Hurricane Isaac 'drove Mississippi River backwards'

Extreme weather can cause coastal rivers such as
the Mississippi (to the left) to reverse their flow 

The storm surge ahead of Hurricane Isaac made the Mississippi River run backwards for 24 hours.

US Geological Survey (USGS) instruments at Belle Chasse in Louisiana recorded the flow of the river, finding it running in reverse on Tuesday.

The flow reached nearly 5,200 cubic metres per second (182,000 cubic feet per second) upriver, with a height of nearly 3m (10ft) above average.

Normal flow is about 3,540 cubic metres per second in the opposite direction.

But in rare cases, strong winds and the waves that they create can drive water up the mouths of coastal rivers.

As the hurricane carried on across land, instruments from the USGS' national network at Baton Rouge, Louisiana - 150km (100mi) upriver - recorded a 2.5m (8ft) rise above normal height.

"This reversal of flow of the mighty Mississippi is but one measure of the extreme force of Isaac," said USGS director Marcia McNutt.

"While such events are ephemeral, they are yet another reminder of why we need to respect hurricane warnings."

The reversal of flow on the Mississippi - the world's fourth-longest river - has been seen before, notably during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the river reached a height of 4m (13ft) above normal.

But it is not just extreme weather that can cause the effect; an earthquake near the New Madrid fault in Missouri in 1812 also reversed the river's flow for several hours

-  BBC.co.uk

DNA of girl from Denisova cave gives up genetic secrets

The ancient DNA was analysed using a new
technique 

The DNA of a cave girl who lived about 80,000 years ago has been analysed in remarkable detail.

The picture of her genome is as accurate as that of modern day human genomes, and shows she had brown eyes, hair and skin.

The research in Science also sheds new light on the genetic differences between modern humans and their closest extinct relatives.

The cave dweller, a Denisovan, was a cousin of the Neanderthals.

Both groups of ancient humans died out about 30,000 years ago, but have left their mark in the gene pool of modern people.

Read More Here

Standard & Poor's cuts Catalonia debt rating to junk status

A beach in Blanes, in the Spanish region of Catalonia, which accounts for almost a fifth of the country’s overall
economic output.

(Spain) Standard & Poor's slashed Catalonia's debt to junk-bond status Friday, warning of looming financial tensions with Spain's central government.

The highly indebted northeastern region, which generates a fifth of Spain's economic output, has long argued that it pays more into Spain's communal tax pot than it receives.

Now, Artur Mas of the Catalan nationalist CiU coalition has launched a call for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government to let the region levy its own taxes and have a greater say over how they are spent.

Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, says it would still return some monies to the central government.

But Standard and Poor's said these demands could lead to political tensions and have an impact on Catalonia's financing.

The New York-based credit assessor cut Catalonia's long-term credit rating to a speculative BB from BBB-minus and its short-term rating to B from A-3, with a negative outlook.


Catalonia region reached out just three days earlier for a 5.0-billion-euro ($6.3-billion) central government rescue.

The region's government, facing huge repayments on its 42-billion-euro debt, said it would tap an 18-billion-euro liquidity fund set up by Madrid to finance troubled regions.

- AFP

Burkina Faso: Gold Rush Hits Education

Ouagadougou — A boom in Burkina Faso's gold mining over the past three years has made the country one of Africa's leading producers, but it is also luring children - some as young as six - out of school.

The exact number of children abandoning schools nationally for the mines is still unclear, but many schoolchildren are known to work mainly in artisanal mines where they crush stones, sieve dust, transport water and cook. Others go to the mines during school off-days on Thursdays and Saturdays, said Moussa Ouedraogo, the Ministry for National Education and Literacy director for the country's northern region.

"This does not mean they have given up school, but it is an indication that they could end up abandoning it altogether under the influence of parents and others who have made money there," Ouedraogo told IRIN. He said 900 children skipped exams in the region this year and 3,300 others work in the mines during school off-days.

Primary school enrolment in the country is 57.8 percent, but only 33.9 percent of pupils complete school nationally, and just 24 percent in the rural areas. Children as young as six and older ones up to 17 can be found working at the mines, the government's National Institute for Statistics and Democracy found in a recent study.

Read More Here

Summer homework too much for students

It’s the last weekend of the summer holidays for Chinese students, and their new term will begin next Monday. Some may start the school year feeling burned-out, for the simple reason that they are still burdened with piles of homework that’s almost impossible to finish.

A rare sight during the summer vacation. Not many students may enjoy studying over the summer, but it’s a fact of life that they have little choice over.

With only several days to go before handing in, they’re all crowding into libraries.

Those who don’t snag a spot early enough, have to study instead in fast food restaurants. Parents are not happy either.

I don’t think it’s right for kids to do almost all the homework in just a few days. One step at a time is better."

Some find easier ways out, paying others for help.

We pay some students 100 yuan for helping doing the homework of three subjects. And we’re sure teachers won’t notice the difference.

Students say too much homework often leaves them with no other choice, even for some primary school kids.

My summer homework is too much, and I haven’t finished yet. I still have some English words to remember.

Mountain loads of homework takes up much of their time, meaning little left for other learning that goes on outside school.

Many say teachers should think twice before piling it up next summer. And it matters much more for students to feel rejuvenated and ready to learn.

http://english.cntv.cn

Fugitive Watson vows to prevent Japan killing a single whale

SYDNEY — Fugitive Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson vowed Friday to spearhead his group’s next campaign against Japan’s annual whale hunt, pledging to prevent a single whale being killed.

The Japanese whaling fleet usually sets off around December, with Sea Shepherd ships departing Australia to harass them soon after.

“Our goal this year is to achieve zero kills and we will do all within our power to make that goal a reality,” Watson said.

“It is expected that the Japanese will do whatever they can to stop us and one of their tactics is to eliminate me as the leader of this campaign. They may or may not do so, but either way they cannot stop the passion of my officers and crew, who will stand with me or who will stand, if need be, without me.”

Watson said that if he was “captured and politically crucified” before the next whale hunt, the Japanese “will find that I am not meek and unprepared.”

“The loss of my personal freedom or even my life will be a fair price for achieving the objective of realizing the security of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,” he said.

Commercial whaling is banned under an international treaty but Japan has since 1987 used a loophole to carry out “lethal research” in the name of science—a practice condemned by environmentalists and anti-whaling nations.

Watson, who for years has harassed Japan’s whale hunt off Antarctica, was arrested in Germany in May for extradition to Costa Rica over the shark finning incident in 2002.

Japan has confirmed it asked Berlin to extradite Watson a few days before the marine conservationist skipped bail.

Hackers steal police data

A police  Hertfordshire  website has been hacked, leading to the publication of what appear to be login details and passwords for dozens of officers.

The data, including phone numbers and IP addresses, relates to a number of officers in Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Part of the force's website has been taken down as a "precaution" while investigations continue.

The hacker added an "OpFreeAssange" banner to the details posted online, and also added a quote from the Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange.

There have been a number of hacking attacks since the UK government said it would arrest and extradite Mr Assange if he left Ecuador's embassy in London.

However, the hacker in this case distinguished himself from other attacks by writing "I am not a member of Anonymous" - a reference to the hacktivist group that has claimed responsibility for other actions.

Omron to release world's smallest and lightest high capacity DC power relay

KYOTO —

Omron Corp will release the G9EN DC power relay, the world’s smallest and lightest high capacity DC power relay of its class. The relay is 50% smaller and lighter than Omron’s previous comparable relays thanks to the use of newly developed proprietary sealing technologies and new magnetic control methods.

With the global expansion of the market for environmentally-friendly clean energy vehicles such as hybrid and fuel-cell cars, there is quickly growing demand for mileage extension and new high-capacity battery DC load control technologies. With the G9EN (60A), Omron is taking down-sizing and weight reduction to the next level, and the company is also preparing for the release of other advanced new products including a 150A main relay, and an air-break switch pre-charge relay.

Facebook unveils new search ad plan

SAN FRANCISCO —

Facebook has unveiled a new feature which delivers ads to users based on their search queries, taking a page from a strategy used effectively by Google and others.

The world’s biggest social network gets most of its revenues from ads, but until now has not directly linked those ads to search queries in the manner of the big search engines like Google and Yahoo.

The move comes with Facebook seeking to reassure investors it can boost revenues after a disastrous public offering in May, after which its share price fell by more than half.

Headline Sep1,2012/

"IF YOU WANT HONOUR - 

MAKE YOUR OWN!"

In the near future Sam Museum of History will come through. See the global students Role of Honour! The great thing about being on !WOW! - The World Students Society of Computers-Internet-Wireless, is that you can sort out all your life's important problems and concerns long long before you enter practical life. You can make your own contribution to content. You can pick your own causes. Seek your own advise! Make your own choices! And I am saying the least! And best of all, you hardly ever have to lift a finger, apart, of course the ones you use to visit SDT.

Professor Sachs narrative continues : we identified an area northern Ethiopia, Tigray province. It's a beautiful, remote community of several thousand people, in a valley that has tens of thousand of people. Again, we met the community and found enormous enthusiasm and enormous organisation - people who want to take their futures in their own hands but just need a little bit of help to do it. They know about fertilizer, they know about improved seeds, they know about malaria bed nets, they know about cell phones, they know about Trucks. They know they don't have any of these things. ut they would like to have the chance. They are saying, Help us a bit and we can get out of this. In fact, that's what we find all over the developing world.

The poor countries are saying to the Rich countries: Look we know that you have an income hundred times bigger than we have. We are starving and you have more than enough to eat. You have everything you could ask for, and we have absolutely zero. We are not calling for Revolution; we are not out to dismantle the world. We just want to have a chance to find a way over a long period of time to have some of he things that you have. In Tigray Province , their crop is a mix of teff, which is the staple grain of Ethiopia; sorghum, which is a dry season grain; a little bit of finer millet, which is anohter dry season grain; and maize , which is pretty much grown all over Africa.Tree crops, papayas and mangoes, can grow in this kind of environment if there is a little it of drip irrigation. And they provide market opportunities and wonderful nutrition.

So we started them with nurseries and improved seeds. A local scientist, a wonderful young Ethiopian, was selected by the local Government to head the project for us and get the community together. They built  these remarkable check dams called, gabions, which are just the ways to preserve these mountain side villages from the short onslaught of floods and channel the water away from the crops so that the water running down the mountains doesn't create gulleys and destroy the land. Simple steps, low cost steps, all attuned to the area's specific needs, led by the community, done by the community, but with a helping hand! Professor Sachs, Blessed Work, Sir!

Good night and God bless.

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless

At Some Schools, the Demographic Future Is Now

Prekindergarten pupils at Escobar Elementary School in Pharr.

(USA) Certain characteristics set the Laredo Independent School District Laredo Independent School District apart from most other districts in the state.

Its western boundary aligns directly with the Mexican border. Nearly all its students are poor, and nearly all are Hispanic. Most rely on the school to provide two meals a day. On the first day of school this week, some showed up without shoes, or without parents accompanying them.

“It’s hard to work on teaching them about reading and writing and math when they haven’t eaten. It’s hard to really welcome them into their class with their textbooks and their lockers when they don’t have on shoes,” said A. Marcus Nelson, the Laredo superintendent, who said the district solicited donations of shoes and dress-code-appropriate clothes all summer to prepare for the new school year.

Read More Here

Tokyo court: Samsung didn't infringe Apple patent

TOKYO (AP) — A Tokyo court on Friday dismissed Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung had infringed on its patent — the latest ruling in the global legal battle between the two technology titans over smartphones.
The Japanese court case addressed only the synchronizing technology that allows media players to share data with personal computers and was not comparable in scope to the much larger victory that Apple won in the U.S. last week.
Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, the world's largest maker of phones, welcomed the Tokyo District Court ruling that its technology that allows media players and personal computers to share music files and other content did not infringe on Apple patents as confirming "our long-held position."
"We will continue to offer highly innovative products to consumers, and continue our contributions toward the mobile industry's development," the company said in a statement.
The Apple lawyer present at the courthouse declined comment, and the company said later it had no comment, including whether it intended to appeal. In the past, Apple has accused Samsung of copying Apple products.

Natasha, 'Genius Chimp,' Aces Intelligence Tests

How smart? The intelligence of apes like the chimp Natasha
can’t be predicted with a single test, researchers say.

Natasha, a chimp at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda, has always seemed different from her peers. She's learned to escape from her enclosure, teases human caretakers, and scores above other chimps in communication tests. Now, Natasha has a new title: genius. In the largest and most in-depth survey of chimpanzee intelligence, researchers found that Natasha was the smartest of the 106 chimps they tested—a finding that suggests that apes have their geniuses, too.

"Natasha was really much better than other chimps," says biologist and first author of the new study Esther Herrmann of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Herrmann and her colleagues had previously tested chimps in a study designed to compare the skills of the animals with those of human children. During the study, they noticed a wide range of skills among the chimps and wondered whether they could measure this variation in ability—and whether there were studies that could predict the chimps’ overall performance in all areas, like an IQ test in humans. So they gave a battery of physical and social tests to 106 chimps at Ngamba Island and the Tchimpounga chimpanzee sanctuary in the Republic of the Congo, and to 23 captive chimpanzees and bonobos in Germany. In one experiment, chimps were asked to find food in a container after it had been shuffled around with empty containers. In another, they had to use a stick to get food placed on a high platform. The researchers analyzed the data to determine if the scores in some tests helped predict performance in others.

"In general, we don’t find any kind of general intelligence factor that can predict intelligence in all areas," Herrmann says. "But we did find a big variation overall, and this one outstanding individual."

The stand-out individual, Natasha, was the chimp that caretakers—who don’t administer tests to the chimps but do feed them, clean their cages, and accompany them on walks—consistently ranked as the smartest based on only the way she interacted with them. But there's nothing about Natasha's life—extra attention or time spent with humans, for example—that explains how she became so astute. "Motivation and temperament probably play a role," Herrmann says. "That's something that we want to look more into."

-  Huffingtonpost.com

London Metropolitan student visa rights revoked

Thousands of non-EU students at London Metropolitan University have 60 days to find a course at another institution or get out of the UK, after the Home Office stripped the institution of its right to sign off visas for foreign students.

The large London university, which had 3,100 full-time foreign students in 2010-11, had its “highly trusted sponsor” status revoked for failing to monitor visa recipients closely enough. The UK Border Agency said it found problems with 61 per cent of randomly selected files during a recent audit.

The decision came as figures showed net migration to the UK remains high – at an estimated 216,000 in 2011 – in spite of Home Office measures to cut the number of visas issued .

Student visas make up about 40 per cent of all immigration.

David Willetts, universities minister, said the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the sector regulator, and Universities UK, the sector’s representative group, were setting up a task force to help students find courses within the time limit. New London Met overseas students were advised “not to travel” to the UK.

Mr Willetts said: “It is important that genuine students who are affected through no fault of their own are offered prompt advice and help, including, if necessary, with finding other institutions at which to finish their studies.”

However, Chris Bryant, shadow immigration minister said the announcement left “ thousands of genuine international students in an impossible situation of finding a new place to study, just days before the beginning of a new university term.

He added that, while Labour backed tackling bogus colleges and students, the way the decision had been drawn out would “make many think again about whether to come to the UK to study and will cause lasting damage to the international reputation of the UK university system”.

Read More Here

Students launch class-action lawsuit over Quebec strike

Nursing student Kim Laganière is one of two lead plaintiffs on a class-action lawsuit
seeking compensation for the school term she lost to the Quebec student strike.

A class-action lawsuit is being organized by young Quebecers frustrated because they say they were hurt by the province's student strikes.

The undertaking to sue 25 universities and CEGEP colleges, as well as the Quebec government, was announced Thursday by students and their lawyers.

The plaintiffs say not enough was done to let them have access to their classrooms to complete their courses.

One says she will get her nursing diploma six months late, which will cost her financially.

"I incurred losses and I'm just asking for a reimbursement," said the nursing student, Kim Laganière. "This will delay my entry into the job market by six to 12 months."

The group's lawyer is not setting a figure on the amount requested, saying the financial impact varies from one person to the next.

The damage includes loss of salary, lost work experience, lost tuition fees and lost summer jobs, according to lawyer Michel Savonitto.

"These amounts aren't necessarily very big in some cases, but if you add them up it becomes astronomical.… A court will evaluate the amount of the damages at the appropriate moment."

More than 150,000 students were on strike at the peak of the Quebec student crisis last spring, representing one-third of the pupils at the province's universities and CEGEPs.

Anti-nuclear activists continue their protest in Tokyo

TOKYO —More than a thousand people protested outside the Japanese prime minister’s residence in Tokyo calling for an end to nuclear power after last year’s Fukushima atomic crisis.

The rally, which has become a weekly event in recent months, came two days after Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met for the first time face-to-face with anti-nuclear demonstrators.

About a dozen representatives of the movement had asked Noda to reverse his decision to restart two reactors and urged him to abandon nuclear power altogether.

Noda declined their demand to switch off two reactors that were restarted this summer amid looming power shortages, and repeated his government’s plans to adopt a new energy policy to reduce the country’s dependence on atomic power, which once accounted for one-third of its supply.

Windows Phone 8 Launch Date Revealed

According to Cnet News, Windows Phone 8's build-up to launch has started, with Samsung showing off what's officially the first Windows Phone 8 device (but offering no pricing or availability details). September 5,Nokia is expected to show off some of its planned Windows Phone 8 devices, with AT&T rumored to be the lead carrier for them. And HTC is expected to be next out of the gate with Windows Phone 8 handset(s) -- around mid-September, I hear.

But October -- specifically late October -- is when things really ramp up.

October 25, the day before general availability, will be Microsoft's big launch event for Windows 8 and the Surface RT. And that event will be in New York City, the site of most recent previous Windows launches. (I don't know specifically where this event will be, but selfishly think it's nice that it's on home turf for me.) Windows 8 and the Surface RT ARM-based devices should be available (at least technically) at midnight, following the launch event.

October 29 will be the official "launch" of Windows Phone 8, I am told. I'm hearing this event will likely be on the West Coast, either in San Francisco or Los Angeles. (Again, I don't know exactly where. A photo studio? Outside an Apple store?) But this is considered the "consumer launch" of the product, with handsets to be made available starting a week or two later, meaning early November, as other sources of mine had indicated.

October 30 to November 2 is Microsoft's Build 2012 conference, where the Softies will talk all things developer-focused around Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Windows Azure, Xbox, and more. If you'll be in the Redmond vicinity on October 30, we're holding our second Build Blogger Bash that evening (tickets are limited and on sale now).

Taller women at high risk of cancer: study

A new research has revealed that taller women are more likely to get cancer. 

Their risk of developing some of the most common forms is up to a third greater. Scientists believe being tall may increase the levels of certain hormones known to trigger tumours.

A study carried out at Oxford University found the risk of cancer increased by around 16 per cent with every four inches of height.

The scientists studied the link between height and ten of the most common forms of cancer including breast, bowel, kidney, womb, ovarian and leukaemia by looking at the medical records of one million British women.

They found those who were 5ft 9in tall were more than 33 per cent more likely to get cancer than those who were just 5ft.

They believe one reason for the link is that tall girls tend to start puberty earlier and this is when their bodies begin producing large amounts of the hormone oestrogen, known to trigger the growth of tumours.

The scientists also point out taller people have more cells in their body so they have a higher chance that one will become cancerous.

"The fact the link between height and cancer risk seems to be common to many different types of cancer suggests there may be a basic common mechanism, perhaps acting early in peoples` lives, when they are growing," the Daily Mail quoted Jane Green, from the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, as saying.

"Of course people cannot change their height. And being taller has been linked to a lower risk of other conditions, such as heart disease," added Green.

Drink milk to counter dehydration: researchers

Researchers said that active children need to be watered with milk as it is a more effective way of countering dehydration than a sports drink or water itself.

According to Brian Timmons, research director of the Child Health and Exercise Medicine Program at McMaster and principal investigator of the study, this is particularly important during the hot summer weather.

“Children become dehydrated during exercise, and it``s important they get enough fluids, particularly before going into a second round of a game. Milk is better than either a sports drink or water because it is a source of high quality protein, carbohydrates, calcium and electrolytes,” said Timmons.

He added that milk replaces sodium lost in sweat and helps the body retain fluid better. As well, the milk provides protein needed by children for muscle development and growth that is not found in the other drinks.

The study of eight to 10-year-olds involved exercising in a climate chamber, then receiving a drink and being measured for hydration.

Timmons, an assistant professor of pediatrics of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, said active children and adults usually don``t drink enough to stay hydrated during exercise, so they often have a “hydration disadvantage” when they start their next period of exercise.

Drug resistant tuberculosis found across the world

Drug-resistant TB is more difficult and costly than normal TB to treat.

Scientists have found alarming levels of the lung disease tuberculosis in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America that are resistant to up to four powerful antibiotic drugs.

In a large international study published in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday, researchers found rates of both multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) were higher than previously thought and were threatening global efforts to curb the spread of the disease.

"Most international recommendations for TB control have been developed for MDR-TB prevalence of up to around 5 percent. Yet now we face prevalence up to 10 times higher in some places, where almost half of the patients ... are transmitting MDR strains," Sven Hoffner of the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, said in a commentary on the study.

TB is already a worldwide pandemic that in 2010 infected 8.8 million people and killed 1.4 million of them.

Drug-resistant TB is more difficult and costly than normal TB to treat, and is more often fatal.

MDR-TB is resistant to at least two first-line drugs - isoniazid and rifampicin - while XDR-TB is resistant to those two drugs as well as a powerful antibiotic type called a fluoroquinolone and a second-line injectable antibiotic.

Treating even normal TB is a long process, with patients needing to take a cocktail of powerful antibiotics for six months. Many patients fail to correctly complete treatment, a factor which has fuelled a rise in the drug-resistant forms.

Researchers who studied rates of the disease in Estonia, Latvia, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and Thailand found that almost 44 percent of cases of MDR TB were also resistant to at least one second-line drug.

West Nile virus cases set record, deaths rise

Through last week, 1,118 cases and 41 deaths had been reported.

A total of 1,590 cases of West Nile virus, including 66 deaths, were reported through late August this year in the United States, the highest human toll by that point in the calendar since the mosquito-borne disease was first detected in the country in 1999, health officials said on Wednesday.

The toll is increasing quickly. "We think the numbers will continue to rise," said Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases.

Through last week, 1,118 cases and 41 deaths had been reported. The updated figures represent a 40 percent increase in the number of cases and a 61 percent spike in the number of deaths, but are short of the all-time record for a full year: 9,862 cases and 264 deaths in 2003.

In hard-hit Texas, the number of confirmed cases soared to 894, with 34 people dead, this year as of Wednesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Over half of the deaths occurred in the north of the state.

"It looks like it is going to be our worst year ever," said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. "As I look at the data, I m not convinced we have peaked."

All 48 contiguous states have reported cases of West Nile virus in birds, which act as hosts; in mosquitoes, which transmit it by biting birds and then mammals including humans, or in people. Only Alaska and Hawaii have been spared. And 43 states have at least one human case.

The Ohio Department of Health reported on Wednesday that a 76-year-old man had died from the virus, the state s first fatality this year.

"The virus is endemic at this point throughout the United States," with the possible exception of high-altitude regions such as the Rocky Mountains, said the CDC s Petersen. "There is a risk almost everywhere."

So far, however, more than 70 percent of the human cases have been reported in just six states: Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Michigan.

Only 2 percent to 3 percent of cases of West Nile fever are reported to health officials, said Petersen, which suggests that the actual number of cases is 30 to 50 times higher than reported.

Toshiba develops hybrid POS system

TOKYO —

Toshiba TEC unveiled the WILLPOS M30, a sleek, high-performance hybrid POS system that will allow retailers to connect with sophisticated consumers in the new world of multi-channel retailing. This cost competitive point of sale terminal has been designed with the high-speed performance benefits often seen in business PCs.

The WILLPOS M30 performance benefits ensure the terminal is 5-20 times superior to the current competitive top of the range POS terminals. The WILLPOS M30 is indeed a successful balancing act of advanced PC technology with the key requirements of retail.

The WILLPOS M30 is geared for food and non-food operations and is suitable as a back-office server or a Kiosk engine box.

Couple find medieval shaft beneath sofa

The husband and wife discovered that they had been sitting on a piece of history.

Intrigued by the sunken floor, the retired civil servant has uncovered a 33ft medieval well in the house where he and wife Vanessa have lived for almost 25 years.

After three days of work Mr Steer, from Plymouth, Devon, stopped digging at 17ft and is now trying to date the unexpected find. Plans show the well dates back to the 16th century.

"I was replacing the joists in the floor when I noticed a slight depression – it appeared to be filled in with the foundations of the house,” he said.

"I dug down about one foot but my wife just wanted to me to cover it back up because we had three children running around at the time.
"I always wanted to dig it out to see if I could find a pot of gold at the bottom, so when I retired at the end of last year that s what I started to do."

Mr Steer managed to excavate it using a rope to carry out the debris with the help of a friend before discovering an old sword.

"It was hidden at a 45 degree angle and sort of just fell out. It looks like an old peasant s fighting weapon because it appears to be made up of bits of metal all knocked together," he added.

According to Mr Steer’s research, the land on which his house in Mannamead Road now stands was woodland until 1895, with Drake’s leat running through it.

The watercourse was built in the 16th century by Sir Francis Drake to carry water from Dartmoor to Plymouth.

He said: "I ve been doing lots of research into its history but I d like to try and find someone to date it.

"I love the well and think it s fascinating. I d love to find out who was here before us. I ve got a piece of Plymouth s history in my front room."

Mr Steer has installed lights in the structure and the well has been covered up by a trapdoor beside his sofa.

But the shaft has left his wife less than impressed.

"I hate the well,” Mrs Steer said. “But I suppose it is quite a feature. When we come to sell the house I just hope it s not a white elephant in the room.

Manchester City draw Real Madrid in Champions League

Premier League holders Manchester City will face nine-times European champions Real Madrid in the group stages of the Champions League.
Roberto Mancini's team will also face Ajax and Borussia Dortmund.
All of the teams in Manchester City's group are national champions of their respective leagues and City's task was made harder because their Uefa co-efficient - determined by their recent record in European competition - is not as high as their English rivals.
Champions League holders Chelsea begin their defence in a tough group with Juventus, while Celtic have been drawn with Barcelona in Group G.
Manchester United face Galatasaray, Braga and FC Cluj while Arsenal have Schalke, Olympiakos and Montpellier.

Chelsea, who beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the final last season, also come up against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk and Denmark's FC Nordsjaelland.
As well as Barcelona, Celtic face trips to Benfica and Spartak Moscow but all eyes will be on their two games against the 2011 Champions League winners.

Champions League groups:

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dinamo Zagreb

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjaelland

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic

Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, CFR Cluj

- BBC.co.uk

Millions of black holes spotted

A space telescope has added to its list of spectacular finds, spotting millions of supermassive black holes and blisteringly hot, "extreme" galaxies.

The finds, by US space agency Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (Wise), once lay obscured behind dust.

But Wise can see in wavelengths correlated with heat, seeing for the first time some of the brightest objects in the Universe.

The haul will help astronomers work out how galaxies and black holes form.


Black holes are regions of space where gravity is so powerful that not even light can escape. One way they can form is when huge stars collapse in on themselves.


It is known that most large galaxies host black holes at their centres, sometimes feeding on nearby gas, dust and stars and sometimes spraying out enough energy to halt star formation altogether.

How the two evolve together has remained a mystery, and the Wise data are already yielding some surprises.

Wise gives astronomers what is currently a unique view on the cosmos, looking at wavelengths of light far beyond those we can see but giving information that we cannot get from wavelengths we can.

The study is published Astrophysical Journal.

Jerome Singleton: Scientist, scholar and Paralympian

Jerome Singleton has degrees in engineering, maths and physics from two leading American universities, has completed research stints with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) and the US space agency Nasa, and is planning to do a PhD in biomechanics.
At high school, he played basketball, track and American football; the latter well enough to be considered for college sports scholarships. And now he is a world champion sprinter.
So Singleton does not really do disability. His entire life is about ability, advantages not disadvantages, positives not negatives.
This attitude, coupled with talent and hard work, has helped Singleton turn what could have been a permanent excuse - the amputation of his right leg below the knee when he was 18 months old - into just another detail in a remarkable story.

Read More Here

John Terry included in England squad for World Cup qualifiers

John Terry has been included in Roy Hodgson's 24-man England squad for September's World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.
But Manchester United winger Ashley Young, who featured at Euro 2012 and in England's recent friendly against Italy, has been dropped.
Chelsea skipper Terry, 31, missed his side's 2-0 victory over Newcastle on Saturday with a neck injury.
But he is selected alongside team-mates Daniel Sturridge and Ryan Bertrand.

Sturridge, 22, and Bertrand, 23, both played against Italy and the former keeps his place as Wayne Rooney misses out as a result of the badly gashed thigh he suffered in Manchester United's 3-2 over Fulham.
Rooney's United team-mate Michael Carrick could make his first competitive appearance for England since he asked not to be considered for international duty last January, having not featured at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Also returning to the squad is Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, who missed the Italy friendly.
Arsenal forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also included, alongside his team-mate at the Emirates, Theo Walcott.
Jack Rodwell, who recently joined Manchester City in a £12m deal from Everton, was instead named in Stuart Pearce's U21 squad.
Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland and Norwich's John Ruddy will be back-up to Manchester City's Joe Hart, meaning there is no place for Queens Park Rangers' Robert Green.
The road to Brazil 2014 begins at the Zimbru Stadium in Moldova on Friday 7 September before Hodgson's side are back in action at Wembley five days later against Ukraine.
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).
Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).
Forwards: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).Sturridge, 22, and Bertrand, 23, both played against Italy and the former keeps his place as Wayne Rooney misses out as a result of the badly gashed thigh he suffered in Manchester United's 3-2 over Fulham.
Rooney's United team-mate Michael Carrick could make his first competitive appearance for England since he asked not to be considered for international duty last January, having not featured at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Also returning to the squad is Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, who missed the Italy friendly.
Arsenal forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also included, alongside his team-mate at the Emirates, Theo Walcott.
Jack Rodwell, who recently joined Manchester City in a £12m deal from Everton, was instead named in Stuart Pearce's U21 squad.
Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland and Norwich's John Ruddy will be back-up to Manchester City's Joe Hart, meaning there is no place for Queens Park Rangers' Robert Green.
The road to Brazil 2014 begins at the Zimbru Stadium in Moldova on Friday 7 September before Hodgson's side are back in action at Wembley five days later against Ukraine.

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).

Forwards: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).

-  BBC.co.uk

Thailand slaps mass-massage Guinness record

How long does it take to set a world record? In Thailand, 641 masseurs simultaneously gave clients massages for twelve minutes to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
The therapists in Bangkok more than doubled the previous record set in Australia in 2010. It saw 263 people being massaged at the same time for five minutes.
A traditional massage lasts two hours. This time around, an abbreviated version was used as therapists, dressed in traditional garb, showed off their skills.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Public Health to promote the Southeast Asian nation's renowned massage and spa industry.
Guinness Records representative, Rob Molloy, described it as “an amazing achievement”.