FED:Reverend Nile not happy about baby news

AAP General News (Australia)
08-09-2011
FED:Reverend Nile not happy about baby news

New South Wales Christian Democrats leader FRED NILE claims federal Finance Minister
PENNY WONG is setting a bad example by having a baby with her gay partner.

Senator WONG has announced her partner, SOPHIE ALLOUACHE, is due to give birth in December
after falling pregnant through IVF.

Reverend NILE, who has previously stated his opposition to same-sex relationships,
says he's totally against a baby being brought up by two mothers - adding the baby has
human rights.

He says Ms WONG didn't need to make the pregnancy public, saying the announcement just
promotes their lesbian lifestyle and tries to make it natural when it's unnatural.

AAP RTV saj/klm/sw/

KEYWORD: WONG NILE (SYDNEY)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: AWB employees to blow whistle on culture of corruption

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2006
FED: AWB employees to blow whistle on culture of corruption

At least three current and former employees of AWB are reportedly seeking immunity
from prosecution .. in exchange for blowing the whistle on a culture of bribery and corruption
in the company.

The Australian newspaper reports the three are offering to provide evidence to the
Cole inquiry .. that the wheat export industry is based on a system of kickbacks and bribes
to corrupt regimes around the world.

One former employee .. who's already given an anonymous statement to the inquiry ..

says making payments to foreign officials has been common practice at AWB .. and it's
been engaged in bad business in Iran .. Pakistan .. Yemen and Indonesia.

Two other employees are reportedly also considering giving evidence .. but want a guarantee
they won't face prosecution for bribing a foreign official .. which carries a maximum
10-year jail term.

AAP RTV ajc/jv

KEYWORD: AWB EMPLOYEES (SYDNEY)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:HMAS Adelaide to be scutlled today

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2011
FED:HMAS Adelaide to be scutlled today

The warship HMAS Adelaide will be scuttled today off Avoca Beach on the New South Wales
central coast .. despite yesterday's last minute bid by the No Ship Action Group to halt
the sinking.

The group filed a summons at the Land and Environment Court late yesterday afternoon
.. and wanted Premier BARRY O'FARRELL to step in to halt the sinking.

The decommissioned vessel is to go down at 10.30am (AEST) this morning.

AAP RTV eb/tr/wz/af

KEYWORD: ADELAIDE (SYDNEY)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:30

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2010
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:30

ADELAIDE - Researchers say they're closer to unravelling the mysteries of human sexual
development after showing male mice can be created without a Y chromosome by activating
an ancient brain gene. (Gene to come)



SOFIA - A Bulgarian appeals court has adjourned a hearing for an Australian man sentenced
to 20 years in jail for murder to allow his father to testify. (Bulgaria Aust)



CANBERRA - The federal government has responded to calls to lower the number of detainees
at Christmas Island by acknowledging the system is under strain. (Boat)



CANBERRA - Labor has defended its reform of the disability support pension, saying
changes will soon help to ease the ballooning number of recipients. (Disability)



CANBERRA - The federal coalition is accusing the government of a cover-up over the
number of roofs left bungled because of the flawed home insulation program. (Insulation)



CANBERRA - The federal government says it is sticking by its 2012 deadline to kick-start
the plan to save the Murray-Darling Basin despite renewed doubt. (Murray)



CANBERRA - A parliamentary committee has recommended the national audit office gain
extra powers to ensure taxpayers receive full value for money. (Auditor)



CANBERRA - The federal government's soaring legal bill, now well past $500 million,
has shown signs of slowing. (Legal)



CANBERRA - The federal government has used its emergency powers to put an Aboriginal
site in Tasmania on the national heritage list. (Levee)



CANBERRA - The makers of a controversial wristband have been ordered to offer full
refunds on sales of their product, which they claim improves balance, flexibility and
strength by working with the body's energy flow. (Power)



SYDNEY - Eye witnesses say they were shocked to see a light plane crash metres away
from them in a rural town near Sydney. (Plane 2nd Update)



SYDNEY - Sydney neurosurgeon Suresh Nair will plead guilty to the manslaughter of a
prostitute and to supplying another escort with cocaine. (Nair)

Nair Wrap to come



SYDNEY - A funeral home in NSW has dismissed speculation it's involved in the case
of an undertaker who's allegedly been stealing jewels from the dead. (Undertaker Update)



SYDNEY - A family of five has been taken to hospital after inhaling potentially deadly
chlorine fumes from a bottled spa sanitiser. (Sanitiser)



SYDNEY - Six people have been arrested and a policeman was hurt after a house party
turned violent in Sydney's west. (Party)



SYDNEY - Householders could be forced to pay for chucking food in their garbage, a
new report says. (Scrap)



SYDNEY - Police say a 19-year-old man phoned them to dob himself in after robbing a
Sydney service station. (Knife)



MELBOURNE - A 13-year-old boy has died after being struck by a truck while riding his
bicycle in Melbourne's northeast. (Toll Vic)



MELBOURNE - New figures show a 25 per cent increase in road fatalities in regional
and rural Victoria this year. (Toll Vic Regional with factbox)



MELBOURNE - Police have identified the victim of a serious assault in Melbourne's north
on Wednesday night. (Assault Update)



MELBOURNE - Misbehaving drunks attending the Boxing Day Test against England face big
fines and eviction, police have warned. (Cricket Police)



MELBOURNE - Heartless thieves have broken into the North Melbourne Lost Dogs' Home
and stolen several hundred dollars in the lead-up to its busiest period. (Dogs to come)



MELBOURNE - A Melbourne woman in her 70s suffered burns when a faulty electrical cord
caused her iron to explode. (Iron)



BRISBANE - A woman who gassed her children to death in the family car has lost an appeal
against her conviction for murder. (Kids)



BRISBANE - A man who murdered a Brisbane radio announcer has lost an appeal against
his conviction. (Barden)



BRISBANE - Three prisoners found guilty of killing another inmate more than a decade
ago have won a retrial. (Knight)



BRISBANE - A car has hit a tree killing one teenager and injuring three other passengers.

(Toll Qld)



BRISBANE - A new dog breeder identification system to be introduced next year will
hopefully stamp out dodgy puppy farmers, says the RSPCA. (Puppy to come)



PERTH - A convoy of trucks is due to arrive in the West Australian town of Carnarvon
to deliver fuel, groceries and other supplies following record floods in the Gascoyne
region. (Floods WA)



ADELAIDE - South Australians are expected to splurge about $2.7 billion on Christmas
despite a sluggish year of trade. (Xmas Retail SA)



ADELAIDE - South Australia has a new wine region and it's the coolest on the mainland. (Wine)



ADELAIDE - More than one million sheep have this year been moved out of drought-stricken
parts of Western Australia. (Stock)

AAP apm

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

VIC:Main stories in Melbourne newspapers

AAP General News (Australia)
08-16-2010
VIC:Main stories in Melbourne newspapers

THE AGE:

Page 1: Tony Abbott will unveil a plan to get young people off welfare and into work
as part of his final push to the election finish line, and has warned welfare recipients
that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Melbourne's water storages are having their
best winter run-off since 1995, swelling above 38 per cent full and adding more than 220
billion litres to last year's historically low levels.

Page 2: Another school merger is in turmoil, with three councillors at a new super
school in Reservoir resigning amid claims they were deceived and regret agreeing to the
amalgamation.

Page 3: Up to three-quarters of teenagers who live in Melbourne's west believe gangs
are a presence in their neighbourhoods and a third have had an encounter with them, according
to a two-year study on community safety.

World: Faced with stinging criticism from Republicans after he appeared to endorse
a controversial plan to build a mosque near ground zero in New York, President Barack
Obama has sought to clarify his stance in a sign that his comments had become more political
than the White House first realised.

Finance: A central figure in the Operation Wickenby investigations into offshore tax
schemes, Philip de Figueiredo, has lost a key court battle in his attempt to stop Tax
Office authorities extraditing him to Australia to face fraud charges.

Sport: Hawthorn midfielder Brad Sewell says it was important for the Hawks to play
well on Sunday to support their coach following their president's suggestion that Alastair
Clarkson had been out-coached against Sydney.

AAP jrd/ao

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS VIC 2 MELBOURNE

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Wayward magistrate should not be convicted, court

AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-2010
Vic: Wayward magistrate should not be convicted, court

MELBOURNE, April 7 AAP - Victorian magistrate Raffaele Barberio should escape conviction
following a neighbourhood dispute over dog faeces, his lawyer has told the court.

Barberio, 60, appeared in the Moorabbin Magistrates' Court on Wednesday where he is
pleading guilty to one count of assault, and one of criminal damage.

The court heard Barberio was out walking his German Shepherd in the Melbourne bayside
suburb of Brighton in March last year when the dog defecated on the nature strip and he
continued walking.

He was pulled up by the driver of a gold Range Rover who challenged Barberio. There
was a brief scuffle during which the magistrate tried to strike the driver with his fist.

The complainant was not injured and his wife called police.

Seven months later, Barberio used a key or similar object to cause over $9,000 damage
to the complainant's car.

Barberio's lawyer Robert Richter, QC, asked the magistrate not to impose a conviction.

Mr Richter said Barberio was grieving the loss of his mother when the first incident
occurred and had given a life of service to the community.

But prosecutor Greg Elms said a conviction should be in the range of options.

The court heard the vandalism incident happened just after Barberio received the prosecution
brief relating to the earlier assault.

The NSW magistrate appointed to hear the matter will pass sentence at 2pm (AEST).

AAP mi/szp/gfr/it/de

KEYWORD: BARBERIO

2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: ASX change a positive: Bowen

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2009
Fed: ASX change a positive: Bowen

CANBERRA, Aug 24 AAP - Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen says changes to the
way share trading is monitored will remove the perception of a conflict of interest.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is taking over the day-to-day
supervisory role of share trading from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The move means ASIC will oversee the $4.4 billion worth of trades conducted on average
each day on the ASX, a role currently undertaken by the ASX itself.

Mr Bowen said there were shortcomings with the previous arrangement so the change was
appropriate.

He told ABC Television he was concerned about insider trading, although he didn't blame the ASX.

Mr Bowen said he expected the ASX to reduce the fees it charged brokers and market
participants, because it would no longer hold a supervisory role. ASIC would now recoup
those costs from brokers.

Market experts and the federal opposition have said there are still a number of questions
that have to be answered on how the change of ASIC's expanded role will work.

AAP ca/apm

KEYWORD: MARKETS BOWEN

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: LNG deal better than court hearings: Macklin

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2009
Fed: LNG deal better than court hearings: Macklin

CANBERRA, April 15 AAP - A deal reached between traditional owners in Western Australia's
Kimberley region and the state government on a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing
hub shows negotiation is better than lengthy court hearings, the federal government says.

The Kimberley Land Council (KLC) has accepted premier Colin Barnett's preferred site,
at James Price Point, about 60 kilometres north of Broome, after protracted negotiations,
a KLC spokesman told AAP.

Talks had previously stalled on a preferred site, and Mr Barnett had threatened to
compulsorily acquire the land if talks in Broome on Wednesday proved unproductive.

"The Kimberley Land Council has agreed to move forward on the gas hub," the spokesman
for the KLC said.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the agreement showed how negotiation
was better than litigation.

"This is a great result. Local indigenous communities, industry, the West Australian
and the national economies all win from this agreement," Ms Macklin said in a statement.

"This is a great example of how negotiation can get better results than long-winded
court proceedings."

Ms Macklin praised the efforts of deal negotiator Bill Gray, who was appointed by the
federal government in December.

The `hub' concept is designed to avoid ad hoc development of the growing LNG industry
in the environmentally sensitive region of the state's north.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd, which has undeveloped assets in the Browse Basin off the Kimberley
coast, was among energy companies seeking a speedy remedy to the hub selection process.

AAP saj/rlm/cdh

KEYWORD: LNG MACKLIN

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: Cutbacks hinder commission's ability to fight crime

AAP General News (Australia)
12-10-2008
FED: Cutbacks hinder commission's ability to fight crime

CANBERRA, Dec 10 AAP - There are too many bureaucrats and not enough investigators
working for the Australian Crime Commission (ACCC), according to a federal Labor senator.

Senator Steve Hutchins, who chairs the parliamentary committee that oversees the commission,
says budget cuts and a misallocation of resources are hindering its ability to fight organised
crime.

"It's been a misallocation of resources over the past few years that has led to operational
requirements being negated for desk jobs," Senator Hutchins told ABC Radio.

"That's my concern."

Senator Hutchins said a well-known Sydney crime boss receiving an emergency passport
from the Australian consulate in Hong Kong earlier this year was a case in point.

It has been revealed that earlier this year a senior official at the Australian consulate
in Hong Kong approved a fresh 10-year passport for Lam Dao Kiet, also known as Jack Lam.

The passport was issued despite there being outstanding warrants for Lam over drugs
and weapons offences. The 43-year-old fled Australia in 1997 when the warrants were issued.

"There's a failure that seems to have occurred between the issuing of that passport
and the authorities that may be in charge of our criminal intelligence network," he said.

"It may well be that there wasn't the resources there to provide the intelligence."

Senator Hutchins said he expected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to "demand answers" over
the incident.

And once Mr Rudd was made fully aware of the funding issues at the commission "bums
will be kicked", he said.

"I'm convinced that Kevin Rudd is as concerned as all of us are about the inroads that
organised crime is making into the Australian community."

"Not only its effect on families but on the economy."

AAP jcd/maur

KEYWORD: ACC

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: Baby food labels to be changed

AAP General News (Australia)
08-06-2008
FED: Baby food labels to be changed

Labels on baby food could be changed to make sure products aren't given to infants
younger than six months.

Current packaging on baby food states it's suitable for children over four months ..

but Food Standards Australia New Zealand says that's inconsistent with national health
guidelines.

The regulator says there's also evidence that introducing solids earlier limits a baby's
supply of vital breast milk .. and potentially harms the kidneys.

FSANZ says between four and six months .. human breast milk or infant formula is generally
considered sufficient to meet the iron and zinc needs of infants.

Submissions on the proposal close on September 17.

AAP RTV tam/crh/tm

KEYWORD: BABY (SYDNEY)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Australia must pull together on indigenous affairs: Chaney

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2008
Fed: Australia must pull together on indigenous affairs: Chaney

A group promoting reconciliation .. says Australia must pull together and address the
social issues of indigenous affairs.

FRED CHANEY .. the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia .. also served as an indigenous
affairs minister with the Fraser coalition government.

Mr CHANEY says addressing issues like indigenous education and health is a long-distance
race .. and Australia must get on top its abysmal indigenous social statistics.

He's told ABC radio we've traditionally done very badly on such long-term policies.

AAP RTV sld/rl/rt

KEYWORD: SORRY CHANEY (CANBERRA)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Vic police to begin industrial action today

AAP General News (Australia)
08-26-2007
Vic: Vic police to begin industrial action today

MELBOURNE, Aug 26 AAP - Thousands of Victorian police will begin industrial action
today in bid for better pay.

Police from Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, to Pakenham, south-east of the capital,
will roll out the first of 11 of 22 work bans, including refusing to provide statistical
information to government departments.

Officers in other parts of Victoria will join the action if the state government refuses
to budge on pay talks.

They are seeking a five per cent pay rise, compared to the 3.25 per cent increase on offer.

Police Association Victorian secretary Paul Mullett said the industrial action was
a last resort for police seeking decent pay and work conditions.

"We hoped this day wouldn't come," Senior Sergeant Mullett said.

"It is disappointing and regrettable that the government's inaction on this issue has
backed us into a corner.

"Industrial action is tough and with the added risk of pay being docked, has the possibility
of putting real strain on ordinary working police and their families," he said.

Snr Sgt Mullett said the work bans would not diminish the level of service to the public.

AAP gfr/sco/cdh

KEYWORD: POLICE VIC DAYLEAD

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Companies complain of Telstra "misinformation"

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2007
Fed: Companies complain of Telstra "misinformation"

A group of telcos and internet companies have complained to the government's competition
watchdog .. that Telstra is waging a campaign of misinformation about the state of broadband
services in Australia.

11 companies including AAPT .. Austar .. and Primus Telecom .. have sent a letter of
complaint to the ACCC.

They're demanding an investigation into a series of recent public statements by Telstra
about broadband.

The move comes as the federal government is under pressure to improve broadband ..

following Labor's plan to spend nearly five billion dollars a year .. on a high-speed
broadband network if it wins the election.

AAP RTV nb/imc/bart

KEYWORD: BROADBAND (CANBERRA)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Hicks to face fair hearing under new charges: Ruddock

AAP General News (Australia)
12-10-2006
Fed: Hicks to face fair hearing under new charges: Ruddock

CANBERRA, Dec 10 AAP - Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says David Hicks will face new
charges as early as next month, and the US has assured him the accused terrorist will
receive a fair hearing.

Mr Ruddock today said Hicks, an Adelaide-born Muslim convert, was expected to be charged
after January 17, the date new regulations governing the military commission expected
to try him take effect.

Hicks, who was captured by US forces in Afghanistan five years ago, had originally
pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

But the charges were struck out in June when the US Supreme Court ruled the military
tribunals set up to try him were illegal.

He has since languished in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, along with
other terrorist suspects.

Mr Ruddock today said US laws passed in October which provided for a revised system
of military commissions would take effect by January 17, meaning Hicks could face new
charges within a few weeks.

"Regulations have to be proclaimed within three months. That means they have to be
in place before mid-January, and they provide the basis upon which a charge ... will be
outlined," Mr Ruddock told Sky News.

"The United States attorney-general assured me (last week) that his expectation was
that they would be able to charge him shortly after the regulations have been proclaimed."

Mr Ruddock said he did not know what charges Hicks would face.

But the US had told him the new commission process would be fair.

"We're pressing to get these issues addressed as quickly as possible," he said.

"We've sought assurances that there'll be a presumption of innocence, that he will
know the evidence that's going to be presented against him, that he will be effectively
represented in the military commission process, that there are appeals ... into the civilian
court system.

"We are certainly pressing the United States and have received certain assurances from
them that a fair trial should be possible under the scheme that they've legislated for."

Mr Ruddock said he sympathised with Hicks' father, Terry Hicks, who has not spoken
to his son since July.

"Do I have any sympathy with Mr (Terry) Hicks? I certainly do," he said.

"I don't think any father should be in the situation where they're having to defend
a child who has gone, perhaps, off the rails in some way, and I think we ought to respect
the way in which he has fought in his son's interests."

But he said the proceedings against Hicks had dragged on for so long largely because
of legal challenges to the process set up to try him.

"Part of the reason that David Hicks' trial has been delayed is because people sought
to challenge legally the process under which he is being tried," Mr Ruddock said.

"We have had cases in Australia where people have appealed decisions but they've remained
in jail for as long as five years before a trial has been eventually concluded."

Thousands of people rallied in capital cities across the country yesterday, urging
the federal government to do more to bring David Hicks home from Guantanamo Bay.

More than 1,000 people marched in Sydney, while hundreds took part in protests in Brisbane,
Melbourne, Perth and Canberra to mark the fifth anniversary of his incarceration.

AAP dcr/arb/bwl

KEYWORD: HICKS RUDDOCK

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Missing children found safe and well

AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2006
NSW: Missing children found safe and well

Three Sydney children .. feared to be in danger after being taken by their father after
a domestic incident .. have been recovered safe and well.

Police say the man and the children have all been found in Canberra.

The father has been taken into custody.





ANGELICA .. DIMITRIY and ANDREI were last seen with 29-year-old FRANK DIPALMA yesterday
afternoon.

He disappeared with his three young children after a heated argument with his wife
in a house at Lane Cove.

AAP RTV pc/klw/ibw

KEYWORD: CHILDREN FOUND (SYDNEY)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: MP surprised electorate is one of the saddest in Aust

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2006
Fed: MP surprised electorate is one of the saddest in Aust

CANBERRA, Feb 13 AAP - Federal MP Anthony Albanese says he is surprised a study has
found his electorate of Grayndler in Sydney is one of the saddest in the country.

The Deakin University study has found many of the saddest electorates are in the centre
of the nation's wealthiest cities - while some of the happiest are in poor, rural and
regional centres.

The study examined people's wellbeing by considering standard of living, health, achievement
in life, personal relationships, sense of safety, connection to the community and future
security.

The low-income rural electorate of Wide Bay in Queensland topped the "happy" list,
while Grayndler in Sydney's inner west came in near the top of the "sad" list.

"I'm unhappy about that finding," Mr Albanese joked.

"I must say it's somewhat surprising on one level because I find it certainly a great
place to live.

"But there's no doubt that families in my electorate are under extreme pressure due
to high mortgages, due to the lack of child-care places, they tend to have both parents
working and tend to have difficulties with any spare time.

"I think also my electorate is one which is a very politicised electorate.

"After 10 years of the Howard government, people who feel very strongly about social
issues and value-based politics issues such as reconciliation, asylum seekers, the fact
that this is a government which has presided over AWB giving $300 million to Saddam Hussein
at a time when we were preparing to go to war - I think that provides an area of frustration
for them as well."

AAP jcol/sb/rj/de

KEYWORD: WELLBEING ALBANESE

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

angstrom

History
Originally (in 1868 for solar radiations) and still used for expression of wavelengths in the  electromagnetic spectrum. After elaborate measurement of the wavelength of the red line of cadmium at 6438.4696 × 10¹⁰ m, it was agreed internationally in 1907 that the angstrom be defined by assigning the value 6438.4696 Å to that wavelength Barrell H. Proc. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A 186, 164–70 (1946)
(in dry air containing 0.03% carbon dioxide, at standard atmospheric pressure and a temperature of 15°C). This was the pioneer use of light to define length, presaging the application to the metre in 1960, using krypton. By that time the 1907 definition had been shown to have made the angstrom 1.000 000 2∼ × 10⁻¹⁰ m relative to the extant prototype metre; the 1960 re-definition changed the length of the metre to make it precisely 10¹⁰ Å as defined in 1907.

The 1978 decision of the CIPM considering it acceptable to continue to use the angstrom with the SI still stands.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN NEW PC.(BUSINESS)

Byline: Dwight Silverman Houston Chronicle

There's no fighting it - any computer you buy now will be outdated very soon. Time marches on, but technology sprints ahead.

About twice a year, I try to assess the personal computer landscape and offer some thoughts on the current minimum specifications that buyers should consider in a home desktop PC.

Here are the summer '96 numbers. For those of you who are in the same position as my boss - well, read 'em and weep.

Processor: Consider the 100-megahertz chip as the minimum, with 120- and 133-megahertz chips as best-bang-for-the-buck values.

If you use a Macintosh, look for a 75-megahertz PowerPC 603 processor. Happily, it's also the best value in the Mac line.

Memory: Sixteen megabytes is the minimum for random-access memory in either Macintosh or IBM-compatible computers.

Hard disk: Get at least a gigabyte of hard disk space if you buy an IBM-compatible, and 700 megabytes if you want a Mac.

CD-ROM: Most personal computers now come with a quad-speed CD-ROM drive, and that's fine. Some systems are starting to show up with six- and eight-speed drives.

Monitor: This is one area where many buyers mistakenly scrimp.

You spend hours staring at a monitor, so it should be a good one. Go for a 15-inch model - 17 inches if you do desktop publishing or play lots of games - that has a maximum of .28 dot pitch.

Video cards: Although most computer makers who sell their goods at retail put only one megabyte of video RAM in the system, add another if you can afford it.

Sound cards: On IBM-compatible systems, look for a 16-bit stereo sound card with wave-table capabilities, which uses the real sounds of instruments to play MIDI music files. Many of these cards also include 3D, surround sound and full duplex features. Full duplex, in which an audio card can both emit and receive sounds at the same time, is useful if you use a program to make phone calls over the Internet.

Excellent sound is built into the Macintosh.

Modems: For both types of computers, you'll want a 28,800-baud fax modem.

Operating system: If you buy an IBM-compatible computer from a retailer, it's almost impossible to find one that does not have Windows 95. Make sure it has the most recent version. Right-click on the My Computer icon and choose Properties from the menu that appears. Look for version number 4.00.950a.

If the ``a'' is missing, you can get an upgrade patch from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/software/servpak1/sphome.htm.

The latest Macintosh operating system is 7.5.3, and all of Apple's current products are shipping with this version.

DigMedia Signs Deal With 143 Records to Provide Web Hosting and Media Streaming Services.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2001

DigMedia Inc., a Vertical Service Provider (VSP) to media companies and content providers, today announced a new Web services relationship with 143 Records, a member of the Warner Music Group (NYSE:AOL), to store and deliver online music, videos and media content, like the Corrs, plus ONE and Beth Hart, with enhanced quality and reliability to music fans worldwide.

"DigMedia's passion and focus in delivering content for the entertainment music industry was a perfect match, making them unique to deliver our digital content globally," said Larry Frazin, president of 143 Records. "Their strategic alliances and proprietary technology allow them to fully service the digital distribution industry."

DigMedia's infrastructure utilizes a global distributed network with server redundancy to ensure mission-critical performance for content owners' Web sites. DigMedia's hosting services include e-Business applications to help provide the best in accounting and reporting systems allowing businesses to improve customer relations and loyalty.

Music fans will be able to visit the 143 Records Web site, www.143records.com, to listen and purchase music and access group bios, tour dates and additional links. By using the Internet, 143 Records' innovative online initiative will bring fans closer to their favorite artists and help them expand into new markets.

"We are pleased to have a strategic role in 143 Records' initiative to deliver content to their Web community," added Pedro Vargas, chief technical officer of DigMedia Inc.

To achieve the high-quality experience that is critical to satisfying and retaining end users, 143 Records will take advantage of DigMedia's intelligent routing and load balancing platform in its streaming solution. DigMedia's streaming optimizes Internet content delivery by serving hosted media at the edge-of-network, ensuring content is never far from the end user.

About DigMedia Inc.

DigMedia Inc. is an end-to-end, digital media distribution company and manufacturer of Internet audio appliances providing secure streaming media, hosting, personalized digital lockers and e-Business services to record labels and other music content providers. DigMedia strategic allies include Intel (Web hosting, streaming media) and Intertrust (Digital Rights Management). DigMedia Inc. is based in San Diego, with offices in Edinburgh, Scotland. For more information about DigMedia Inc., visit the company's Web site at http://www.digmedia.cc.

About 143 Records.

143 Records was founded in 1995 by 14x Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter David Foster as a joint venture with the Warner Music Group. The label has enjoyed tremendous success, most notably with the mega, multi-platinum selling artists the Corrs, with more than 19 million records sold.

BANKING FOR LLOYDS TSB CUSTOMERS AT SCOTTISH POST OFFICES.

:: PR Newswire, London, April 12. This press release is transmitted on behalf of The Post Office.

Post offices in Scotland will be offering personal banking services for Lloyds TSB customers from the summer.

The announcement of the additional 2,000 offices follows on from the success of the Lloyds TSB service which has been available at post offices in England and Wales since April 1999.

Post Office Network Banking Managing Director Basil Larkins said: ``The post office network is continuing to expand the banking services it offers nationwide. This extension of the Lloyds TSB service is a further example of our growing presence in the market place and our new and building relationships with banking partners.

``Post offices are ideally placed to deliver a range of services, including banking, to communities across the country. More than nine out of 10 people live within a mile of a post office.''

The Lloyds TSB service at post offices offers customers basic banking services - paying in and withdrawing cash and cheques.

Note to Editors:

The Post Office signed a deal with Barclays on Friday (April 7) to provide personal banking services at post offices in England and Wales. Alliance & Leicester customers have been using post offices for withdrawal and deposit transactions since the 1980s. Banking services are also available for The Co-operative Bank and its internet bank smile at all post offices in the UK.

For further information visit the website at http://www.postoffice-counters.co.uk

Cooltools: getting the most out of Valuation on the iPad is easy--and convenient.

SINCE THE FOURTH QUARTER 2010 LAUNCH OF THE IPHONE AND IPAD APPLICATIONS for Valuation magazine, more than 1,600 readers have downloaded the application. The app, which works on the iPhone, iPad and even the iPod Touch, provides access to all of the great content you've come to expect from the quarterly magazine, plus interactive elements that make the articles come to life.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Here's how to get the most out of the app once it's been downloaded to your device.

The app is more than a simple page viewer. Readers can choose between seeing thumbnails of a page, a full page or enlarged text versions of stories. It also allows viewers to link through directly to more features, advertising information and videos, as well as to access RSS feeds from the Appraisal Institute, such as its Appraiser News Online news feed (Fig. 1).

The Appraisal Institute has loaded the third and fourth quarter 2010 issues onto the application, and upon publication, each new issue of Valuation will also be accessible via the app, giving readers an ever-expanding library. Use the Valuation app to quickly find an article, ad or any other item in a recent issue of the magazine, right there, on your mobile device. The touch-screen interface lets you easily scroll through an issue or pull up a single article to read in a plain-text format (Fig. 2).

Other ways to interact with magazine articles include: book-marking your favorites columns and features for later reading (Fig. 3), searching keywords among all issues to find a particular topic or article (Fig. 4), sharing articles with friends and colleagues, and commenting on the content to generate conversation with other Valuation app users.

Also, once you download each issue, you'll have access to the articles even when you're not connected to the Internet. So, if you leave your hard copy of the magazine at home or the office, you'll still have Valuation magazine as long as you're carrying your iPhone or iPad.

To access the magazine and its interactive features on your iPad or iPhone, download the Valuation app today at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/appraisal-institutes-valuation/id406359825?mt=8.

R. Wayne Pugh, MAI, is CEO of R. Wayne Pugh and Co., a real estate consulting and appraisal firm he founded in 1975 in Baton Rouge, La. He also heads Software for Real Estate Professionals Inc. and Real Estate Data Services. He developed the Appraisal Institute Cool Tools seminar (www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/seminar_descrb/Default.aspx?sem_nbr=0L-COOL&key_type=00S) and writes the "Cool Tools Blog" at www.facebook.com.

PanAmSat Partners With Nuera Communications to Debut Satellite-Based Voice Over IP Services.

GENEVA, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 1999--

Packet Voice Telephony Service Employing PanAmSat's

Atlantic Ocean Region Satellites and Advanced Nuera Communications

Technology Debuts at Telecom '99 Exhibition

PanAmSat Corporation (NASDAQ: SPOT) today announced that the company has teamed with Nuera Communications, Inc., a leader in integrated voice and data systems, for the satellite delivery of packet voice telephony services throughout the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The advanced satellite-based voice over IP (VoIP) platform employs PanAmSat's Atlantic Ocean Region satellites, the company's Homestead, Fla., teleport and Nuera Communications' F200ip VoIP gateway. PanAmSat is providing continuous demonstrations of the service, which is offered through the company's SPOTel(TM) line of voice and data services, for attendees of the Telecom '99 exhibition this week.

"Voice over IP offers telecommunications carriers a cost-effective alternative solution to the public switched telephone network by providing high-quality voice services utilizing the Internet Protocol. In addition, satellites maintain the Quality of Service by avoiding the congested public network and transmitting packet voice signals over pure IP rather than the Internet," said Alvaro T. Gazzolo, PanAmSat's senior vice president, Atlantic Ocean Region. "By combining the company's comprehensive, state-of-the-art satellite technology with Nuera's industry-leading VoIP hardware, PanAmSat is well-positioned to meet the strong demand for IP-based telecommunications services throughout the Atlantic Ocean Region."

"This relationship with PanAmSat better enables Nuera to meet demand in the fast-growing IP telephony market," said Steve Visconti, Nuera Communications, vice president of sales. "Linking satellite services with Nuera's IP products provides a comprehensive solution set for our current and potential customers."

VoIP consists of the transmission of voice information in compressed digital packets using the Internet Protocol rather than the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network.

PanAmSat is demonstrating the service and technology this week at the Telecom '99 exhibition. The demonstration employs capacity aboard PanAmSat's PAS-3 Atlantic Ocean Region satellite. Attendees are able to place calls from two demonstration telephone booths linked to a Nuera F200ip VoIP gateway, which compresses and splits the voice signals into packets for transmission to the Homestead teleport via PAS-3. The teleport then assembles the packets and routes the signals to their final destinations along the public switched telephone network, utilizing the F200ip VoIP gateway and a switch.

PanAmSat's new satellite-based VoIP platform utilizes Nuera's F200D unit, consisting of eight award-winning F200ip VoIP gateways, each capable of supporting digital transmissions up to a full E1, or 2.048 Megabytes per second, for voice, fax and modem traffic. The unit, which compresses and processes the voice signals into discrete packets, is located at PanAmSat's Homestead teleport outside Miami, Fla. The facility provides gateway services for the platform via an international gateway switch, directing traffic to and from the IP telephony network as well as transmitting and receiving packet voice signals via the PAS-1, PAS-3 and PAS-5 satellites. Services are provided over the satellites on a per-minute basis, using digital single-channel-per-carrier (SCPC) satellite links to interconnect to VoIP nodes equipped with compatible Nuera technology. PanAmSat and Nuera Communications will market the service and technology together.

PanAmSat will offer VoIP services through the company's SPOTel line of voice and data services for telecommunications service providers and corporations. SPOTel is PanAmSat's solution to meet the demand for switched voice services and digital data links. The service offers on-demand, dedicated, international voice and data services anywhere within the PanAmSat satellite system, employing either SCPC or demand assigned multiple access (DAMA) platforms that allow telecommunications carriers and companies to create private telephony networks.

Nuera Communications is the leading provider of high-quality packet voice communications systems and technology for voice/fax/data/video networking over frame relay, IP and circuit-switched networks. A co-founder of the Voice over IP Forum and member of the Frame Relay Forum, Nuera serves carrier, corporate and OEM customers with industry-leading DSP-based solutions that optimize bandwidth utilization while maintaining communications quality for voice, fax, data, signaling, modem and video traffic. For additional information, please visit Nuera's web site at http://www.nuera.com.

PanAmSat is the world's leading commercial provider of satellite-based communications services. The company operates a global network of 19 satellites supported by PanAmSat professionals on five continents. These resources enable PanAmSat to provide video and telecommunications services to hundreds of customers worldwide. PanAmSat plans to launch seven additional satellites by mid-2001. For more information on the company and its services, visit the PanAmSat web site at http://www.panamsat.com.

Why flat mail drives flat results and how to fix it.(In Print)

When you trudge out to the mailbox, what grabs your attention? It's probably not a boring white envelope with a few text-filled pages inside. Unfortunately, that bland approach describes the vast majority of direct mail campaigns, and the results are predictably bad: The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reported measly response rates of just 3.4 percent for house lists and 1.4 percent for prospect lists in 2010.

But all hope should not be lost. Direct marketers will spend $47.8 billion on direct mail campaigns this year (up 5.8 percent from 2010), according to the Winter-berry Group, and the U.S. Postal Service says that 77 percent of Americans sort through their mail the same day that it's delivered. Direct mail isn't dead; it's just antiquated. Here are five steps that direct mailers should take to greatly increase the effectiveness of their cam- paigns:

1 Appeal to the senses. Your direct mail campaign is much more likely to be successful if, for example, it folds into a three-dimensional shape, has flashing lights, plays music or smells like a rose. The explanation is basic human nature. Our focus groups have found that people spend a lot more time with these types of interactive materials, which experts say may release norepinephrine, a hormone that indicates excitement and stimulation. In our research, we observed a 39-percent increase in patients' memory recall when we replaced flat print with a sample mailing that possessed one sensory stimulant (light, sound, smell, etc.). Incorporating a second sensory stimulant boosted memory recall by an additional 19 percent.

2 Avoid information overload. According to research conducted by Eli Lilly & Co., "A 'less is more' approach ... may increase retention and comprehension in consumer-directed print advertisements." Its research found that people are best able to digest three or fewer pieces of information. Too much information can be distracting. Make sure that everything you distribute has a clear, concise and persuasive value proposition.

3 Follow the latest gadget trends. You need to target users where they congregate, and that's heavily trending in an electronic direction. Your print materials should refer your targets to the Internet, mobile apps and other hot channels so that you can reach your targets where and when they want to be reached. Furthermore, make sure that your delivery method fits the channel: an iPad app should be very graphical and interactive, whereas a tweet should be short and to the point.

4 Make it easy for your targets. Don't just send them a line of text with your website address--send them a branded web key. This small device fits into a computer's USB port and takes the user directly to a pre-selected website or document. Web keys cut through the clutter and make it easier and more interactive for your targets to access content. Research has shown that people react more favorably to things they can touch and hold.

5 Maintain security and trust above all else. This falls firmly in the "last but not least" camp. If your marketing messages don't meet compliance regulations, or if they're perceived as irrelevant or spam, then it's game over. Make sure to respect all legal guidelines as well as common-sense conventions. In terms of the latter, this might mean decreasing the quantity of your campaigns while upping the quality.

Dave Duplay is the president and founder of MedT'era, an integrated marketing solutions company. He can be reached at (212) 488-2130 or via E-mail at daved@medterasolutions.com.

World Quality Report Reveals Increasing Cloud Adoption is Fuelling Demand for Application Testing1 and Quality Assurance2.(Company overview)(Report)

New report from Capgemini, Sogeti and HP highlights continued growth in Quality Assurance budget allocation, with particularly high levels of investment in emerging market economies

PARIS -- Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, and Sogeti, its local professional services division, together with HP today released the findings of the third annual World Quality Report. This in-depth study examines the state of application quality and testing practises across multiple industries and geographies. As they enter a period of recovery, most organisations (85 percent(3)) recognize that their application portfolios are in need of rationalization and that mission critical applications implemented using outdated technology must be revised and updated to increase efficiency. As a result, the report reveals 42 percent of companies plan to increase their budget allocation for application quality assurance (QA) and testing. And as companies seek to adopt agile delivery methods as part of their application quality assurance, the percentage of companies who are moving at least some of their IT systems to the cloud has grown to 81 percent. The emergence of new technologies such as cloud-based services is also fuelling the need for stringent testing and QA, as application security becomes vital for ensuring quality and mitigating risk.

The study reveals that investment in quality assurance is greatest in emerging economies. In the last year, 83 percent of Chinese companies and 56 percent of Brazilian companies substantially increased their QA investment, contrasting with relatively steady budgets in North America and Europe. The focus on quality assurance across Australian organizations has also increased markedly over the past year, with 37 percent of survey respondents indicating that their testing budgets had gone up. Increasingly, investment in QA is focused on promoting efficiency and standardization, often through creating Testing Centers of Excellence to centralize and consolidate QA practices, particularly in emerging market companies.

Emerging economies are also the fastest adopters of cloud infrastructure:

* Over a third of Chinese companies (37 percent) plan to migrate between 11 and 25 percent of their applications to the cloud in the next year with a further 40 percent making arrangements to host between 26 and 50 percent;

* In contrast, 24 percent of companies in the North America and 18 percent of Western and Northern European companies indicate they still have no interest in migrating their applications to the cloud.

The adoption of cloud and the growing reliance on Internet-based applications is also raising the importance placed on application security, which in the past has typically been seen by companies as an audit and risk management function. Over a quarter (27 percent) of large organisations (5,000+ employees), are putting in place dedicated information security (IS) teams to design and test security procedures and requirements to ensure new systems and applications have not been compromised and that confidential and sensitive information is protected from access or damage by unauthorised users. Testing in the cloud means a new generation of testers will need to manage the entire portfolio of IT services rather than just verifying the quality of individual systems.

"CIOs are under intense pressure to deliver high quality applications on a tight budget," said Raf Howery, vice president, Global Channels and Partners Executive, Capgemini. "Migrating high quality applications to the cloud is a natural progression as it offers a cost effective, reliable and agile arena to create and test them in. Further investment in QA, especially in developed markets, will help ensure companies can flourish in the cloud once the technology is fully adopted."

The report further highlights businesses' continued reliance on outsourcing for application testing. Over two thirds (70 percent) of respondents employ contractors or third party vendors for quality assurance. No longer are they looking to only outsource test execution, but also testing strategy, user acceptance testing and security. Preference for outsourcing continues to be co-location (27 percent) followed by near-shore locations within a company's country or continent (24 percent). However, preference of off-shore locations differs between North American and European organisations. For companies based in the US and Canada the next choice is often India (18 percent), followed by China (12 percent), and Eastern Europe (9 percent) while for the first time, Western and Northern European companies have indicated they prefer to outsource QA to Eastern Europe (12 percent) or China (7 percent) over India (4 percent).

"Today trends like cloud and mobile are elevating the complexity of applications. Organizations are challenged more than ever to maintain their competitive edge by delivering higher quality software while remaining agile," saidJonathan Rende, general manager and vice president, Applications, Software, HP. "The results of the World Quality Report underscore how the discipline of quality management, global sourcing and agile processes must become integral to an organization's software delivery strategy to effectively innovate faster."

Finally, the report highlights the need for the standardisation of QA, through proven methodologies such as the Capgemini Group's TMap([R]) approach4, as increasing importance is placed on measuring business impact, whether linking results to business goals or quantifying losses from potential application defects. There has also been a continued rise in test automation to help address this:

* 37 percent use internally developed estimation techniques and a further 22 percent of companies use industry standard estimation methods and yet 12 percent have no consistent methodology at all;

* However, the majority of companies (58 percent) carry out up to half of their QA without using automation. Only 23 percent use automated testing solutions for over half of tests.

About the World Quality Report 2011-2012

The World Quality Report 2011-2012 is the third in a series of annual surveys examining the state of application quality and testing practises across industries and geographies. Since 2009, the Capgemini Group and HP have published the annual report to provide insight into the latest trends in application quality, methodologies, tools, and processes. As in previous years, the report includes detailed profiles on the state of QA in a number of specific industries: Consumer Products, Retail, and Distribution; Energy, Utilities, and Chemicals; Financial Services; Healthcare and Life Sciences; High Tech; Manufacturing; Public Sector; and Telecommunications, Media, and Entertainment. In addition, this year's report also includes summaries examining IT trends and quality practices from a regional perspective across nine different geographies: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Netherlands, Nordic Region, North America and United Kingdom.

The World Quality Report Survey was completed by 1,200 CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, IT directors and managers and QA managers around the world, including North America (39 percent), Western Europe (33 percent), Australia (8 percent), China (8 percent), Brazil (5 percent) and other regions in Europe, Asia and Latin America (7 percent). The survey also included responses from a variety of different company sizes: 30 percent of respondents surveyed represented small companies (between one and 500 employees); 14 percent worked for companies with between 500-1,000 employees; 22 percent were employed at companies with between 1,000 and 5,000 employees; 17 percent were from large companies (5,000-10,000); and 17 percent from enterprises with over 10,000 employees.

About Capgemini and Sogeti

The Capgemini Group is one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, enabling its clients to transform and perform through the use of technologies. Present in 40 countries, the Capgemini Group reported 2010 global revenues of EUR 8.7 billion and employs over 112,000 people worldwide. Sogeti, its wholly-owned subsidiary, is a leading provider of local professional services, bringing together more than 20,000 professionals in 15 countries and is present in over 100 locations in Europe, the US and India.

Together, Capgemini and Sogeti have developed innovative, business-driven quality assurance (QA) and testing services, combining best-in-breed testing methodologies (TMap[R] and TPI[R]) and the global delivery model, Rightshore[R], to help organizations achieve their testing and QA goals. Capgemini and Sogeti have created one of the largest dedicated testing practices in the world, with over 8,200 test professionals and a further 12,500 application specialists, notably through a common center of excellence with testing specialists developed in India.

For more information, please visit: www.capgemini.com/testing, www.sogeti.com/testing

Rightshore[R] is a registered trademark belonging to Capgemini.

TMap[R], TMap NEXT[R], TPI[R] and TPI NEXT[R] are registered trademarks of Sogeti.

1 Application Testing is a process that provides insight into, and advice on, quality and the related risks of an application in a live environment. Source: TMap NEXT[R], Business Driven Test Management, published UTN, 2008.

2 Quality Assurance covers all the planned and systematic activities necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service meets the requirements for quality; Source: ISO 1994.

3 Capgemini and HP Application Landscape Report, March 2011

4 TMap[R] - Test Management Approach - is the Capgemini Group's business-driven, risk-based methodology for structured software testing that is designed to address the key issues of quality, time and cost - across the whole development lifecycle of solution delivery.

Jailed for life after four were murdered mercilessly and for little financial gain; COOPER SHOUTS OUT IN ANGER AS JUDGE SENTENCES HIM.(News)

Byline: ROBIN TURNER

A SHADOW that had hung over a quiet corner of West Wales for decades was finally lifted yesterday when John Cooper was convicted of four of the country's most notorious murders. The shotgun-wielding farm labourer turned Pembrokeshire into his own personal hunting ground in a killing and crime spree so infamous it even hit the county's tourism trade.

Handing down four "whole life" sentences at Swansea Crown Court yesterday, Judge John Griffith Williams told Cooper: "The murders were of such evil wickedness the mandatory sentence of life will mean just that."

And police officers revealed that three further suspicious deaths in Pembrokeshire are to be re-examined to see if Cooper was involved.

The violent deaths of a farmer and his sister in 1976 and the death of one Cooper's former bosses, found floating in her bath at her home in the 1980s, will be reviewed.

Cooper, 66, of Letterston, near Fishguard, evaded justice for more than 25 years after shooting millionaire farmer Richard Thomas, 58, and his sister Helen, 56, at their Scoveston Manor home near Milford Haven on December 22, 1985.

Four years later, with the gun he stole from Mr Thomas, now with sawn-off barrels, he executed middle-aged Oxfordshire holidaymakers Peter and Gwenda Dixon on the Pembrokeshire coastal path near Little Haven on June 29, 1989.

Cooper was also sentenced to 15 years when he was convicted of being the attacker armed with a shotgun who raped a 16-year-old girl and indecently assaulted a 15-year-old in a field at Milford Haven's Mount Estate in 1996.

But even as the judge passed his sentence, a defiant Cooper repeatedly shouted over him with angry claims that vital evidence had been kept from the jury and warned that the truth would be released via the internet.

His anger was in contrast to the family and friends of his victims who sat in court silently listening to him shout.

Cooper lived a classic double life. At night he darted through the Pembrokeshire hedgerows with a shotgun under his coat and murder in his heart.

By day he portrayed himself as an "ordinary Joe", working on farms, being a member of the Milford Haven Sea Angling Club and acting as an official at local darts tournaments.

But for decades he cut his own pathways through the countryside to burgle people's homes, with those attempts turning to murderous rage on at least two occasions.

Before killing the Thomas siblings and burning down their mansion to hide clues, he made off with Mr Thomas' Belgianmade shotgun.

And four years later with the same gun he shot the Dixons.

Before killing them he forced marketing manager Mr Dixon to hand over his cash card and pin number, even stealing his gold wedding band and indecently assaulting Mrs Dixon.

The judge said the husband and wife must have been terrified as it dawned on them they were to be murdered.

"One had to watch while the other was murdered in cold blood. They were a thoroughly decent couple," he said Hiding their blood-soaked bodies in a screen of hazel twigs and bracken he later cycled into Pembroke and Haverfordwest to use the card.

He sold Mr Dixon's ring on July 6, 1989, the day the bodies were found. But psychopath Cooper made a big mistake, taking Mrs Dixon's shorts and keeping them for years as a bizarre "trophy". They became part of a core of forensic evidence that finally trapped him. Over more than a quarter of a century, Cooper burgled dozens of homes, escaping in a maze of hedgerows and fields whose fences he cut for access.

He even used curry powder to stop police dogs following him.

And he used hedges as "safes" for stolen earrings, brooches, rings and photo-frames.

The Dixon murders in particular led to speculative theories that the IRA may have killed the couple for stumbling on an arms cache or that a drug smuggling gang might have been responsible.

But Dyfed-Powys Police began to suspect Cooper could be the killer in the 1990s.

Their Operation Huntsman inquiry into his break-ins earned him a 16-year jail term at Swansea Crown Court in 1998 for a sample 30 burglaries and one armed robbery in which he held up terrified teacher Sheila Clarke in her own home at Sardis, Pembrokeshire, using the shotgun he had taken from Scoveston Manor. In his former house in St Mary's Park, Jordanston, 503 house keys were found and a shotgun.

There were so many stolen goods they were laid out on trestle tables in places such as Withybush Airfield and the Gulf oil refinery so victims could identify property.

Having been released from prison on licence in 2008 after 10 years, Cooper was re-arrested in 2009 and charged for the four murders, serious sexual assault and attempted robberies.

Police had been looking to snare him and had set up Operation Ottawa in 2006 to do so, led by Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Wilkins. It was when more than two decades of advances in forensic techniques finally caught up with Cooper, a man who had been desperate for money when he killed despite winning pounds 90,000 in a newspaper spotthe-ball contest in 1978. He had frittered the money away on boats, holidays and gambling.

As he was taken away by guards to die in jail, 66-year-old Cooper wagged his finger at the judge saying: "It'll all be on the internet."

The judge told him: "These murders were such evil wickedness that the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment will mean just that. You are a very dangerous man, a highly organised and predatory burglar whose hallmarks were using a balaclava, gloves and a sawn-off shotgun that was loaded and that you were ready to use.

"If it had not been for advances in forensic science you may never have been brought to justice because your offences were well planned, allowing you to evade arrest for so long."

He said Helen Thomas died because she would recognise him.

"I'm sure she was terrified when you placed that shirt over her head. I am satisfied you did and I think she was sexually interfered with, though we can never be certain. Her brother heard the shot that killed her so he had to die too."

Cooper shouted: "Utter rubbish."

Referring to the Dixon murders, the judge said: "Mr and Mrs Dixon had to wait for immediate execution and the one was forced to watch as the other was murdered in cold blood knowing the other would soon face the same thing."

> TRAPPED BY CSI-STYLE FORENSICS: PAGES 4&5 TIMELINE OF TERROR DECEMBER 22, 1985 At Scoveston Park, a mansion house near Milford Haven, the bodies of brother and sister, Richard, 58, and Helen Thomas, 54, are found after a fire at their home. Both died from gunshot wounds and a murder inquiry is launched. At its peak in 1986, 150 officers are involved. JULY 2, 1989 Tim Dixon, the son of Peter and Gwenda Dixon, reports his parents have not returned to their Oxford home after a camping trip to Pembrokeshire. JULY 5, 1989 The bodies of Peter, 51, and Gwenda Dixon, 52, are found concealed close to the coastal path near Little Haven at 3.30pm. It is clear they died from gunshot wounds and a major inquiry is launched.

They were last seen on June 29 leaving their tent at Howelston Caravan Park at 9.30am.

JULY 10, 1989 An artist's impression of a man seen in the area who police want to interview is released. He had used Mr Dixon's cashpoint card at banks in the area.

MARCH 6, 1996 At the rear of the Mount Estate at Milford Haven, five young people, all under 18, are confronted by a man in a balaclava brandishing a sawn-off shotgun. After making demands for money from all five he then subjects two female victims to serious sexual assaults. An incident room is set up at Haverfordwest Police Station. DECEMBER 2, 1997 BBC's Crimewatch Still Unsolved programme features a reconstruction of the coast path murders. The response was said to be "excellent" with 400 calls. JANUARY 21, 1998 John Cooper is charged at Haverfordwest Police Station with a string of burglaries and an armed robbery in North Pembrokeshire. The initiative is known as Operation Huntsman.

JANUARY 29, 1998 Forensic and ballistics officers examine Cooper's home and surrounding grounds. DECEMBER 10, 1998 Cooper is sentenced to 16 years for armed robbery and 30 burglaries.

FEBRUARY 2006 Operation Ottowa is formed to conduct a "thematic review" of material from outstanding undetected serious crime in Pembrokeshire, including the Scoveston Manor and Dixon double murders and the robbery/rape offences in Milford Haven in 1996. JUNE 2008 Cooper is taken from prison with the agreement of the Crown Prosecution Service to be questioned at Ammanford Police Station over four days about the two double murders and offences in the 1990s.

APRIL 23, 2009 Ottowa officers receive their first phone call from specialist firm LGC Forensics regarding significant forensic findings in relation to the inquiries. APRIL/MAY 2009 LGC continues to make significant forensic findings using latest DNA and other techniques in relation to the murders, robbery and rapes. MAY 13-15, 2009 Cooper is arrested and, following CPS advice, charged and remanded in custody at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court for the murders of the Dixons, the Thomases and the rape and robbery offences. MAY 27, 2009 Cooper makes an appearance before Swansea Crown Court in a preliminary hearing.

MARCH 22, 2011 Cooper's trial starts at Swansea Crown Court. MAY 26, 2011 At 12.20pm, the six-man, six-woman jury convict Cooper unanimously of four murders, a rape, indecent assault and five attempted robberies. Defiant to the end, Cooper argues with the judge who gives him a "whole life" sentence.

CLICK ON For in-depth coverage of the trial, including video interviews with police officers and the forensics team, visit WalesOnline.co.uk /multimedia

CAPTION(S):

* Psychopath John Cooper * Holidaymakers Peter and Gwenda Dixon and, right, brother and sister Richard and Helen Thomas were blasted to death with a shotgun at point-blank range by Cooper in horrific murders

Mouthshut too joins the deal wagon, launches a deal site.

India, May 9 -- After startups are done creating this "big deal" category (and we pat their back for this), biggies have woken up and are now launching their deal site (Rediff launched Rediff DealHoJaaye, Times Internet launched TimesDeals). dealface

Mouthshut too has joined the bandwagon with the launch of Dealface (good take on 'mouth' shut). The site works like any other deal site (currently available only in Mumbai) - i.e. you can buy the deal from the site, will receive the coupon (via email/SMS).

From what I know, most of the deal sites are crumbling and lately, the rush is to get more deals to the site, without completing the entire sales process (we have received quite a few emails from angry users about retailers rejecting the deal coupons, calling it invalid/not as per T&C ("sorry, we forgot to mention that deals were available only during weekdays, not weekends").

Do we have more deal sites than unique deals offered? What's your take?

Don't you think that there is a need for vertical deal sites/niche/more focused?

For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Copyright 2011 PluggdInMedia Corp brought to you by HT Media Ltd.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company

GlobeNet's submarine fiber-optic cable system upgrade is now complete.(NEW CABLES)

GlobeNet, an international wholesale provider of submarine capacity and a wholly owned subsidiary of Oi, announced, that it has completed the 200Gbps upgrade of its submarine fiber-optic cable system, increasing its total lit capacity to 560Gbps. Delivering the lowest latency capacity connecting North America and South America, the GlobeNet network expansion will support increased bandwidth demands in the region due to the widespread adoption of advanced technologies and telecommunications services.

The demand for advanced services requiring high-bandwidth networks has been driven by the increased use of high-end services such as streaming media, online gaming, high-definition (HD) video, social media applications, and other bandwidth-intensive services.

With over 22,000 kilometers of submarine fiber-optic cable built with the lowest latency design on all network segments, GlobeNet offers network availability in excess of 99.99 percent. Its state-of-the-art architecture based upon the latest Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology coupled with GlobeNet's carrier-class customer support, offers the wholesale marketplace cutting-edge services and technical support.

"As a wholesale provider committed to the Latin American region, we have further optimized our cable system to address the huge demand for Internet-related services," stated Erick W. Contag, chief operating officer of GlobeNet.

"By utilizing our extremely reliable and high-capacity network, carrier and service providers will also be able to prepare their networks to handle the data and transmission for upcoming South American events, such as 2014 World Cup Brazil and 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro," added Luiz Mario Alonso, director of engineering and operations at GlobeNet, who lead this upgrade.

GlobeNet's international capacity serves Brazil, Bermuda, Colombia, the United States, and Venezuela, offering a wide range of products and services including International Private Line, Wavelength, and Carrier Ethernet. GlobeNet plans an additional network upgrade later this year that will offer more than 1Tbps of total capacity.

For more information on GlobeNet, including its network map, please visit www.globenet.

(TNE) SqueezeTrigger Price is $16.329. There is $83,165,265.00 That Short Sellers Still Need To Cover.

M2 PRESSWIRE-15 June 2010-BUYINS.NET: (TNE) SqueezeTrigger Price is $16.329. There is $83,165,265.00 That Short Sellers Still Need To Cover(C)1994-2010 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

RDATE:15062010

BUYINS.NET / www.squeezetrigger.com is monitoring Tele Norte Leste Par Ads (NYSE:TNE) in real time and just received an alert that is crossing above its primary SqueezeTrigger Price, the price that a short squeeze can start in any stock. There are 5049500 shares that have been shorted at the volume weighted average SqueezeTrigger Price of $16.329. To access SqueezeTrigger Prices ahead of potential short squeezes beginning, visit http://www.squeezetrigger.com.

From January 2005 to May 2010, an aggregate amount of 395042489 shares of TNE have been shorted for a total dollar value of $6,320,679,824.00. The TNE SqueezeTrigger price of $16.329 is the volume weighted average price that all shorts are short in shares of TNE. There is still approximately $83,165,265.00 of potential short covering in shares of TNE.

SqueezeTrigger.com has built a massive database that collects, analyzes and publishes a proprietary SqueezeTrigger Price for each stock that has been shorted. The data has then been integrated into an automated trading platform which can be used to connect to a live online broker and automate your trading of short squeeze events. It is extremely powerful with lightening fast execution at a very low price. Both the trading software and SqueezeTrigger data feed are available at http://www.squeezetrigger.com.

Tele Norte Leste Par Ads (NYSE:TNE) Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA (Tele Norte Leste Holding Company (TNL)), incorporated in May 1998, is a provider of fixed-line telecommunications services in South America. The Company markets its services under its Telemar brand name. TNL's subsidiaries include Telemar Norte Leste S.A., TNL PCS S.A (Oi), Telemar Internet Ltda. and Companhia AIX Participacoes S.A. The Company provides services, such as fixed-line services, local services, intraregional long-distance services, inter-regional and international long-distance services, fixed-to-mobile services, public telephone services, data transmission, wireless services and network usage.

Fixed-Line Services

TNL's fixed-line telecommunications services consist of various services. These services include local services, including installation, monthly subscription, measured service, collect calls and supplemental local services; intraregional long-distance services, inter-regional, long-distance services and international long-distance services placed through fixed telephones using TNL's long-distance access code, CSP 31; connection of calls placed from fixed-line telephones to mobile telephones (fixed-to-mobile services); usage of the Company's network to complete calls initiated by customers of other telecommunications service providers (network usage); value-added services, which include voicemail, caller identification (ID), directory assistance and other services; advanced voice services to corporate customers, such as 0800 (toll free) services; public telephone services, and data transmission services, which are comprised of the lease of dedicated digital and analog lines to corporate customers, telecommunications service providers and Internet service providers (ISPs), as well as Internet protocol (IP), asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) and other data transmission services.

Local Services

Local services include installation, monthly subscription, measured service, collect calls and supplemental local services. Measured service includes local calls that originate and terminate within a single local area. The Company was an authorized supplier of local fixed line and intrastate telecommunications services.

Local services include additional and value-added services, such as integrated services digital network lines, which allow voice, data, image and sound transmission supported by two digital lines permitting the user to use simultaneously. TNL also offers in-dialing service (direct transmission of external calls to extensions) to corporate clients. For corporate clients in need of a large quantity of lines, the Company offers digital trunk services, increasing the speed and optimizing the client's telephone system.

The Company competes with Vesper S.A., Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo S.A and Embratel Participacoes S. A.

Intraregional Long-Distance Services

Calls from one local area to another are referred to as intraregional long-distance calls. Intraregional long-distance services include intrastate long-distance calls (non-local calls within a given state) and interstate long-distance calls (calls between states).

Inter-Regional and International Long-Distance Services

TNL's inter-regional, long-distance services consist of calls between locations in Brazil. International long-distance services consist of calls between a location in Brazil and a location outside Brazil. TNL provides inter-regional, long-distance services. For this purpose, the Company has entered into interconnection agreements with Telesp and Brasil Telecom to interconnect directly with their networks. In addition, the Company provides international long-distance services using the wireless telecommunications services license granted to Oi. The Company offers fixed-line, inter-regional and international long-distance services using the same wireless telecommunications services license granted to Oi.

The SqueezeTrigger database of approximately 1 billion short sale transactions goes back to January 1, 2005 and calculates the exact price at which the Total Short Interest is short in each stock. This data was never before available prior to January 1, 2005 because the Self Regulatory Organizations (primary exchanges) guarded it aggressively. After the SEC passed Regulation SHO, exchanges were forced to allow data processors like SqueezeTrigger.com to access the data. Total Short Interest is the number of shares shorted but not yet covered, and is different from total short volume. To access SqueezeTrigger Prices ahead of potential short squeezes beginning, visit http://www.squeezetrigger.com

About SQUEEZETRIGGER.COM

WWW.SQUEEZETRIGGER.COM is a service designed to help bonafide shareholders of publicly traded US companies fight short selling. SqueezeTrigger.com has built a proprietary database that uses Threshold list feeds and short sale time and sale data from NASDAQ, AMEX and NYSE to generate detailed and useful information to combat the short selling problem. For the first time, actual trade by trade data is available to the public that shows the attempted size, actual size, price and average value of short sales in stocks that have been shorted. This information is valuable in determining the precise point at which short sellers go out-of-the-money and start losing on their short trades.

SQUEEZETRIGGER.COM has built a massive database that collects, analyzes and publishes a proprietary SqueezeTrigger for each stock that has been shorted. The SqueezeTrigger database of nearly one billion short sale transactions goes back to January 1, 2005 and calculates the exact price at which the Total Short Interest is short in each stock. This data was never before available prior to January 1, 2005 because the Self Regulatory Organizations (primary exchanges) guarded it aggressively. After the SEC passed Regulation SHO, exchanges were forced to allow data processors like SqueezeTrigger.com to access the data.

The SqueezeTrigger database collects individual short trade data on over 7,000 NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ stocks and general short trade data on nearly 8,000 OTCBB and PINKSHEET stocks. Each month the database grows by approximately 50,000,000 short sale transactions and provides investors with the knowledge necessary to time when to buy and sell stocks with outstanding short positions. By tracking the size and price of each month's short transactions, SQUEEZETRIGGER.COM provides institutions, traders, analysts, journalists and individual investors the exact price point where short sellers start losing money and a short squeeze can begin.

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