5:51 PM
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64P0JS20100526
A failed cement plug and a failure to follow safety procedures may have led to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A cement plug is placed at the bottom of an oil well to shut it off before pumping the oil out, with mud loaded on top of the well to prevent a gas surge. Before removing the mud, they perform pressure tests to make sure the plug is holding. However, a senior BP official testified that the tests on the plug were inconclusive...but they removed the mud anyway, which may have led to a ball of gas rushing up the well and exploding at the surface:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18961-did-faulty-cement-prime-deepwater-horizon-for-blowout.html
The FBI detailed the sharp increase in death threats against US lawmakers. The suspects are mostly men who own guns, several treated for mental illness, with most of the suspects just undergoing some kind of major life stress, such as illness or the loss of a job. So, armed, mentally ill men who feel they have nothing to lose...those are NOT the type of people I'd like to have sending me death threats!
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/fbi-details-sharp-increase-death-threats-against-lawmakers
Coral snakes bite about 100 people in the US every year, with their bite able to kill people by shutting down their lungs. Unfortunately, the manufacturer of the antivenin is no longer making it and all antivenin will expire in October:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/23/1643488/coral-snake-antivenin-in-danger.html
The University of Idaho could lose a LOT of federal research money due to a NASA investigation into possible grant fraud at one of their research laboratories:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/05/23/1203819/n-idaho-lawmaker-fears-ui-could.html
Interesting comparison of the real-world data speeds expected over the different wireless carrier networks by the end of this year. Verizon's 5-12 Mbps download and 2-5 Mbps upload speeds will be great for the 100 million people covered, much faster than the 120 million people covered by WiMAX with Sprint with 3-6 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload speeds. AT&T will get HSPA+ coverage to 250 million people by the end of the year, and they say that it will get an excellent 7 Mbps download rate...but will there be any HSPA+ phones?
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/real-world-comparing-3g-4g-speeds/2010-05-25
Verizon plans for a *big* LTE splash at CES next year, which is consistent with their statement that they could launch 5 LTE phones by next May. They hint that the companies supplying LTE phones for them include Motorola (expect Android), HTC (Android I'm sure), LG (Android), and RIM (LTE BlackBerry!). It is interesting that they note that voice services will basically be free to an LTE network since all voice over LTE will be VoIP:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-planning-big-lte-splash-ces/2010-05-26
T-Mobile is losing customers every quarter and has no strategy for 4G, so it might not be a surprise that their CEO just resigned:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-ceo-dotson-stepping-down-next-year/2010-05-26
Study found that 3/4 of all Android phones are in North America and there are almost as many Android phones as iPhones. The Motorola Droid is by far the leading Android phone, with more than 3x the sales of an other Android phone in the US:
http://www.androidcentral.com/three-quarters-all-android-phones-are-us-admob-reports
Bulgarian cell phone company Mobitel has suspended the number 0888 888 888 after every single person assigned to it died in a 4 year period. The first owner of that number was Mobitel's CEO, the second owner was a mafia boss, and the third owner was an alleged cocaine trafficker:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7763578/Mobile-phone-number-suspended-after-three-users-die-in-10-years.html
Disney is dumping the Soapnet channel to create Disney Junior, a 24-hour channel geared for kids between 2-7 years old:
http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/05/disney-dumping-soapnet-to-make-way-for-kids-net.html
The soon-to-be-completed mansion that Tiger Woods is having remodeled will have *4* swimming pools and an oxygen therapy room:
http://www.page2live.com/2010/05/24/channeling-michael-jackson-tiger-woods-builds-oxygen-therapy-room-in-jupiter-island-mansion/