Direct peace talks decision in seven days: Abbas

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said he would decide in the next seven days whether conditions are now ripe to proceed to face-to-face peace talks with Israel.

“If there is progress by July 28, we will present it to the Arab League. If there is no progress, we will tell the League that we will continue with the proximity talks until the end of the four-month mandate we received,” Abbas said.

The Arab League committee that approved the indirect talks is due to convene in Cairo on July 29.

Still hopeful for peace process success : Abbas

GAZA: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that moving to the face-to-face negotiations with Israel without making a progress in the indirect proximity talks will be “absurd and useless.”

Abbas said during a religious ceremony to commemorate Prophet Mohamed”s Night Journey, better known as al-Esra night or Shab-e- Mairaj, that “if there is no progress in the proximity talks, what would be the benefits of moving to the direct talks?”

“The direct talks will be then absurd and useless, therefore, we had informed all the international parties that we want to achieve a progress first,” said Abbas. “These are our ideas and we wait to hear from the Israeli side.”

The United States, which failed to bring the two sides to direct talks, proposed four-month proximity talks to bridge the gaps between them and agree on the outlines of the permanent status issues.

The proximity talks were officially launched by U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell on May 9.

“Since the beginning of the proximity talks, we spoke about the six major issues, known as the permanent status issues. We agreed to focus first on the issues of borders and security,” said Abbas.

Obama to meet Abbas as Gaza fallout mounts

WASHINGTON: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will ask President Barack Obama Wednesday for “bold decisions” on the Middle East but US-led peace moves face a torrid climate after Israel”s Gaza flotilla raid.

Obama will welcome Abbas to the White House seeking to ensure regional fury over the May 31 Israeli commando strike does not doom indirect Israel-Palestinian talks that took months for Washington to organize.

He will also discuss American efforts to break through a “status-quo” on the blockaded Gaza Strip, which his administration describes as “untenable” following the deadly Israeli maritime raid, which killed nine Turks.

“The president looks forward to receiving President Abbas to review progress in the proximity talks and discuss our common efforts to achieve Middle East peace,” said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman. Obama also wants to “reinforce our strong support for the Palestinian Authority and its state-building effort, and review ideas for a long-term strategy towards Gaza.”

Intel hit with record $1.45 billion antitrust fine

BRUSSELS: The European Commission imposed a record 1.06 billion euros ($1.45 billion) fine on chipmaker Intel Corp on Wednesday and ordered it halt illegal rebates and other practices to squeeze out rival AMD.

“Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years,” European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

The EU executive said Intel paid computer makers to postpone or cancel plans to launch products that used AMD chips, paid illegal, secret rebates so computer makers would use mostly or entirely Intel chips, and paid a major retailer to stock only computers with its chips.

It ordered Intel “cease the illegal practices immediately to the extent that they are still ongoing.”

Intel may continue to offer rebates, so long as they are legal, the Commission said.

The EU antitrust fine is the biggest imposed on an individual company, exceeding an 896-million euro penalty last year against glass maker Saint-Gobain for price fixing, and a 497-million euro fine in 2004 on Microsoft for abuse of dominance.

The Commission investigated practices dating back to 2002, and said Europe accounted for 30 percent of Intel’s current worldwide 22 billion euro market.

The Commission said Intel must pay the fine, which represents 4.15 percent of the company’s 2008 turnover, within three months of the date of the notification of the decision.

Intel, whose microprocessors power eight out of every 10 PCs in the world, posted first quarter sales of $7.1 billion. Analysts estimated the company enjoys a sizeable cash balance, generating close to $10 billion in cash last year.

The Commission, tasked with ensuring companies do not abuse any market dominance or make deals that restrict competition in the 27-country European Union, started its investigation into Intel in 2001 after a complaint by Advanced Micro Devices.

AMD has also filed a U.S. lawsuit against Intel, which is set to be heard in court in 2010.

The Commission characterised its investigation as one of several, citing rulings against Intel by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and the Korean Fair Trade Commission.

It also referred to investigations by the U.S. Trade Commission and the State of New York.

The decision comes against the background of a renewed determination by the United States to pursue dominant companies that use their power to crush rivals.

The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Christine Varney, announced this week she “will be aggressively pursuing” such abuse.

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Intel hit with record $1.45 billion antitrust fine was first posted on May 13, 2009 at 10:26 pm.

Nokia e71x

Remember the Nokia E71x? Well, you probably know that this is a remix of the Nokia E71 QWERTY smartphone that was really welcomed by the public, but fully deserved. The Nokia E71x looks really great. I mean it. It really does, and IMO Nokia manufactures some of the worst looking cellphones, but this one is really great and it can compete against the BlackBerry Curve or BlackBerry Bold. Well, last time we’ve talked about the Nokia E71x, the cellphone just hit the AT&T store for a price of $99.99, however, upon hearing the fact that Samsung Jack will come to AT&T for $99.99, Nokia got scared and it is now selling its QWERTY smartphone for 1 cent for a two-year commitment with AT&T.

I like the Samsung Jack, but the E71x is even better and it’s available for only $.01 and how can you turn this down? Geez… However, let me remind you that the Nokia E71x features a 3.2MP camera, 2.4? LCD screen, 3G, full QWERTY, Bluetooth, USB, 12)MB internal memory, a microSD card expandable slot, Symbian S60, AOL Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Xpress Mail, Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Outlook, and many many others that will make anybody drool.

Thanks http://www.softsailor.com

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Nokia e71x was first posted on May 15, 2009 at 6:30 pm.

Google increas Share oF Web Search

NEW YORK: Google increased its share of the US online search market in April while Yahoo! and Microsoft both lost ground, according to figures released by tracking firm comScore.

ComScore said that 64.2 percent of the searches conducted by Americans in April were at Google sites, up from 63.7 percent in March.

Yahoo!’s share of the search market slipped 0.1 percentage points in April to 20.4 percent while Microsoft saw its share fall by 0.1 percentage points to 8.2 percent.

Search engine Ask held steady at 3.8 percent while AOL saw its market share fall by 0.3 percentage points to 3.4 percent, comScore said.

The tracking firm said Americans conducted 14.8 billion searches in April, up three percent over March, with Google accounting for 9.5 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! with three billion and Microsoft with 1.2 billion.

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Google increas Share oF Web Search was first posted on May 19, 2009 at 10:51 am.

President Barack Obama Praises shuttle crew for Hubble success

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama praised the crew of the shuttle Atlantis for their
perseverance in a difficult mission to extend the life of the 19-year-old Hubble Space
Telescope.

The astronauts themselves rejoiced at what they characterized as the unexpected full
success of their soon to end mission to equip the telescope for at least another five years of
observations.

“Like a lot of Americans I have been watching with amazement the gorgeous images you have been sending back and the incredible repair mission you have been making in space,”
said Obama in a call from the White House.

“I think you are providing a wonderful example of the kind of dedication and commitment to
exploration that represents America and the space program in general. These are traits that
have always made this country strong,” he said.

The president spoke with the astronauts for six minutes. Though the conversation was
private, the White House provided an audio recording of the exchange.

“Watching you guys out in space on some of these spacewalks is amazing,” Obama told John
Grunsfeld, an astronomer turned astronaut who led three of the mission’s five spacewalks.

“What you guys represent is an example of what vision means in the space program, always
describing our willingness to stretch beyond currrent boundaries and to look at things in new
ways,” said Obama.

“I’m hoping you guys recognize how important your mission is to the world as well as to this
country, the president said.”

“I can assure you it’s a high priority of mine to restore that sense of wonder that space can
provide and to make sure we have a strong sense of misison, not just within NASA but for
the country as a whole.”

They overcame stuck bolts, a power tool that lost battery power at a crucial point in the
repair of the telescope’s black hole hunter.

The successful outcome was a testament to the value of humans rather than robots in
space, the astronauts said.

“Many of the things we did were not possible robotically,” Grunsfeld told reporters. “That is
the real utility of humans. We are able to deal with situations that are unexpected, and we
do that all day long.”

“We all feel pretty good about what has been accomplished up here,” said Megan McArthur,
the shuttle’s robot arm operator. “We are of course looking forward to getting back home,
celebrating with eveyone, then unwinding with our families.”

The shuttle crew examined the wings and nose of their space ship using cameras and lasers
fitted to a boom on the robot arm.

Meanwhile, NASA marked another milestone on Wednesday as it gave the U.S., Russian and
Japan crew of the international space station permission to drink water recylced from urine
and huminity recovered from the breathing air.

The recycled water will make it easier for the orbital base to begin housing six rather than
three full time astronauts. The station’s current three man crew will be joined by three more
fliers who are preparing to lift off from Russian on May 27.

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President Barack Obama Praises shuttle crew for Hubble success was first posted on May 21, 2009 at 12:51 pm.

The return of Jon and Kate Plus 8

A new season of “Jon and Kate Plus 8? begins tonight. This once-wholesome little reality show about a Berks County couple’s efforts to raise adorable twins and even-more-adorable sextuplets has been rocked by scandal and dirty laundry. Is he sleeping with that sexy schoolteacher? Is she finding comfort in the arms of her bodyguard?

Reality television might be becoming a little too real for Jon and Kate Gosselin, whose sex lives and marital woes are suddenly the rage of scandal rags, bloggers and even mainstream media. Just Google “Jon and Kate” and let the muck begin.

As per reports the couple initially denied trouble in their marriage but reportedly don’t appear on camera together during tonight’s opening episode of “Jon and Kate Plus 8.”

The couple has been through many changes since they agreed to do the show five years ago, saying they wanted to create a visual record of their family and help meet the expenses of raising eight children.

“Just the whole diaper and formula thing will just about kill you, and one spouse ends up staying home because child care costs are so exorbitant,” said Natalie Foxwell of Lower Paxton Twp., who is the mother of fraternal twins and president of Keystone Mothers of Multiples.

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“My group is all about helping families that have multiples,” said Foxwell, who said she doesn’t watch “Jon and Kate Plus 8.”

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The return of Jon and Kate Plus 8 was first posted on May 25, 2009 at 2:04 pm.

With Toy chopper For Delivery of Prison Phone:Brazilia

BRAZILIA: In a new spin on the term “roaming charge,” Brazilian police busted a gang trying to deliver cellphones to a top-security prison using a remote-controlled toy helicopter, media reported Monday.

Four suspects were arrested late Sunday outside a maximum security facility in the southern town of Presidente Venceslau in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state after the mini-chopper, 14 mobile telephones and the equivalent of 500 dollars in cash were found in their rented car.

They had been stopped for a routine inspection because of their proximity to the prison, which holds organized crime bosses and other dangerous inmates.

The youngest of the suspects, a 17-year-old boy, reportedly confessed to police that they had received 5,000 dollars to pay for the operation and would receive another 5,000 dollars if successful. He refused to say who was to receive the telephones.

Brazil’s criminals often continue illicit activities while serving time, relying on cellphones that are smuggled inside though a variety of ingenuous ways.

In the past, carrier pigeons and doctored Bibles have been used.

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With Toy chopper For Delivery of Prison Phone:Brazilia was first posted on May 26, 2009 at 1:22 pm.