Pagerank Prediction - World-of-Newave.info http://answers.world-of-newave.info/pagerank-prediction.htm Latest news and articles about Pagerank Prediction en-us Copyright (c)2004-2008. All rights reserved. webmaster@world-of-newave.com (Webmaster) Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:36:01 GMT Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:36:01 GMT Newave Lisa XML Engine v1.0 - http://www.world-of-newave.info/about.htm 60 http://www.world-of-newave.info/images/wi8831.gif World-of-Newave.info - Knowledge and Informational Database http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 88 31 {EUROPE > NEWSPAPERS} - After Trainspotting and zombies, a teaboy millionaire is tipped to win Boyle an Oscar http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/newspapers/after-trainspotting-and-zombies-a-teaboy-millionaire-2008121821.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/newspapers/after-trainspotting-and-zombies-a-teaboy-millionaire-2008121821.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:07:10 GMT An uplifting yet grimly realistic tale of a young chai-wallah scraping a life out of poverty was last night being talked of as an Oscar contender after it took three awards at the British independent film awards (Bifas).Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the story of a Mumbai teenage boy who astounds all around him by doing well on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire quiz show, won best film, best director and best newcomer for its British lead.In a night when honours were spread about, there were also three wins for Hunger, Steve McQueen's unflinching portrait of Bobby Sands and the hunger strikes; two for Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky; and one for In Bruges, Martin McDonagh's comedy about two Irish assassins sent to Belgium.But Boyle was the talk of the night. The former artistic director of the Royal Court theatre is already on many pundits' Oscar prediction lists after a film career which has seen him happily flip genres: from Edinburgh heroin addicts in Trainspotting to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach to zombies in 28 Days Later.Last night he was named best director at the Bifas and Slumdog Millionaire was best film. The film's young lead, Harrow-born Dev Patel - best known to British audiences as Anwar in E4's Skins - won best newcomer.Slumdog Millionaire, written by The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy, tells the story of a Mumbai street child. As he does well on the quiz show, flashbacks chronicle his life, the realities of which Boyle does not flinch from showing.Boyle's film, a third of which is spoken in Hindi, opens in the UK on January 9 but has already gone down well on the festival circuit and opened to fantastic reviews in the US.A Rolling Stone critic said: "What I feel for this movie isn't just admiration, it's mad love."USA Today was similarly won over: "The beautifully rendered and energetic tale celebrates resilience, the power of knowledge and the vitality of human experience. Horrifying, humorous and life-affirming, it is, above all, unforgettable." The Los Angeles Times declared it "the best old-fashioned audience picture of the year".The Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen, who represents the UK at next year's Venice Biennale, won the best debut director award for Hunger and the film's cinematographer Sean Bobbit, won best technical achievement. Leading man Michael Fassbender won best actor for his astonishing - not least in the 33lbs of weight he had to lose - performance as Sands.Hunger is not a film for a cheery romantic night out. It shows the reality of the dirty protests in the Maze prison in stomach-churning detail. Nothing from the Sands story is stepped away from: the brutality, the torture and the alarming effects starvation has on a man's body.At the other end of the movie spectrum, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, which follows a relentlessly cheerful London teacher called Poppy, won two acting awards. Eddie Marsan won best supporting actor for his role as the crazed racist driving instructor, and Alexis Zegerman won best supporting actress as Poppy's best mate, Zoe.The well-fancied In Bruges, featuring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as a pair of chalk-and-cheese killers sent by their psychotic boss (Ralph Fiennes) to Bruges, came away with the best screenplay award for its writer and director Martin McDonagh. It was the playwright's film debut.Vera Farmiga won best actress for her role in concentration camp drama The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, while the Israeli animation Waltz With Bashir won best foreign film.At the ceremony in Old Billingsgate Market, London, special awards were also given out. The actor David Thewlis was rewarded for his outstanding contribution to British film, while Michael Sheen - best known for being able to pass himself off as Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair and David Frost - was given the Variety award.It was the 11th Bifa ceremony, with the awards seeming to grow in stature each year. Co-directors Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, said: "It's been another stellar year for independent film in Britain, as represented by the diverse spread of nominations across the board.The winnersBest film Slumdog MillionaireBest director Danny Boyle, Slumdog MillionaireBest debut director Steve McQueen, HungerBest screenplay Martin McDonagh, In BrugesBest actress Vera Farmiga, The Boy in the Striped PyjamasBest actor Michael Fassbender, HungerBest supporting actress Alexis Zegerman, Happy-Go-LuckyBest supporting actor Eddie Marsan, Happy Go LuckyMost promising newcomer Dev Patel, Slumdog MillionaireBest achievement in production The EscapistRaindance award Zebra CrossingsBest technical achievement Sean Bobbitt, cinematography for HungerBest documentary Man on WireBest short Soft Best foreign Waltz With Bashir Outstanding contribution to British cinema David ThewlisVariety award Michael SheenSpecial Jury prize Joe DuntonDanny Boyleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk After Trainspotting and zombies, a teaboy millionaire is tipped to win Boyle an Oscar {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - An uplifting yet grimly realistic tale of a young chai-wallah scraping a life out of poverty was last night being talked of as an Oscar contender after it took three awards at the British independent film awards (Bifas).Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the story of a Mumbai teenage boy who astounds all around him by doing well on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire quiz show, won best film, best director and best newcomer for its British lead.In a night when honours were spread about, there were also three wins for Hunger, Steve McQueen's unflinching portrait of Bobby Sands and the hunger strikes; two for Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky; and one for In Bruges, Martin McDonagh's comedy about two Irish assassins sent to Belgium.But Boyle was the talk of the night. The former artistic director of the Royal Court theatre is already on many pundits' Oscar prediction lists after a film career which has seen him happily flip genres: from Edinburgh heroin addicts in Trainspotting to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach to zombies in 28 Days Later.Last night he was named best director at the Bifas and Slumdog Millionaire was best film. The film's young lead, Harrow-born Dev Patel - best known to British audiences as Anwar in E4's Skins - won best newcomer.Slumdog Millionaire, written by The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy, tells the story of a Mumbai street child. As he does well on the quiz show, flashbacks chronicle his life, the realities of which Boyle does not flinch from showing.Boyle's film, a third of which is spoken in Hindi, opens in the UK on January 9 but has already gone down well on the festival circuit and opened to fantastic reviews in the US.A Rolling Stone critic said: "What I feel for this movie isn't just admiration, it's mad love."USA Today was similarly won over: "The beautifully rendered and energetic tale celebrates resilience, the power of knowledge and the vitality of human experience. Horrifying, humorous and life-affirming, it is, above all, unforgettable." The Los Angeles Times declared it "the best old-fashioned audience picture of the year".The Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen, who represents the UK at next year's Venice Biennale, won the best debut director award for Hunger and the film's cinematographer Sean Bobbit, won best technical achievement. Leading man Michael Fassbender won best actor for his astonishing - not least in the 33lbs of weight he had to lose - performance as Sands.Hunger is not a film for a cheery romantic night out. It shows the reality of the dirty protests in the Maze prison in stomach-churning detail. Nothing from the Sands story is stepped away from: the brutality, the torture and the alarming effects starvation has on a man's body.At the other end of the movie spectrum, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, which follows a relentlessly cheerful London teacher called Poppy, won two acting awards. Eddie Marsan won best supporting actor for his role as the crazed racist driving instructor, and Alexis Zegerman won best supporting actress as Poppy's best mate, Zoe.The well-fancied In Bruges, featuring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as a pair of chalk-and-cheese killers sent by their psychotic boss (Ralph Fiennes) to Bruges, came away with the best screenplay award for its writer and director Martin McDonagh. It was the playwright's film debut.Vera Farmiga won best actress for her role in concentration camp drama The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, while the Israeli animation Waltz With Bashir won best foreign film.At the ceremony in Old Billingsgate Market, London, special awards were also given out. The actor David Thewlis was rewarded for his outstanding contribution to British film, while Michael Sheen - best known for being able to pass himself off as Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair and David Frost - was given the Variety award.It was the 11th Bifa ceremony, with the awards seeming to grow in stature each year. Co-directors Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, said: "It's been another stellar year for independent film in Britain, as represented by the diverse spread of nominations across the board.The winnersBest film Slumdog MillionaireBest director Danny Boyle, Slumdog MillionaireBest debut director Steve McQueen, HungerBest screenplay Martin McDonagh, In BrugesBest actress Vera Farmiga, The Boy in the Striped PyjamasBest actor Michael Fassbender, HungerBest supporting actress Alexis Zegerman, Happy-Go-LuckyBest supporting actor Eddie Marsan, Happy Go LuckyMost promising newcomer Dev Patel, Slumdog MillionaireBest achievement in production The EscapistRaindance award Zebra CrossingsBest technical achievement Sean Bobbitt, cinematography for HungerBest documentary Man on WireBest short Soft Best foreign Waltz With Bashir Outstanding contribution to British cinema David ThewlisVariety award Michael SheenSpecial Jury prize Joe DuntonDanny Boyleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
After Trainspotting and zombies, a teaboy millionaire is tipped to win Boyle an Oscar | Film | The Guardian {...} Danny Boyle's story of Mumbai teenage boy wins best film, best director and best newcomer at film awards {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 12:07 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 10:06 am - Page Size: 84KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media > Newspapers

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media > Newspapers {LITERATURE > CYBERPUNK} - New Report: CIA lied about missionary plane shot down over Peru http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/new-report-cia-lied-about-missionary-plane-shot-20081192431.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/new-report-cia-lied-about-missionary-plane-shot-20081192431.htm Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:50:00 GMT The CIA Inspector General John Helgerson just issued a damning report that says the CIA lied about and covered up its involvement in a drug interception program with the Peruvian Airport. In 2001 the Peruvian Air Force used information the CIA gave them to shoot down a small plane loaded with US missionaries, causing the death of Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter Charity. My prediction: no senior-level member of the CIA will be fired, punished, or imprisoned because of this. For one thing, they're untouchable. For another, the CIA needs all the people they have to run their own drug operations. New Report: CIA lied about missionary plane shot down over Peru... Boingboing.Net New Report: CIA lied about missionary plane shot down over Peru {new window}   Www.Boingboing.Net - The CIA Inspector General John Helgerson just issued a damning report that says the CIA lied about and covered up its involvement in a drug interception program with the Peruvian Airport. In 2001 the Peruvian Air Force used information the CIA gave them to shoot down a small plane loaded with US missionaries, causing the death of Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter Charity. My prediction: no senior-level member of the CIA will be fired, punished, or imprisoned because of this. For one thing, they're untouchable. For another, the CIA needs all the people they have to run their own drug operations. New Report: CIA lied about missionary plane shot down over Peru...
New Report: CIA lied about missionary plane shot down over Peru - Boing Boing {...}
Published: November 21, 2008, 8:50 pm - Indexed: November 24, 2008, 8:57 am - Page Size: 79KB
Category: Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk

]]> Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk {ENVIRONMENT > NEWS} - NOAA's U.S. Winter Outlook Calls for Variability http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/environment/news/noaa-s-u-s-winter-outlook-calls-for-variability-20081190424.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/environment/news/noaa-s-u-s-winter-outlook-calls-for-variability-20081190424.htm Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:05:10 GMT In announcing the 2008-2009 U.S. Winter Outlook for meteorological winter from December through February, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center are calling for warmer-than-normal temperatures for much of the central part of the nation, and a continuation of drier-than-normal conditions across the Southeast. Infozine.Com NOAA's U.S. Winter Outlook Calls for Variability {new window}   Www.Infozine.Com - In announcing the 2008-2009 U.S. Winter Outlook for meteorological winter from December through February, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center are calling for warmer-than-normal temperatures for much of the central part of the nation, and a continuation of drier-than-normal conditions across the Southeast.
NOAA's U.S. Winter Outlook Calls for Variability - Kansas City infoZine News - USA {...}
Published: November 21, 2008, 11:05 am - Indexed: November 21, 2008, 12:02 pm - Page Size: 46KB
Category: Science > Environment > News

]]> Science > Environment > News {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Good vibration http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/breaking-news/good-vibration-20081157124.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/breaking-news/good-vibration-20081157124.htm Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:55:14 GMT Volcano prediction garners award for Scottish scientist News.Bbc.Co.Uk Good vibration {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Volcano prediction garners award for Scottish scientist
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Volcano scientist wins accolade {...} A Scots scientist who invented a new way to help predict when volcanoes will erupt receives a major award. {...}
Published: November 18, 2008, 1:55 pm - Indexed: November 19, 2008, 9:33 am - Page Size: 49KB
Category: Science > News > Breaking News

]]> Science > News > Breaking News {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Good vibration http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/news-and-media/good-vibration-20081172021.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/news-and-media/good-vibration-20081172021.htm Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:55:14 GMT Volcano prediction garners award for Scottish scientist News.Bbc.Co.Uk Good vibration {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Volcano prediction garners award for Scottish scientist
BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Volcano scientist wins accolade {...} A Scots scientist who invented a new way to help predict when volcanoes will erupt receives a major award. {...}
Published: November 18, 2008, 1:55 pm - Indexed: November 19, 2008, 10:00 am - Page Size: 47KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Scotland > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Scotland > News and Media {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Jonathan Glancey: Frozen skyline as architecture works out how not to come to a halt in the recession http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/jonathan-glancey-frozen-skyline-as-architecture-20081119717.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/jonathan-glancey-frozen-skyline-as-architecture-20081119717.htm Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:05:26 GMT 'I didn't lose any work in the first recession I experienced," says Zaha Hadid, "because I didn't have any work." This was the early 1970s, the time of the three-day week, when the lights of Great Britain Ltd appeared to be switching off for good. "I was drawing with freezing cold hands in rooms lit by candles. It seems almost unbelievable now. If I learned something, it was that anything can happen. We're doing well today, but this is partly because so many of our projects are in places like Dubai, which seem immune from recession. But you never know."You certainly don't. Last week, Frank Gehry's first major project in Britain was ditched, making it the first big victim, architecturally, of the credit crunch. Plans for a dramatic development of 750 flats facing the sea at Brighton were dropped when the developer, Karis, failed to find fresh funds, three months after Dutch bank ING pulled out. If Gehry - creator of the famous "Bilbao effect", by which thrilling architecture triggers urban regeneration - can be tossed aside by recession-wary banks, what about less celebrated architects?"Housebuilders are in such a hurry to drop projects," says Amanda Baillieu, editor of Building Design magazine, "they're text-messaging architects to tell them to stop work. At the same time, banks are foreclosing on loans made to small architectural practices set up over the past few years, in the hope of cashing in on the housing boom. The prediction is that one in five will go bust."Some 40% of architects lost their jobs in the last recession, says Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. "It was very hard for young architects in the early 1990s. Luckily, architecture encourages broad thinking. Many found new careers in law, academia, catering and so on. But, when the good times came again in the lead-up to the millennium, it seemed an entire generation had gone missing. It took some time to find them again."Older architects are no strangers to recession. The current slump, though, is likely to be very tough indeed. Why? Because in the past, the public sector - whether in Britain, continental Europe or the US - was able to step in when housebuilders and developers pulled in their horns. Take President Roosevelt's Tennessee Valley Authority. Between 1933 and 1944, some 16 magnificent dams with hydro-electric power stations were built along the river, giving thousands of jobs to architects, engineers and contractors, not to mention bringing irrigation, power and economic growth to the poor farming communities of seven southern states. Today, not only is the TVA the biggest energy producer in the US, its mighty structures remain tourist attractions. Closer to home, the superb architectural and engineering work accomplished by the London Passenger Transport Board, a public corporation established in 1933, proved what could be achieved when the going was tough: extensions to the tube, new stations and rolling stock. Such work was inspiring; it also created many jobs.Today, though, the public sector in Britain has increasingly been privatised. Schemes such as PFI and PPP - private finance initiative and public-private partnerships, which fund new public buildings, especially hospitals and schools, and the renovation of the London underground - have turned out to be as ill-conceived as critics said they would be a decade ago. With banks and markets floundering, public projects are feeling the squeeze, and there is certainly nothing around the corner as grand and bold as Roosevelt's awe-inspiring TVA."About three-quarters of our work is in the public sector," says John Pringle of Pringle Richards Sharratt, architects of the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield. "But, as we can't be sure what will happen to PFI and PPP, we can't rest easy. I feel for the many young practices that were hoping to design intelligent new housing. Aside from the sudden fall-off in work, they're up against new layers of bureaucracy." Pringle is referring to increasingly complex building contracts and the rocketing numbers of quangos and regeneration agencies poking their noses into the business of architecture. The simple client-architect relationship of yore - there's a building I need and I'd like you to design it - has been buried beneath jargon-laced red tape. "The bureaucracy is bloody awful," says Will Alsop. "To get jobs beyond house extensions, young architectural practices have to show satisfactory accounts for the past three or four years to prove they're a safe pair of hands. How the hell are they going to be able to do that during a recession? There wasn't any work at home when I set up in the late 1970s. We went to Germany and got some good work without anyone asking us about our finances - zilch! - or even our track record. What the Germans wanted was imaginative new architecture."In times of recession, architects may well need to follow commissions around the world. "If I tell you we've got work in 22 countries," says Norman Foster, "it's not to brag, but to underline how you can only really beat a slump - unless you're a one-man band with minimal overheads - if you have commissions spread internationally. Foster and Partners is not 100% recession-proof, but we've always been prepared to go where the work is. Today, we're also known as urban planners and product designers, so we're not hostage to sudden drops in the building market. We were lucky to win the commission to design the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank headquarters in 1979, when there was little work at home. In fact, this was about the only job in the office. So we gave it our all." This building, one of Foster's finest, opened in 1986, when the British economy was beginning to pick up. It stood Foster and his team in good stead, setting a new standard for corporate HQ. Foster has never looked back. In a curious way, the recession served him well.Yet, as Nigel Coates, professor of architecture at the Royal College of Art, tells his students: "You don't choose architecture for the money. You should only do it if you love the idea of being an architect. But I've also been saying that recession isn't altogether a bad thing. Of course, I don't want people to lose their jobs, but there's been a lot of boring and plain bad new building during the boom years - frumpitecture, I call it. Young architects are unlikely to find an interesting job, or any job, in the coming months, so it's a good time for them to study, think and dream of what a next generation of architecture might be."What might post-recession architecture be like? Alison Brooks, an architect whose practice shared the 2008 Stirling prize for the design of the much-feted Accordia housing development in Cambridge, says: "So much housing raced up in recent years has been mean and transitory. No one wants to lay down roots in homes that are pokey, fast-buck products. What's the point of building houses no one really wants just because they're low cost and meet official targets?"A new housing scheme Brooks designed at Newhall, Essex, shows what might be done. It is a fine balance of modesty and ambition, modernity and tradition. Timber-framed family houses, with generous rooms, offer a fresh take on traditional local styles. They use every square inch: roof spaces are family dens, while courtyard gardens are like outside rooms. As for energy conservation, they meet current guidelines, or even exceed them. Indeed, what we may see is a swing towards a less showy architecture, with invention squeezed into pint pots. Some of Christopher Wren's most inspired buildings, after all, were the gem-like City of London churches he built around St Paul's. Clamber up the steps of St Stephen Walbrook and, behind modest ragstone walls, you find yourself beneath a magnificent dome that might belong to one of the great baroque churches of Venice. Or visit Le Corbusier's Petit Cabanon and see how a tiny building can be highly charged. "I have a chateau on the Côte d'Azur," he wrote to a friend. "It's for my wife. It's extravagant in comfort and gentleness." It is less than four metres square. The years following the Wall Street Crash saw in "Depression deco", a sort of late-flowering art deco. While we might not see anything as distinct as that, we could yet discover a likable new modesty: offices gathered around courtyards with rooftop gardens, rather than look-at-me skyscrapers; supermarkets dug underground rather than swaggering over historic towns; schools doubling as performing arts centres. And, if the Olympic Delivery Authority cares to take up the offer of a low-cost, take-apart sports building, as suggested by Dipesh Patel, a director of Arup Associates, we may yet see the 2012 Games proving that swanky buildings are not the only way of going for gold.Still, if you happen to be an architect hooked on wildly adventurous design and are willing to travel (and work competitively), then Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, Russia and South America beckon. In Britain, meanwhile, the recession, while painful, might spark fresh debate and instill new ideas, readying us for the next building boom when the money flows again.ArchitectureRecessionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk Jonathan Glancey: Frozen skyline as architecture works out how not to come to a halt in the recession {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - 'I didn't lose any work in the first recession I experienced," says Zaha Hadid, "because I didn't have any work." This was the early 1970s, the time of the three-day week, when the lights of Great Britain Ltd appeared to be switching off for good. "I was drawing with freezing cold hands in rooms lit by candles. It seems almost unbelievable now. If I learned something, it was that anything can happen. We're doing well today, but this is partly because so many of our projects are in places like Dubai, which seem immune from recession. But you never know."You certainly don't. Last week, Frank Gehry's first major project in Britain was ditched, making it the first big victim, architecturally, of the credit crunch. Plans for a dramatic development of 750 flats facing the sea at Brighton were dropped when the developer, Karis, failed to find fresh funds, three months after Dutch bank ING pulled out. If Gehry - creator of the famous "Bilbao effect", by which thrilling architecture triggers urban regeneration - can be tossed aside by recession-wary banks, what about less celebrated architects?"Housebuilders are in such a hurry to drop projects," says Amanda Baillieu, editor of Building Design magazine, "they're text-messaging architects to tell them to stop work. At the same time, banks are foreclosing on loans made to small architectural practices set up over the past few years, in the hope of cashing in on the housing boom. The prediction is that one in five will go bust."Some 40% of architects lost their jobs in the last recession, says Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. "It was very hard for young architects in the early 1990s. Luckily, architecture encourages broad thinking. Many found new careers in law, academia, catering and so on. But, when the good times came again in the lead-up to the millennium, it seemed an entire generation had gone missing. It took some time to find them again."Older architects are no strangers to recession. The current slump, though, is likely to be very tough indeed. Why? Because in the past, the public sector - whether in Britain, continental Europe or the US - was able to step in when housebuilders and developers pulled in their horns. Take President Roosevelt's Tennessee Valley Authority. Between 1933 and 1944, some 16 magnificent dams with hydro-electric power stations were built along the river, giving thousands of jobs to architects, engineers and contractors, not to mention bringing irrigation, power and economic growth to the poor farming communities of seven southern states. Today, not only is the TVA the biggest energy producer in the US, its mighty structures remain tourist attractions. Closer to home, the superb architectural and engineering work accomplished by the London Passenger Transport Board, a public corporation established in 1933, proved what could be achieved when the going was tough: extensions to the tube, new stations and rolling stock. Such work was inspiring; it also created many jobs.Today, though, the public sector in Britain has increasingly been privatised. Schemes such as PFI and PPP - private finance initiative and public-private partnerships, which fund new public buildings, especially hospitals and schools, and the renovation of the London underground - have turned out to be as ill-conceived as critics said they would be a decade ago. With banks and markets floundering, public projects are feeling the squeeze, and there is certainly nothing around the corner as grand and bold as Roosevelt's awe-inspiring TVA."About three-quarters of our work is in the public sector," says John Pringle of Pringle Richards Sharratt, architects of the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield. "But, as we can't be sure what will happen to PFI and PPP, we can't rest easy. I feel for the many young practices that were hoping to design intelligent new housing. Aside from the sudden fall-off in work, they're up against new layers of bureaucracy." Pringle is referring to increasingly complex building contracts and the rocketing numbers of quangos and regeneration agencies poking their noses into the business of architecture. The simple client-architect relationship of yore - there's a building I need and I'd like you to design it - has been buried beneath jargon-laced red tape. "The bureaucracy is bloody awful," says Will Alsop. "To get jobs beyond house extensions, young architectural practices have to show satisfactory accounts for the past three or four years to prove they're a safe pair of hands. How the hell are they going to be able to do that during a recession? There wasn't any work at home when I set up in the late 1970s. We went to Germany and got some good work without anyone asking us about our finances - zilch! - or even our track record. What the Germans wanted was imaginative new architecture."In times of recession, architects may well need to follow commissions around the world. "If I tell you we've got work in 22 countries," says Norman Foster, "it's not to brag, but to underline how you can only really beat a slump - unless you're a one-man band with minimal overheads - if you have commissions spread internationally. Foster and Partners is not 100% recession-proof, but we've always been prepared to go where the work is. Today, we're also known as urban planners and product designers, so we're not hostage to sudden drops in the building market. We were lucky to win the commission to design the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank headquarters in 1979, when there was little work at home. In fact, this was about the only job in the office. So we gave it our all." This building, one of Foster's finest, opened in 1986, when the British economy was beginning to pick up. It stood Foster and his team in good stead, setting a new standard for corporate HQ. Foster has never looked back. In a curious way, the recession served him well.Yet, as Nigel Coates, professor of architecture at the Royal College of Art, tells his students: "You don't choose architecture for the money. You should only do it if you love the idea of being an architect. But I've also been saying that recession isn't altogether a bad thing. Of course, I don't want people to lose their jobs, but there's been a lot of boring and plain bad new building during the boom years - frumpitecture, I call it. Young architects are unlikely to find an interesting job, or any job, in the coming months, so it's a good time for them to study, think and dream of what a next generation of architecture might be."What might post-recession architecture be like? Alison Brooks, an architect whose practice shared the 2008 Stirling prize for the design of the much-feted Accordia housing development in Cambridge, says: "So much housing raced up in recent years has been mean and transitory. No one wants to lay down roots in homes that are pokey, fast-buck products. What's the point of building houses no one really wants just because they're low cost and meet official targets?"A new housing scheme Brooks designed at Newhall, Essex, shows what might be done. It is a fine balance of modesty and ambition, modernity and tradition. Timber-framed family houses, with generous rooms, offer a fresh take on traditional local styles. They use every square inch: roof spaces are family dens, while courtyard gardens are like outside rooms. As for energy conservation, they meet current guidelines, or even exceed them. Indeed, what we may see is a swing towards a less showy architecture, with invention squeezed into pint pots. Some of Christopher Wren's most inspired buildings, after all, were the gem-like City of London churches he built around St Paul's. Clamber up the steps of St Stephen Walbrook and, behind modest ragstone walls, you find yourself beneath a magnificent dome that might belong to one of the great baroque churches of Venice. Or visit Le Corbusier's Petit Cabanon and see how a tiny building can be highly charged. "I have a chateau on the Côte d'Azur," he wrote to a friend. "It's for my wife. It's extravagant in comfort and gentleness." It is less than four metres square. The years following the Wall Street Crash saw in "Depression deco", a sort of late-flowering art deco. While we might not see anything as distinct as that, we could yet discover a likable new modesty: offices gathered around courtyards with rooftop gardens, rather than look-at-me skyscrapers; supermarkets dug underground rather than swaggering over historic towns; schools doubling as performing arts centres. And, if the Olympic Delivery Authority cares to take up the offer of a low-cost, take-apart sports building, as suggested by Dipesh Patel, a director of Arup Associates, we may yet see the 2012 Games proving that swanky buildings are not the only way of going for gold.Still, if you happen to be an architect hooked on wildly adventurous design and are willing to travel (and work competitively), then Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, Russia and South America beckon. In Britain, meanwhile, the recession, while painful, might spark fresh debate and instill new ideas, readying us for the next building boom when the money flows again.ArchitectureRecessionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Jonathan Glancey: Frozen skyline as architecture works out how not to come to a halt in the recession | Art and design | The Guardian {...} How will the crunch affect our once-booming cityscapes? By Jonathan Glancey {...}
Published: November 17, 2008, 12:05 am - Indexed: November 17, 2008, 12:10 pm - Page Size: 84KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Boeing Says Aviation Biofuel Is Just Three Years Away http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/boeing-says-aviation-biofuel-is-just-three-years-2008119469.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/boeing-says-aviation-biofuel-is-just-three-years-2008119469.htm Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:49:09 GMT The world's largest aircraft manufacturer says biofuel-powered aircraft will flying the friendly skies as early as 2011, a timeline far more accelerated than many thought. Darrin Morgan, who oversees strategy development and execution for Boeing's Sustainable Biofuels Program, tells Wired.com the company expects authorities to certify a biofuel-fuel blend jet fuel for commercial use in the near future. It's a remarkable prediction, because aircraft manufacturers, the U.S. Air Force and airlines -- desperate to find an alternative to fossil fuels so they might save money, not necessarily change their notoriously polluting ways-- have only started experimenting with alt fuels. "We think it's going to happen in three to five years," Morgan says of the certification process. "Faster than most people thought." The beauty of biofuels from an aviation standpoint is they require no modification to the aircraft - they're a direct replacement for kerosene. But harvesting enough biomass to meet the industry's need remains a huge barrier to widespread adoption of the alternative fuel. The airline industry burns about 85 billion gallons of kerosene annually. The Guardian says fueling the world's 13,000 commercial airplanes with nothing but, say, soybean-based fuel, would require using the equivalent of the entire land mass of Europe to grow soybeans. Boeing expects airlines to use a 30 percent blend of biofuel. The drawbacks of crop-based biofuels is one reason Boeing is pursuing algal fuels, and indeed California startup Solazyme has developed an algal jet fuel that behaves just like kerosene. Morgan says algal fuels hold great promises, but it is a family of fuels called synthetic paraffinic kerosene -- which includes those distilled from the oils of Helianthus (sunflowers) and jatropha-- that are closest to becoming certified. Morgan bases his confidence on the fact synthetic paraffinics have a similar composition to coal-to-liquid fuels already approved for aviation use. "It's dirty, but it's certified," Morgan says of liquid coal. "If you fly in or out of South Africa, you're probably using it." South Africa is home of Sasol, the company that pioneered coal to liquid technology. Morgan notes that, compared to liquid coal, bio-derived synthetic paraffins can significantly reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. They're also a direct replacement for kerosene, meaning no modifications to the aircraft are needed. "It's simple chemistry," Morgan says. "If molecules in a biofuel are like those in already approved drop-in synthetic kerosene from coal, then by definition it's a drop-in fuel." The airline industry seems to be getting on board, in no small part because they're being hammered by fuel prices, and several of the largest carriers are experimenting with biofuel. Boeing has joined Air New Zealand and Virgin Atlantic, Airbus has teamed up with Honeywell and JetBlueand British Airways is working with Rolls Royce. Even the U.S. Air Force is looking for alternativesto kerosene. But given the tumble in oil pricesand the cost of developing alternatives, one has to wonder how serious their commitment will be. It's also an open question whether biofuels are any better than fossil fuels. Environmentalists derided Virgin Atlantic's much-ballyhooed biofuel test flight as a "nonsensical" publicity stunt. Environmentalists like Friends of the Earth argue airlines should limit flights before embracing biofuels because there are "real doubts" as to the sustainability and environmental benefits of biofuels. POST UPDATED 10:50 a.m. and 2:25 p.m. PST. Photo by Boeing. Blog.Wired.Com Boeing Says Aviation Biofuel Is Just Three Years Away {new window}   Blog.Wired.Com - The world's largest aircraft manufacturer says biofuel-powered aircraft will flying the friendly skies as early as 2011, a timeline far more accelerated than many thought. Darrin Morgan, who oversees strategy development and execution for Boeing's Sustainable Biofuels Program, tells Wired.com the company expects authorities to certify a biofuel-fuel blend jet fuel for commercial use in the near future. It's a remarkable prediction, because aircraft manufacturers, the U.S. Air Force and airlines -- desperate to find an alternative to fossil fuels so they might save money, not necessarily change their notoriously polluting ways-- have only started experimenting with alt fuels. "We think it's going to happen in three to five years," Morgan says of the certification process. "Faster than most people thought." The beauty of biofuels from an aviation standpoint is they require no modification to the aircraft - they're a direct replacement for kerosene. But harvesting enough biomass to meet the industry's need remains a huge barrier to widespread adoption of the alternative fuel. The airline industry burns about 85 billion gallons of kerosene annually. The Guardian says fueling the world's 13,000 commercial airplanes with nothing but, say, soybean-based fuel, would require using the equivalent of the entire land mass of Europe to grow soybeans. Boeing expects airlines to use a 30 percent blend of biofuel. The drawbacks of crop-based biofuels is one reason Boeing is pursuing algal fuels, and indeed California startup Solazyme has developed an algal jet fuel that behaves just like kerosene. Morgan says algal fuels hold great promises, but it is a family of fuels called synthetic paraffinic kerosene -- which includes those distilled from the oils of Helianthus (sunflowers) and jatropha-- that are closest to becoming certified. Morgan bases his confidence on the fact synthetic paraffinics have a similar composition to coal-to-liquid fuels already approved for aviation use. "It's dirty, but it's certified," Morgan says of liquid coal. "If you fly in or out of South Africa, you're probably using it." South Africa is home of Sasol, the company that pioneered coal to liquid technology. Morgan notes that, compared to liquid coal, bio-derived synthetic paraffins can significantly reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. They're also a direct replacement for kerosene, meaning no modifications to the aircraft are needed. "It's simple chemistry," Morgan says. "If molecules in a biofuel are like those in already approved drop-in synthetic kerosene from coal, then by definition it's a drop-in fuel." The airline industry seems to be getting on board, in no small part because they're being hammered by fuel prices, and several of the largest carriers are experimenting with biofuel. Boeing has joined Air New Zealand and Virgin Atlantic, Airbus has teamed up with Honeywell and JetBlueand British Airways is working with Rolls Royce. Even the U.S. Air Force is looking for alternativesto kerosene. But given the tumble in oil pricesand the cost of developing alternatives, one has to wonder how serious their commitment will be. It's also an open question whether biofuels are any better than fossil fuels. Environmentalists derided Virgin Atlantic's much-ballyhooed biofuel test flight as a "nonsensical" publicity stunt. Environmentalists like Friends of the Earth argue airlines should limit flights before embracing biofuels because there are "real doubts" as to the sustainability and environmental benefits of biofuels. POST UPDATED 10:50 a.m. and 2:25 p.m. PST. Photo by Boeing.
Boeing Says Aviation Biofuel Is Just Three Years Away | Autopia from Wired.com {...} The world's largest aircraft manufacturer says biofuel-powered aircraft will flying the friendly skies as early as 2011, a timeline far more accelerated than many thought. Darrin Morgan, who oversees strategy {...}
Indexed: November 8, 2008, 9:49 am - Page Size: 78KB
Category: News > Breaking News

]]> News > Breaking News {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Hannity branded Emanuel "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals" -- studies, news reports disagree http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/hannity-branded-emanuel-one-of-the-hardest-left-20081118015.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/hannity-branded-emanuel-one-of-the-hardest-left-20081118015.htm Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:45:35 GMT On the November 5 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity asserted that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), who has just been announced as President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, is "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals" and stated that the choice of Emanuel shows that Obama is "hard, hard left." Contrary to Hannity's assertion that Emanuel is "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals," a study by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis, using every non-unanimous vote cast in the House in 2007 to determine relative ideology, placed Emanuel in a tie for the ranking of 126th most liberal Democratic congressman with the late Rep. Tom Lantos (CA). Hannity said of Obama's choice of Emanuel, "He's picked Rahm Emanuel, one of the hardest left-wing -- you know, radicals, you know, on the left, as his chief of staff. There's all the evidence that he's gonna swing to the hard left. And I think they're gonna overreach, and I think we're going gonna see the person that I think Barack Obama is. I think he is hard, hard left." Even the National Journal 2007 vote ratings, which Hannity has himself cited in attacking Obama and which Media Matters criticized as subjective, rated Emanuel the 128th most liberal Democratic congressman with a composite score of 72.3. Further, numerous media reports have labeled Emanuel as "a centrist," who has "worked at good relations with Republicans." A November 6 Los Angeles Times article, for example, asserted: "Emanuel's policies, unlike his politics, have always been centrist, in the Bill Clinton mold. In addition, a different Emanuel has emerged in recent years, one who has forged friendships with Republicans and shown an ability to work with them on occasion." The article also quoted GOP strategist John Feehery as saying that Emanuel "understands that if Obama goes too far to the left, it's not going to be good for the Democrats. ... I think he's the kind of guy who can knock some heads and help Obama guide the Congress toward the middle." The New York Times also reported in a November 6 article that "Mr. Emanuel has worked at good relations with Republicans, and has the grudging respect of some." From the November 5 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: HANNITY: Senator Obama's now our president-elect, but his tax plan is sure to have small business owners concerned. So, what does an Obama administration mean for the average Joe? Joining us now with reaction is the man who became the face of the proverbial average Joe. Joe Wurzelbacher is back with us, but you know him as Joe the Plumber. Joe, how are ya? WURZELBACHER: Hey, I'm doing real good. How about you guys tonight? HANNITY: Well, all right. You never expect to hear it. You were playing catch with your son, and all of a sudden, Barack Obama walks down the street, one of his few unscripted moments -- and I think it revealed a lot about the real Barack Obama, which is the question that I'm bringing up here tonight. And you asked a question, and lo and behold, now you're out there campaigning with Governor Palin and Senator McCain. And it had a big impact on this campaign. What are your thoughts about the results? WURZELBACHER: Yeah, I was disappointed. You know, I mean, my guy didn't win, but the same token, you know, Obama ran an incredible campaign. That can't be denied, and he's what the people chose. So, you know, now I gotta get behind him and support him, but in my opinion, though, it doesn't give him a blank check. We still need to hold him responsible and accountable to the people of America. HANNITY: Yeah, no -- and I agree with that, too. I -- here's my prediction. I think that liberals will misinterpret -- I mean, for example, we have evidence that they're even gonna strip Joe Lieberman of his leadership position in the United States Senate, retribution. He's picked Rahm Emanuel -- WURZELBACHER: Wow. HANNITY: -- one of the hardest left-wing -- you know, radicals -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Radical? HANNITY: -- on the left -- as his chief of staff. There's all the evidence that he's gonna swing to the hard left. And I think they're gonna overreach, and I think we're going gonna see the person that I think Barack Obama is. I think he is hard, hard left. We'll see. We'll give him an opportunity. But I -- WURZELBACHER: My -- HANNITY: Go ahead. WURZELBACHER: I was going to say, well, you know, SecureOurDream.com is a website I started up. I don't know -- I know you haven't gotten to that yet. But, you know, that's kind of why I'm starting it up, is one, to hold the elected officials accountable for, you know, who voted them in, be you Democrat or Republican, and hopefully be able to head off things like that to a degree and bring it out in the media. HANNITY: Well, you know, if you picture a guy like Rahm Emanuel -- who said about Republicans, "They can go blank themselves" -- if you pick a guy that voted with the Democratic Party 99 percent of the time, you know, it seems like Chicago politics is moving to Washington. That's my interpretation. Mediamatters.Org Hannity branded Emanuel "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals" -- studies, news reports disagree {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - On the November 5 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity asserted that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), who has just been announced as President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, is "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals" and stated that the choice of Emanuel shows that Obama is "hard, hard left." Contrary to Hannity's assertion that Emanuel is "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals," a study by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis, using every non-unanimous vote cast in the House in 2007 to determine relative ideology, placed Emanuel in a tie for the ranking of 126th most liberal Democratic congressman with the late Rep. Tom Lantos (CA). Hannity said of Obama's choice of Emanuel, "He's picked Rahm Emanuel, one of the hardest left-wing -- you know, radicals, you know, on the left, as his chief of staff. There's all the evidence that he's gonna swing to the hard left. And I think they're gonna overreach, and I think we're going gonna see the person that I think Barack Obama is. I think he is hard, hard left." Even the National Journal 2007 vote ratings, which Hannity has himself cited in attacking Obama and which Media Matters criticized as subjective, rated Emanuel the 128th most liberal Democratic congressman with a composite score of 72.3. Further, numerous media reports have labeled Emanuel as "a centrist," who has "worked at good relations with Republicans." A November 6 Los Angeles Times article, for example, asserted: "Emanuel's policies, unlike his politics, have always been centrist, in the Bill Clinton mold. In addition, a different Emanuel has emerged in recent years, one who has forged friendships with Republicans and shown an ability to work with them on occasion." The article also quoted GOP strategist John Feehery as saying that Emanuel "understands that if Obama goes too far to the left, it's not going to be good for the Democrats. ... I think he's the kind of guy who can knock some heads and help Obama guide the Congress toward the middle." The New York Times also reported in a November 6 article that "Mr. Emanuel has worked at good relations with Republicans, and has the grudging respect of some." From the November 5 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: HANNITY: Senator Obama's now our president-elect, but his tax plan is sure to have small business owners concerned. So, what does an Obama administration mean for the average Joe? Joining us now with reaction is the man who became the face of the proverbial average Joe. Joe Wurzelbacher is back with us, but you know him as Joe the Plumber. Joe, how are ya? WURZELBACHER: Hey, I'm doing real good. How about you guys tonight? HANNITY: Well, all right. You never expect to hear it. You were playing catch with your son, and all of a sudden, Barack Obama walks down the street, one of his few unscripted moments -- and I think it revealed a lot about the real Barack Obama, which is the question that I'm bringing up here tonight. And you asked a question, and lo and behold, now you're out there campaigning with Governor Palin and Senator McCain. And it had a big impact on this campaign. What are your thoughts about the results? WURZELBACHER: Yeah, I was disappointed. You know, I mean, my guy didn't win, but the same token, you know, Obama ran an incredible campaign. That can't be denied, and he's what the people chose. So, you know, now I gotta get behind him and support him, but in my opinion, though, it doesn't give him a blank check. We still need to hold him responsible and accountable to the people of America. HANNITY: Yeah, no -- and I agree with that, too. I -- here's my prediction. I think that liberals will misinterpret -- I mean, for example, we have evidence that they're even gonna strip Joe Lieberman of his leadership position in the United States Senate, retribution. He's picked Rahm Emanuel -- WURZELBACHER: Wow. HANNITY: -- one of the hardest left-wing -- you know, radicals -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Radical? HANNITY: -- on the left -- as his chief of staff. There's all the evidence that he's gonna swing to the hard left. And I think they're gonna overreach, and I think we're going gonna see the person that I think Barack Obama is. I think he is hard, hard left. We'll see. We'll give him an opportunity. But I -- WURZELBACHER: My -- HANNITY: Go ahead. WURZELBACHER: I was going to say, well, you know, SecureOurDream.com is a website I started up. I don't know -- I know you haven't gotten to that yet. But, you know, that's kind of why I'm starting it up, is one, to hold the elected officials accountable for, you know, who voted them in, be you Democrat or Republican, and hopefully be able to head off things like that to a degree and bring it out in the media. HANNITY: Well, you know, if you picture a guy like Rahm Emanuel -- who said about Republicans, "They can go blank themselves" -- if you pick a guy that voted with the Democratic Party 99 percent of the time, you know, it seems like Chicago politics is moving to Washington. That's my interpretation.
Media Matters - Hannity branded Emanuel "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals" -- studies, news reports disagree {...} Sean Hannity asserted that Barack Obama's new White House chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, is "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals" and stated that the choice of Emanuel shows that Obama is "hard, hard left." But contrary to Hannity's assertion, a study using every non-unanimous vote cast in the House in 2007 to determine relative ideology placed Emanuel in a tie for the ranking of 126th most liberal Democratic congressman, and news reports have labeled Emanuel as "a centrist," who has "worked at good relations with Republicans." {...}
Published: November 6, 2008, 8:45 pm - Indexed: November 7, 2008, 10:04 am - Page Size: 21KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {SYSTEMS > NEWS AND MEDIA} - iPodObserver - Analyst Predicts Apple Could Cut iPhone 3G Production by 40% Over Current Quarter http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/systems/apple/macintosh/news-and-media/ipodobserver-analyst-predicts-apple-could-cut-2008111436.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/systems/apple/macintosh/news-and-media/ipodobserver-analyst-predicts-apple-could-cut-2008111436.htm Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:10:00 GMT In iPhone news, analyst Craig Berger has issued a prediction stating that Apple is likely to cut production of its best-selling iPhone 3G handset by up to 40% during the quarter as a result of the global economic downtown and changes indicating a weakened demand for consumer electronics according to Macworld UK Ipodobserver.Com iPodObserver - Analyst Predicts Apple Could Cut iPhone 3G Production by 40% Over Current Quarter {new window}   Www.Ipodobserver.Com - In iPhone news, analyst Craig Berger has issued a prediction stating that Apple is likely to cut production of its best-selling iPhone 3G handset by up to 40% during the quarter as a result of the global economic downtown and changes indicating a weakened demand for consumer electronics according to Macworld UK
Analyst Predicts Apple Could Cut iPhone 3G Production by 40% Over Current Quarter || The iPod Observer - Now Playing {...}
Published: November 4, 2008, 4:10 pm - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 9:56 am - Page Size: 21KB
Category: Computers > Systems > Apple > Macintosh > News and Media

]]> Computers > Systems > Apple > Macintosh > News and Media {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Nov. 4, 1952: Univac Gets Election Right, But CBS Balks http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/nov-4-1952-univac-gets-election-right-but-cbs-balks-2008118596.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/nov-4-1952-univac-gets-election-right-but-cbs-balks-2008118596.htm Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT 1952: Television makes its first foray into predicting a presidential election based on computer analysis of early returns. The Univac computer makes an incredibly accurate projection that the network doesn't think credible. The Univac, or Universal Automatic Computer, was the next-gen version of the pioneering Eniac built by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1940s. Remington Rand bought the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp. in 1950 and sold the first Univac to the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951. The eight-ton, walk-in computer was the size of a one-car garage and accessed by hinged metal doors. Univacs cost about $1 million apiece, the equivalent of more than $8 million in today's money. The computer had thousands of vacuum tubes, which processed a then-astounding 10,000 operations per second (compared to 5 billion per second for today's superfast chips). Remington Rand (now Unisys) approached CBS News in the summer of 1952 with the idea of using Univac to project the election returns. News chief Sig Mickelson and anchor Walter Cronkite were skeptical, but thought it might speed up the analysis somewhat and at least be entertaining to use an "electronic brain." Eckert and John Mauchly enlisted their former Penn colleague, mathematician Max Woodbury, to assist. Mauchly and Woodbury gathered data and wrote a program that would compare the 1952 returns to previous elections and figure which way the wind was blowing. The duo worked at Mauchly's home because he'd been blacklisted as pro-Communist and wasn't allowed to work at the company anymore. The Univac in Philadelphia was connected to a teletype machine at the CBS studios in New York City. As the first precincts reported on election night, technicians used Unityper machines to encode the data onto paper tape to feed into Univac. Pre-election polls had predicted anything from a Democratic landslide to a tight race with the Demo candidate, Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, slightly ahead of the Republican, five-star Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in World War II. So it was a surprise at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time when Univac predicted Eisenhower would pile up 438 electoral votes to Stevenson's 93. The odds of Eisenhower garnering at least 266 electoral votes — the minimum needed to win — were 100-1. In New York, news boss Mickelson scoffed at putting the improbable prediction on air. In Philadelphia, Woodbury added new data to the mix. At 9 p.m. correspondent Charles Collingwood announced to the audience that Univac was predicting 8-7 odds for an Eisenhower win. But wait! Back in Philly, Woodbury discovered that he'd mistakenly added a zero to Stevenson's totals from New York state. When he entered the correct data and ran it through Univac, he got the same prediction as before: Ike 438, Adlai 93, again with 100-1 chances of an Eisenhower victory. As the evening wore on, an Eisenhower landslide gathered momentum. The final vote was 442 to 89. Univac was less than 1 percent off. Late at night, Collingwood made an embarrassing confession to millions of viewers: Univac had made an accurate prediction hours before, but CBS hadn't aired it. The public was now sold on this computer stuff. By the 1956 presidential election, all three networks (yes, there were just three) were using computer analysis of the results. It was here to stay. Source: CNN, USA Today Wired.Com Nov. 4, 1952: Univac Gets Election Right, But CBS Balks {new window}   Www.Wired.Com - 1952: Television makes its first foray into predicting a presidential election based on computer analysis of early returns. The Univac computer makes an incredibly accurate projection that the network doesn't think credible. The Univac, or Universal Automatic Computer, was the next-gen version of the pioneering Eniac built by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1940s. Remington Rand bought the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp. in 1950 and sold the first Univac to the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951. The eight-ton, walk-in computer was the size of a one-car garage and accessed by hinged metal doors. Univacs cost about $1 million apiece, the equivalent of more than $8 million in today's money. The computer had thousands of vacuum tubes, which processed a then-astounding 10,000 operations per second (compared to 5 billion per second for today's superfast chips). Remington Rand (now Unisys) approached CBS News in the summer of 1952 with the idea of using Univac to project the election returns. News chief Sig Mickelson and anchor Walter Cronkite were skeptical, but thought it might speed up the analysis somewhat and at least be entertaining to use an "electronic brain." Eckert and John Mauchly enlisted their former Penn colleague, mathematician Max Woodbury, to assist. Mauchly and Woodbury gathered data and wrote a program that would compare the 1952 returns to previous elections and figure which way the wind was blowing. The duo worked at Mauchly's home because he'd been blacklisted as pro-Communist and wasn't allowed to work at the company anymore. The Univac in Philadelphia was connected to a teletype machine at the CBS studios in New York City. As the first precincts reported on election night, technicians used Unityper machines to encode the data onto paper tape to feed into Univac. Pre-election polls had predicted anything from a Democratic landslide to a tight race with the Demo candidate, Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, slightly ahead of the Republican, five-star Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in World War II. So it was a surprise at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time when Univac predicted Eisenhower would pile up 438 electoral votes to Stevenson's 93. The odds of Eisenhower garnering at least 266 electoral votes — the minimum needed to win — were 100-1. In New York, news boss Mickelson scoffed at putting the improbable prediction on air. In Philadelphia, Woodbury added new data to the mix. At 9 p.m. correspondent Charles Collingwood announced to the audience that Univac was predicting 8-7 odds for an Eisenhower win. But wait! Back in Philly, Woodbury discovered that he'd mistakenly added a zero to Stevenson's totals from New York state. When he entered the correct data and ran it through Univac, he got the same prediction as before: Ike 438, Adlai 93, again with 100-1 chances of an Eisenhower victory. As the evening wore on, an Eisenhower landslide gathered momentum. The final vote was 442 to 89. Univac was less than 1 percent off. Late at night, Collingwood made an embarrassing confession to millions of viewers: Univac had made an accurate prediction hours before, but CBS hadn't aired it. The public was now sold on this computer stuff. By the 1956 presidential election, all three networks (yes, there were just three) were using computer analysis of the results. It was here to stay. Source: CNN, USA Today
Get the latest in science news, including space, physics, planet earth, discoveries, NASA, satellites, and space travel from Wired.com {...}
Published: November 4, 2008, 5:00 am - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 9:19 am - Page Size: 52KB
Category: News > Breaking News

]]> News > Breaking News