Archives for December 2009

Fierce negotiations between Time Warner Cable and Fox owner News Corp., along with the recent purchase of NBC Universal by Comcast Corp., are underscoring changes in television. And the notion of free, over-the-air broadcasting might be unraveling.

That could mean higher cable- or satellite-TV bills.  Although the story is current, its roots go back more than 60 years, when TV stations began airing news, sports and entertainment free and made their money by showing commercials.

All went well for decades, until cable TV and the Web began fracturing the audience for free TV and siphoning away its ad dollars. The current recession has squeezed advertising further, forcing broadcasters to accelerate their push for new revenue to pay for programming.

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London Transit is offering free New Year's Eve service to ensure riders have a safe and reliable way home.  Complimentary rides start at 8 p.m. tomorrow, and buses will run until 1 a.m. "Leave the driving to us," said John Ford, LTC's director of transportation and planning.

To ensure passenger safety, Ford said 10 off-duty police officers will provide security on the buses.  "They assist us in monitoring the situation," he said. "Have a good time, but respect our equipment, employees and fellow passengers."

The night is co-sponsored by London Transit, The London Free Press and Corus Radio.  "It provides a good service to the community," Ford said. "I think it's a good alternative for everyone whether they're used to using the buses or not."

Those "free trials" you often see online are usually too good to be true. In reality, those freebies can actually turn out to be very expensive.

The Federal Trade Commission, VISA and the Better Business Bureau held a press conference Friday warning people about "free trials" on the internet for things like Acai berry, teeth whiteners and colon cleansers.

In many cases, when you accept the free trial, you may get the product, but then if you don't cancel or opt out of the service, you begin to incur charges for future products or services. According to VISA, almost 30% of online consumers have been victimized by this deceptive marketing.

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Santa may have until Christmas morning to deliver his packages, but the deadline for you, dear reader, is drawing near.

Many online retailers have declared Friday as the last day that shoppers can order gifts online and have them delivered by Christmas with standard shipping.

To cater to those procrastinators (you know who you are), about 700 sites plan to offer some form of free shipping on Thursday, with many requiring a minimum purchase amount. The retailers, including Toys R Us, J.C. Penney and Adidas, are listed

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Inclusion of children below six years as well as those in the age group of 15 to 18 years in the main provisions of the Right to Free and   Compulsory Education Act, 2009, allotment of 10 per cent of India's Gross Domestic Product to education, and ensuring quality' schools with B.Ed teachers within one km of every habitation across the country, are the three key demands made by the advocacy group Child Rights and You (CRY) in its charter to the government, signed by over 7.5 lakh citizens so far.

The signature campaign was launched to mark 20 years of the formulation of the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child. Priya Zutshi , manager-communication for CRY told TOI. "While in New Delhi the signature campaign culminated on December 11 the anniversary of the day India ratified the treaty the campaign, as a whole will culminate on the day we present the charter with signatures to both the Prime Minister and the President in the form of a symbolic book."

CRY's regional director Puja Marwaha added: "The upcoming winter session of Parliament is an opportunity to ask the government to amend the Act and make its provisions truly reach each and every child in the country."

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The Finnish mobile phone manufacturer has introduced the Nokia 5235 a new model of its series “Comes with Music”. The handset comes with device’s software, which allows a year of free access to the approximately six million songs from the Nokia Music Store. The songs are in WMA format and are mostly encoded at 192 kbps. Downloaded songs can be continued even after the flat rate to use.

The phone has a 3.2-inch touch screen with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. The phone has the operating system Symbian S60 Touch. The interface offers a media bar for quick access to multimedia applications and a contact strip can be stored in up to 20 people.

The Nokia 5235 comes with 70 MB of internal memory. For extra storage a microSD card slot available, the memory cards with up to 16 GB capacity is supported. The integrated 2-megapixel camera comes with a three-fold digital zoom, video can be recorded at up to 640 x 360 pixels at 30 frames per second.

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Nevin Waters, DDS, a volunteer dentist at Wednesday's free medical clinic at Bartle Hall, right, examined the teeth of Chris Pound of Kansas City, Mo., who hadn't seen a dentist "since he was in college." Pound was part of the more than 1,000 appointments to see doctors and dentists, plus hundreds more for walk-in visits. The clinic, sponsored by the National Association of Free Clinics, will continue Thursday from 10am to 6pm. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star.

Four local government units (LGUs) from the province became recipients of free software package using an open source-based business permit and licensing system through the eGovernance for Municipal Development (eGov4MD) project.

The package includes various forms of technical assistance, particularly in crafting Information System Strategic Plan and in making electronic business permit and licensing system operational. These components were provided to the municipalities of Sta. Cruz, Bansalan, Hagonoy, and Padada.

A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed to formalize the project which will grant each beneficiary an amount of P3.8 million. The following are covered under the eGov4MD:  1. Orient the LGU's key officials about the project to ensure its successful and smooth implementation;

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Israel’s foreign minister has praised the visa-free system between Russia and Israel, telling Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that it has boosted ties. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel’s right-wing ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, visited Moscow on Friday for a session of a Russian-Israeli intergovernmental commission, which mainly focuses on economic ties.

Lieberman, who was born in Soviet Moldova, lauded the commission for establishing a visa-free system between the two countries last year. He said the measure would be likely to double the number of Russian tourists traveling to Israel to 400,000 this year.

The commission will invite business communities of both countries to its next session in April 2010 to discuss new initiatives such as measures to help protect Russian and Israeli investment, Lieberman said.

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The NCAA's version of free agency has been thrust upon the now-former Hofstra football players after their university made the stunning announcement Thursday that it is dropping the sport it had sponsored since 1937. The most visible suitor for the local players has been Stony Brook, Hofstra's rival and Long Island's lone remaining fully funded football program.