending?

As Facebook roars past the 350 million usermark, it's become so ubiquitous that literally everybody I know has a profile. And even though I've accepted precisely 1,252 of their friend requests over the years--not that I'm counting or anything--here's the truth: We're entering a new year, a new decade, and I'm ready to purge.

So imagine my excitement when I stumbled across Seppukoo, a site that helps you deactivate your Facebook profile, then creates a tongue-in-cheek memorial page and sends it to all of your Facebook friends. "You are more than your virtual identity," the homepage professes. "Pass away and leave your ID behind."

Too bad Facebook didn't get the joke. On Dec. 16, its lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Les Liens Invisibles, the makers of Seppukoo, alleging that they were using the service to send spam and access other accounts without permission. In response, Les Liens posted a statement on Seppukoo, vehemently denying any "phishing or malicious use of personal data" and inviting Facebook's developers to meet with them in person. (Asked to explain its decision, Facebook sent the following statement: "While we encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, we must also ensure that applications meet users' expectations, including privacy around who they do and do not want to communicate with."

This isn't the first time Facebook has killed a service that made light of unfriending. In January, it whined about Burger King's "Whopper Sacrifice," which had users trade 10 Facebook friends for a free Whopper. Even though the app had amassed more than 80,000 users and gotten tons of press coverage, Facebook tried to impose restrictions, and Burger King eventually took it down.

Honestly, I don't get it. As I discussed while lampooning Florida for banning judges from friending lawyers on Facebook, modern-day "friending" does not connote actual friendship: We've all accepted requests from frenemies, enemies, acquaintances, and people who probably contacted us completely by mistake. Given that even teens--once the cheerleaders of all things Web--are attending support groups and making pacts to curb their social-networking "addictions," what's the harm in embracing a third-party app that trims the fat, so to speak, from your Facebook profile?

Thankfully, all is not lost. Seppukoo may be dead, but the just-launched Web 2.0 Suicide Machine offers a similar service: Let it login to your Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace account, and it will change your password, unfriend all your contacts, and remove every trace of your content--while you watch. "It's exactly like they say the last real minute of your life is," the site's intro video explains, referencing how images of Facebook friends flash across the screen before they disappear...forever.

Source: Fast Company Dan MacsaiWed Dec 23, 2009

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Chinese Activist Liu Gets 11 Years

BEIJING -- A Chinese court sentenced Liu Xiaobo, China's most prominent dissident, to 11 years in prison for criticizing the government, an unusually long sentence that rights activists say suggests other activists will also face harsh punishment.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court announced Friday its ruling that Mr. Liu was guilty of "inciting subversion of state power."

The 53-year-old scholar had spent more than a year in detention before his trial Wednesday, which lasted less than three hours.

Mr. Liu plans to appeal the decision, said one of his lawyers, Ding Xikui. "There were some flaws in the procedures of the trial," he said, but he declined to comment further. Appeals on sensitive political charges almost never succeed in China, where political directives often supersede the written law.

Mr. Liu has pushed for democratic reforms since the 1980s, and was a participant in the 1989 protests on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. He was detained by authorities last year shortly after he helped write Charter 08, a call for sweeping legal and political change, which hundreds of other scholars also signed.

The letter, which has since attracted thousands of signatures of Chinese citizens, is seen as one of the boldest challenges to Communist Party rule in recent memory.

Mr. Liu's lawyers said he could have faced a 15-year sentence, but rights groups said the 11-year sentence was still harsh.

The verdict and lengthy sentence, and the fact they were delivered on Christmas, was seen as a rebuke to the outcry from foreign rights activists and governments over Mr. Liu's case. President Barack Obama, visiting China last month, pressed Beijing to respect "universal" human rights such as free expression, and U.S. officials have repeatedly raised the Liu case with Chinese officials.

Washington criticized the verdict Friday. "We are deeply concerned by the sentence...Persecution of individuals for the peaceful expression of political views is inconsistent with internationally recognized norms of human rights," U.S. Embassy First Secretary Greg May said at the court Friday morning.

Mr. May repeated his call for China to release Mr. Liu immediately and to "respect the rights of all Chinese citizens to peacefully express their political views."

The sentence was also another strong message to activists in China, including human-rights lawyers who have received warnings by authorities against taking on political cases.

It also served as a warning to people like Zhao Lianhai, who was formally arrested last week, after a lengthy detention, for organizing families affected by a tainted-milk scandal last year that sickened at least tens of thousands of children.

"The severity of the verdict against [Mr. Liu] suggests that the Chinese government is ready and willing to take an unyieldingly harsh line against human-rights activists in the year ahead," said Phelim Kine, an Asia researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"The show trial of Liu Xiaobo by the Chinese authorities is a scandal....We call on President Hu Jintao to reverse this injustice and to release Liu and the scores of other Chinese who have been imprisoned for simply speaking their minds," said Kwame Anthony Appiah, president of the PEN American Center. Mr. Liu is a member of PEN.

The brevity of the proceedings led many supporters of Mr. Liu to say the trial was just a formality.

Chinese officials couldn't be reached for comment. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that a statement from the court said it strictly followed the legal procedures in the case.

Source: The Wall Street Journal LORETTA CHAO

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Earthquake jolts Indonesia on tsunami anniversary

A strong earthquake struck deep under the sea in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, officials said.

The earthquake of a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck on the fifth anniversary of another quake that spawned the Asian tsunami that left 230,000 people dead in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim. The Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami was sparked by a 9.2-magnitude underwater quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Saturday's quake was at a depth of 35 miles (57 kilometers), too far below the earth's surface to cause a tsunami, said Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency seismologist Paulus Prihandoyo.

The quake had its epicenter about 165 miles (270 kilometers) north of Saumlaki and about 1,680 miles (2,700 kilometers) east of the capital Jakarta, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Residents in Saumlaki said the quake panicked people and caused an electricity blackout, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

Indonesia sits above a series of fault lines that make the vast island nation one of the most earthquake-prone places in the world.

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off West Sumatra on Sept. 30 and killed hundreds of people and toppled hundreds of homes and buildings.

Source: Associated Press , Jakarta | Sat, 12/26/2009

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A Mirror TV Or a Television Mirror?

MB Quart's Hidden Reflections™ Television Mirror system integrates an ultra-thin LCD High Definition TV cleverly built into a finely crafted mirror. Installled in some of the finest hotels and homes around the world, it the MB Quart Television Mirror a television when you want entertainment and a mirror when you don’t. An MB Quart Mirror TV can be accommodated to fit even the most challenging designs making it ideal for restaurants, bars, hotel lobbies, elevators, spas, salons and beyond.

Converge Your Space with MBQuart Mirror TV Technology

When purchasing a Television Mirror from MB Quart you receive state of the art technology manufactured with high-end components for highest performance and most reliable A/V center available. MB Quart’s “German Engineering” has been known worldwide for over 40-years for its products quality and top performance in very product category it’s approached.

Your Guests Will Rave About You TV Mirror

Your guests will tell everyone they meet about this exciting new audio/video display. The TV Mirror’s revolutionary design allows your customers the ultimate convenience of watching the news, sports, weather or favorite program while going through the normal morning bathroom routine, enjoying the hotel bar, or relaxing at a spa / salon. The TV Mirror is plug and play ready for in-room Cable, DVD, VCR, PC and in-room hotel programming connections.

TV Mirror, TV Mirror On The Wall…
When your guests want to see only a mirror reflection, they simply deactivated or turn-off the mirror television. With a simple press of a button the TV Mirror is concealed by the mirror’s perfectly clear reflection and becomes completely undetectable. In a small area, your customers will find the functionality of the TV Mirror to be a space-saving convenience. The addition of a TV Mirror will instantly improve the status of any commercial property. An MB Quart TV Mirror is unforgettable experience.

Current Applications:

	•	Hotel Guest Rooms & Baths
	•	Restaurants & Bars
	•	Salons & Spas

Presenting MB Quart’s Non-Vanishing Vibrant TV Mirror Display Series

MB Quart’s Vibrant Media Display’s offers contemporary styling in a unique self contained A/V design that permits concealing the excess of cables and the unsightly chassis of a television display.

When Vibrant Media display / digital LCD TV’s are deactivated, a blackened area uniformly replaces the footprint of the LCD screen display. Vibrant Media displays are offered for applications where continuous media is to be displayed and the benefits of a totally vanishing MB Quart Mirror TV would not be utilized. Vivid images with lifelike colors can be seen from almost any viewing angle. “Vibrant and Crisp” are good descriptors of the images seen on this media display.

MB Quart’s non-vanishing Vibrant Display systems are offered in standard sizes. Inquiries are welcome for all custom sizes requests. Let us integrate all your custom needs and options.

Vanishing TV Mirror - A Disappearing Television

MB Quart’s Vanishing TV Mirror is a finely crafted surface with the convenience of a LCD TV inconspicuously built into it. This distortion-free mirror becomes your personal window to a world of video entertainment such as the morning news broadcasts. The MB Quart TV Mirror is rooted in decades of German engineering and styling, with a design that can easily accommodate and adapt to the most challenging applications. MB Quart’s TV Mirror’s ease of installation is well suited for hotel rooms, bars, restaurants, bathrooms, lobbies, salons, spas and yes, even high-traffic elevators.

Vanishing TV Mirror is specifically targeted for bathroom

MB Quart’s Vanishing TV Mirror is specifically targeted for bathroom applications. MB Quart’s Vanishing TV Mirrors feature innovative technology using our two-way glass and our HRHC mirror (high-reflectance high-contrast) multilayer substrate provides a natural reflection of color and skin tones no different than a traditional mirror’s reflective properties. Our HRHC mirror technology and MB Quart’s digital LCD technology yield the brightest TV Mirror available. With HRHC technology MB Quart’s TV Mirror offers the clearest and most vivid color due to the increased light transmission from the LCD television. Why settle for viewing a high-definition TV program thru a low-resolution window? MB Quart is your best and brightest Mirror TV solution. MB Quart makes your bathroom mirror your one-touch-TV window to the world.

Large Screen TV Mirrors

MB Quart Entertainment’s has become the industry leader through innovation and technology advances as seen in our Bathroom TV Mirror products. Our technology in optics, low-loss high-reflectivity glass and digital electronics converge to create our “Grand Screen” solution for large viewing areas.

“Grand Screen” conceals any size large flat screen display

High-Definition TV in plain sight. Power down a Grand Screen television and MB Quart’s superior glass technology completely conceals the LCD surface by mirror reflection when off. When activated, the exclusive MB Quart mirrored surface becomes a “media window” allowing large television to be integrated discretely into any room’s décor.

Now you can eagerly add a large flat screen television into your living room without interrupting the room’s design. Just image a finely crafted mirror hung over the fire place or placed on an adjacent wall that transforms into the large screen television you always dreamed of. Just imagine the possibilities.

You can choose from our standard mirror and screen sizes or contact MB Quart for custom sized applications.

Standard TV Mirror Sizes:

	•	36”(W) x 30”(H) with 26” LCD HDTV
	•	48”(W) x 36”(H) with 32” LCD HDTV
	•	48”(W) x 36”(H) with 37” LCD HDTV
	•	50”(W) x 38”(H) with 42” LCD HDTV

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