Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Article taken from TODAYonline,
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/169108.aspThe long awaited Microsoft Vista has finally been launched.
Since the Windows XP version, there has not been any new operating system from Microsoft.
Even then, there are still many bugs and glitches in Windows XP itself.
Due to these problems, many have gone to grab the latest Vista version.
However, many buyers are disappointed with its performance.
Bloggers complained that many consoles are incompatible with the Vista version.
Not only that, illegal downloads, be it games or music, are being deleted automatically by the system. As it serves to be heavily secured, home users and gamers are not advised to switch their current systems.
Besides that, many bugs found in Windows XP are still not fixed yet. Several programmes which used to be able to function properly might not be able to run the same way in Vista.
On the other hand, the security tight Vista serves as a handy tool for firms and companies as it effectively eradicates unapproved applications from the computer.
(This comment is strictly based on personal opinions after reading the article.)
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4:56 PM
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Developing nations need cloningtaken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6288941.stmVIEWPOINTCalestous Juma
Animal cloning can help deliver environmental benefits in developing nations, says Professor Caletous Juma. In this week's Green Room, he argues that biotechnology could ensure the survival of rare cattle breeds that are well suited to cope with harsh conditions.
Anticipated impacts of climate change are likely to have far-reaching implications for the livestock industries of poor nations After five years of study, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that food from cloned animals is safe to eat.
Some consumer organisations, however, remain uneasy about the decision and are calling for an examination of the ethical aspects of cloning.
While their concerns are understandable, they fail to take into account the potential environmental benefits of cloning, especially for developing countries.
For example, anticipated impacts of climate change are likely to have far-reaching implications for the livestock industries of poor nations, especially those in Africa.
Adapting to such disruptions will require additional investments in technological innovation, including animal cloning for food and conservation.
Africa's farming systems are already under stress. Cattle breeds resistant to diseases such as sleeping sickness are dwindling at an alarming rate as local farmers adopt larger zebu breeds to replace their hardier but smaller taurine relatives.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that nearly 1,500, or 30%, of livestock breeds are threatened with extinction, most of which are in developing countries. Less than 100 are currently being conserved.
Ecological disruption is likely to accelerate such trends. Slowing the decline will require the use of reproductive techniques such as animal cloning for predictable livestock production, in addition to expanded breeding conservation programmes.
Seeking stability
Adapting to ecological disruption and maintaining economic stability could benefit from cloning.
This will help farmers in developing countries increase meat and milk production without the use of expensive hormones, antibiotics and chemicals. Such uses could also have positive environmental benefits.
Arguments need to be considered in light of new scientific evidence and the needs of developing countries
Send us your comments
Researchers have already started to use cloning for conservation purposes.
The US-based Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species has produced wildcat kittens (Felis libyca) from cloned adults.
Scientists are hoping to use cloning to save threatened species such as Vietnam's saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), gaur (Bos gaurus) and banteng (Bos javanicus) and the wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee).
In 2004, for example, Indian scientists announced a plan to spend $1m (£500,000) to clone the endangered Asian lion because less than 300 of the animals were estimated to exist.
Other endangered species, especially fish and amphibians, could also benefit from assisted reproductive techniques such as cloning.
Consumer organisations, however, raise legitimate safety and ethical concerns about cloning. Their arguments need to be considered in light of new scientific evidence and the needs of developing countries.
For example, take safety. The peer-reviewed journal Theriogenology has published a collection of articles that examined the health of cloned animals, their nutritional composition and other relevant parameters.
They came to the same conclusions as the FDA. And a nutritional study by France's National Agricultural Research Institute (INRA) showed no differences between meat and milk products of cloned animals and their traditional counterparts.
A study covering some 100 parameters of specific proteins and nutrients carried out by Japan's Kagoshima Prefectural Cattle Breeding Development Institute and the University of Connecticut showed that beef from cloned cattle could not be distinguished from that obtained from traditionally bred cattle.
Food from cloned animals is therefore as safe as its conventional counterpart.
Researchers at Japan's Research Institute for Animal Science in Biochemistry and Toxicology revealed that there were no significant changes in the urine and blood of rats arising from the consumption of meat and milk from cloned cattle.
There are ethical concerns that need to addressed, especially those related to animal welfare.
A study conducted by Argentine, American and Brazilian scientists has concluded there is an increase in the frequency of health risks posed to cloned cattle in parts of their life cycle. However, the study does not show that cloning poses risks that are qualitatively different from those posed by conventional means.
Animal welfare is an important aspect of our humanity and should be addressed by improving animal breeding and management techniques and not by outlawing their use.
The scientific community should continue to work closely with animal experts and ethicists to monitor and help improve the ethical standards of cloning techniques.
Ethical dilema
The needs of developing countries, on other the hand, raise new ethical issues. Their most urgent concerns are associated with having access to techniques that will help them adapt their production system to changing ecologies and markets.
Cloning is more expensive than conventional breeding methods. While the economic benefits of cloned animals may offset the initial investment, many of the world's poor farmers cannot afford the high cost of cloned animals, with prices of up to $20,000 (£10,000) per clone.
The main limiting factor is the lack of domestic technical capacity in poor countries to apply cloning techniques for economic and conservation purposes.
One way forward is to create research partnerships that will help developing countries become genuine partners in the development and use of cloning techniques. Such arrangements will also help promote consumer acceptance of products from cloned animals in developing countries.
Contributing to advances in such technologies would not only help developing countries raise the quality of their animal products, but they would also help them use the techniques to restore endangered species.
Critics of cloning are justified to raise concerns about the safety and ethical aspects of cloning, but their concerns should take into account the possible benefits of cloning for conservation purposes.
There is no guarantee that cloning would have a major impact on the wider threats to species survival, but foregoing the use of these techniques would raise new ethical concerns. FYI, Calestous Juma is a professor of international development at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and co-chairs a high-level expert panel of the African Union on modern biotechnology.My view:Indeed, I agree that cloning is a good way to solve the problem of food shortage. I feel that so long as we do not clone human beings, it is fine to clone other organisms, of course for a good cause. As many people would in the issue of 'playing God', I feel that the very discovery of cloning is in a sense permitted by God. So, if God didn't want us, Man, to clone, He would not have allowed us to discover cloning. Make sense? Please comment.
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7:34 PM
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Article taken from:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/01/24/komodo.births.ap/index.htmlZoo celebrates virgin Komodo birthPOSTED: 3:38 a.m. EST, January 24, 2007 MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- A British zoo on Wednesday announced the virgin birth of five Komodo dragons, giving scientists new hope for the captive breeding of the endangered species.
In an evolutionary twist, the newborns' 8-year-old mother, Flora, shocked staff at Chester Zoo in northern England when she became pregnant without ever having a male partner or even being exposed to the opposite sex.
"Flora is oblivious to the excitement she has caused but we are delighted to say she is now a mum and dad," said a delighted Kevin Buley, the zoo's curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates.
"When the first of the babies hatched, we didn't know whether to make her a cup of tea or pass her the cigars."
The shells began cracking last week, after an eight-month gestation period, which culminated with the arrival Tuesday of the fifth black-and-yellow-colored dragon. Two more eggs remained to be hatched.
The dragons are between 40 and 45 centimeters (16 inches to nearly 18 inches) long, weigh between 100 and 125 grams (3.5 and 4.4 ounces), said Buley, who leads the zoo's expert care team.
He said the reptiles are in good health and enjoying a diet of crickets and locusts.Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon in April at the London Zoo, are the first documented in a Komodo dragon.
The evolutionary breakthrough could have far-reaching consequences for endangered species.Captive breeding could ensure the survival of the world's largest lizards, with fewer than 4,000 Komodos left in the wild.
Scientists hope the discovery will pave the way to finding other species capable of self-fertilization.
While it was not unusual for female dragons to lay eggs without mating, scientists realized they were witnessing something important when they discovered Flora's eggs had been fertilized.DNA paternity tests confirmed the lack of male input, although the brood are not exact clones of Flora.
Parthenogenesis had only been noted once before in a Komodo dragon. Genetic tests showed that Sungai, a resident of London Zoo, was the sole parent to offspring in April.
The process has been seen in about 70 species, including snakes and lizards.
Scientists are unsure whether female Komodo dragons have always had the ability to reproduce asexually or if this is a new evolutionary development.
The reptiles, renowned for their intelligence, have no natural predators -- making them on par with sharks and lions at the pinnacle of the animal kingdom.
Chester Zoo's latest star attractions will eventually be moved into a specially built enclosure so the public can gaze at the evolutionary miracles.
Personal View:
I personally felt that the development of science is really improving at such a fast rate that the scientist can actually found out that a virgin komodo can actually give birth to a healthy baby komodo! I find this excellent because animals themselves can reproduce and prevent themselves from getting endangered. With this incident, scientist had been trying out to find out which other species can give birth on their own. We as normal people can do our part too! We can help to protect the animals and prevent them from being endangered. This can not only lighten the scientist load, and also played a part in protecting the nature!
i blogged @
12:54 PM
Friday, January 26, 2007
First S'porean charged with using another's wireless networkAdapted from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/248215/1/.htmlGaryl Tan Jia Luo was charged for using another's wireless network and he is the first Singaporean charged. He was unaware that his doings was breaking the law.
My ViewsNothing is free. I don't believe that Garyl was not aware that his doings was breaking the law. It is somehow natural that you are not allowed to "tap" on others' wireless network. This news serves out as a warning to many who are still doing this offence and not realising it. If it is easy to use anyone's wireless network, it is definitely easy to get caught.
Done By: Ramizah
i blogged @
10:09 PM
Taken from BBC NEWS, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6294101.stm
Familiar with the Hobbits from Lord of the Rings?
An Australian-Indonesian research team had found their
skeletal remains in a limestone cave deep in the Flores jungle in 2003.
The jungle is in Indonesia but access to it has been blocked.
Now, the remains are known to be structures of humanlike creatures,
around 1m in height with its brains the size that of a chimp.
They lived around eighteen thousand years ago, already inhabiting
South-East Asian.
This shows that we might have a history longer than we have expected.
Interestingly, hobbits do exist. ( Can't imagine my ancestor to be one...)
i blogged @
7:16 PM
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Taken from http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/01/24/microsoft.wikipedia.ap/index.html
Wikipedia is known to be a free- for -all online encyclopedia.
Articles written are correctable by users in order to add more information or, to neutralize the biased information given.
Recently, Microsoft has tried to approach and pay a writer to change the " inaccuracies" in Microsoft description.
Below is an extract from the Microsoft article in Wikipedia:
" With what is generally described as a developer-centric business culture, Microsoft has become widely known for some of its internal codes of conduct for its employees.
[17] One example is the principle
"eat your own dog food", which describes the practice of using pre-release products inside the company to test them in an environment geared towards the real world.
[18] Microsoft has been convicted of
monopolistic business practices — the
U.S. Justice Department, among others, has sued Microsoft for
antitrust violations and software bundling.
[19] The slogan "
embrace, extend, and extinguish" is often used to describe Microsoft's strategy for entering product categories involving widely-used standards, extending those standards with
proprietary capabilities, and then using those differences to disadvantage its competitors.
[20] In addition, Microsoft has been criticised for the insecurity of its software.
"
With this small paragraph, we can understand that it is unfair to describe Microsoft in this manner. However, if Microsoft wanted to pay someone to change the contents, would it mean that they are trying to cover up certain things?
i blogged @
8:01 PM
