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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

File:Tuna.jpg

This Tuesday, at a wholesale auction at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, a 512-pound bluefin tuna was sold for over sixteen-million yen ($177,000 USD). The great fish was bought and then shared by the owners of a local sushi restaurant and a Hong Kong-based dining establishment. This tuna is the most expensive fish sold on record since 2001, when a 440-pound tuna was sold for over twenty-million ($220,000) at the very same market.

When asked by local media outlets why he decided to purchase this giant tuna, the Hong Kong restaurateur said, “I want[ed] to make an impact on the Japanese and Hong Kong economies by buying the highest-priced tuna.”

This locally caught tuna was among over two-thousand others bought and sold at this bustling fish market. Japan is the world’s largest consumer of seafood per annum. With tuna being a major staple of their cuisine, the Japanese eat nearly eighty-percent of all commercially caught bluefin.

However, tuna consumption in Japan has declined over recent years due to the change in the spending habits of its people as a result of economic downturns from the most recent recession.

“Consumers are shying away from eating tuna…We are very worried about the trend,” a spokesperson for the Tsukiji market told the Associated Press.

In addition to the lack of demand and declining tuna stocks, fishermen and wholesalers worldwide are worried by the possibility of tighter fishing regulations that will be sanctioned and enforced by the Japanese government. Despite this promise, many environmentalists say that this is not going far enough; they say that the only way to curb the inevitable extinction of the Pacific bluefin tuna is to initiate a trade ban on the fish altogether.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

San Francisco police have recovered a laptop stolen on March 11 from the University of California, Berkeley. The laptop was left unattended in the Graduate Division and contained personal information on 98,369 graduate students and applicants going as far back as 1976. This information included names, birth dates, addresses, and Social Security numbers.

The Silicon Valley forensic lab which analyzed the laptop said it had been reformatted, making it very difficult to determine if the data had been accessed. “There’s nothing in the Police Department investigation that points to any type of identity theft or credit card theft” said university spokeswoman Janet Gilmore.

The laptop was stolen by an unknown woman, who sold it to Shuki Alburati, who sold the laptop to an unsuspecting South Carolina man. Shuki Alburati was arrested on June 8 for receiving stolen property; he has been charged with one misdemeanor count.

He claims he didn’t know the laptop, a new IBM X40 worth $2,429, was stolen. He purchased the laptop from the woman, who said it wasn’t stolen, for $300 or $340. A few days later, on April 19, he placed the laptop on eBay. The winning bidder was a man in South Carolina who bought the laptop for $1,195.50. Police have said this man is not a suspect. Police were alerted by IBM after the man called IBM for tech support.

Shuki Alburati has pleaded not guilty. He claimed “It’s unfair, I didn’t know it was stolen.” His trial is scheduled for Sept. 30 before Superior Court Judge Michael Gaffey in Oakland. The woman who stole the laptop has not yet been found.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

London, England — With the table tennis event taking place in the ExCeL North Arena 1, Poland’s Piotr Grudzien beat Slovakia’s Richard Csejtey in Group A of the men’s singles Paralympics competition early yesterday by three sets to one. The first set lasted 28 minutes, ending in a win for Csejtey at 9–11; Grudzien came back to win the next three sets with scores of 12–10, 12–10, and 11–8. None of the four sets took over six minutes.

Grudzien was on his toes most of the match, moving around the table, touching the left-hand corner on his side of the net after every point. The pair had contrasting experiences in their first round matches; Grudzien lost in straight sets to Iraq’s Saeed Ali whereas Csejtey won all his sets against Ali.

Twenty-year old Grudzien came into the Games as the defending silver medalist aiming to take home another medal. Playing for ZSR Start Zielona Gora, Zielona Gora, his left arm is shorter than his right and his right leg shorter than his left.

Grudzien’s next scheduled match is the Men’s Team Class 6–8 First Round on Wednesday when Poland faces Ukraine.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Martin Bionics, a company based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was awarded the patent to a computer-controlled ankle. The Oklahoma Center for the Advancement for Science and Technology funded $573,000 towards the development of the device.

The computer-controlled ankle functions similar to how the brain controls a real human ankle. Although prosthetic ankles allowed for some basic performance, the technologies remained limited in where and how they may be used.

Vice president of research and development, Jay Martin, said “This design grants a greater sense of security and confidence to the amputee. Functioning at a higher level, walking with a smoother step and dressing without limits will provide the patient with greater self confidence.”

Martin Bionics plans to have the ankle commercially available within the next two years.

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list and for an alphabetically arranged listing of schools.

Due to the damage by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, a number of colleges and universities in the New Orleans metropolitan area will not be able to hold classes for the fall 2005 semester. It is estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 students have been displaced. [1]. In response, institutions across the United States and Canada are offering late registration for displaced students so that their academic progress is not unduly delayed. Some are offering free or reduced admission to displaced students. At some universities, especially state universities, this offer is limited to residents of the area.

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

United Kingdom cable TV operator NTL has agreed to buy Telewest Broadband for $6 billion USD (3.4 billion pounds). NTL’s and Telewest’s service territories do currently overlap. The acquisition is expected to save the companies 1.5 billion pounds.

NTL has agreed to pay $23.93 for each Telewest share, in cash and NTL stock. Current Telewest shareholders will own approximately 25 percent of the combined company. While both companies operate exclusively in the UK, they are listed in New York on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange.

Once the acquisition is complete, the combined company will have 5 million customers in the UK . Competitor British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has almost 8 million. The combined company will also be the second-largest residential telephone company in Britain behind BT Group plc.

If the deal is approved, regulators and both companies shareholders’ should close in the first quarter of 2006.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

JetBlue Flight 292, en route to New York’s JFK Airport from Burbank, California, encountered nose gear malfunctions shortly after takeoff. It safely landed three hours later at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with no apparent injuries.

The pilots first realized something was wrong when the landing gear failed to retract; television footage showed that the plane’s front wheels were pointing sideways, perpendicular to the plane’s body. The plane was diverted to Long Beach Airport, where it tried and failed to land, and then on to LAX, which has better emergency facilities. The aircraft circled near the airport for several hours to burn fuel; the Airbus A320 aircraft is not designed to dump fuel.

Commentators predicted that the nose gear would either snap off, immediately twist to parallel upon touch down, or withstand the friction from the landing while remaining at a 90 degree angle.

At approximately 6:19PM local time, almost three hours after takeoff, the aircraft successfully managed to touch down. The pilot landed the plane first on its two rear wheels, keeping its nose in the air as long as possible until it slowed enough that the nose could be safely lowered. The front tires remained at a 90 degree angle and were incinerated through the friction. A cloud of white smoke and sparks burst out from behind the nose gear as the plane traveled down the runway. As the airplane finally stopped, the pilot had managed to keep the plane no more than 6 inches from the runway’s centerline. Officials were prepared with a brigade of fire engines as well as fire retardant foam in case the front wheel ignited. The plane was evacuated a few minutes later.

Reports indicate that the pilots acted in a “calm and professional manner.”

JetBlue flight 292 was in a unique situation as each seat in the plane was equipped with live TV through DirecTV. Several of the stations carried on the LiveTV system had cameras trained on the plane and were monitoring the situation. It has been established that the televisions were operating as the plane circled the airfield, though there are conflicting reports on whether or not the televisions were in operation during the landing. For a time, passengers on board were able to watch their own airplane circle the airfield in a precarious situation.

139 passengers and 6 crew were on board Flight 292.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Viktor Schreckengost, the father of industrial design and creator of the Jazz Bowl, an iconic piece of Jazz Age art designed for Eleanor Roosevelt during his association with Cowan Pottery died yesterday. He was 101.

Schreckengost was born on June 26, 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, United States.

Schreckengost’s peers included the far more famous designers Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes.

In 2000, the Cleveland Museum of Art curated the first ever retrospective of Schreckengost’s work. Stunning in scope, the exhibition included sculpture, pottery, dinnerware, drawings, and paintings.