6:29 PM
And the Human Rights Watch local team discovered the landmines in the worst possible way: it drove over them. Luckily, only the team's truck was harmed in the detonation.
Gadhafi's troops are leaving anti-personnel and anti-vehicular mines as they retreat from rebel forces! Human Rights Watch employees found 60 mines left along the outskirts of the rebel capitol...finding the first landmine by driving over it and having it detonate under their truck. Libyan troops are placing mines near the road connecting Benghazi to Ajdabiya...an area that civilians walk and drive on all the time:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/03/video-gadhafi-leaves-landmines-behind-for-rebels/
The new Lofted Communications System was operationally deployed for the first time as part of the air strikes conducted on Libya. The helium-filled balloon was used to bridge the gap in communications from ship to Harriers conducting air strikes. The balloons increase the range of line of sight communications and can relay encrypted and non-encrypted data hundreds of miles for about 6 hours:
http://www.asdnews.com/news/34410/Lofted_Comm_Used_in_Libya_Air_Strikes.htm
The radioactive core in the Unit 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has apparently melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and is not sitting on a concrete floor. It is sad that they found that Tokyo Electric Power Company officials dismissed scientific evidence and geological history that had indicated that a massive earthquake and tsunami was far more likely than they had wanted to believe and prepare for. The earthquake and tsunami is apparently going to be the most expensive natural disaster on record, projections say it could reach $310 bil:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant-lost
Japanese officials have widened the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which will further strain their temporary shelters:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/japan-widens-evacuation-radius
Disasters in 2010 caused more than 3x the economic damage as 2009--the $218 bil in economic losses in 2010 was the most in over 30 years. The losses due to disasters in 2011 are expected to break all records, with the damage in Japan already estimated to be more than the all losses last year combined:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/2010-record-year-economic-costs-disasters
Lloyd's of London said that its profit dropped by 43% last year due to the big losses from earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand and from BP's oil rig spill...so, they made "only" $3.5 bil in profit last year:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/disasters-cause-profits-at-insurance-market-lloyds-of-london-to-fall-43-percent-in-2010/2011/03/30/AFpRQD1B_story.html
Researchers showed that the main chemical in the curry spice turmeric could be used to make cheap explosives detectors. So, curry spice is good for fighting cancer, as an anti-oxidant, and now to detect explosives:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/curry-spice-could-be-used-detect-explosives
The Chief Scientist for Israel Energy Initiatives came up with a plan for them to get oil from the Sheflt Basin. If they are able to extract that oil, it apparently contains *250 billion* barrels of oil about the same as what Saudi Arabia has! Not surprisingly, with that amount of oil being discovered, other countries are arguing over the borders and stating that they own some of the oil rights. If Israel ends up having the same amount of oil as Saudi Arabia, the economic and political implications would be significant:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/israel-could-have-more-oil-reserves.html
I think that it is pretty funny that Donald Trump demanded that Pres. Obama show his birth certificate and then showed off his birth certificate...but it turns out that what he said was a copy of his birth certificate was NOT an official birth certificate. Real birth certificates in New York are issued by the Department of Health and have the agency's seal and a signature of the city registrar, but the certificate Trump displayed none of that:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0311/Trump_fails_to_produce_birth_certificate.html
The state of New York will investigate the competitive implications of AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, including possible increases in cost of mobile broadband for NY residents and businesses:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/new-york-investigate-t-mobile-att-deal-151
The Attorney General of Connecticut also said that the AT&T/T-Mobile "clearly raises concerns" and said that their state will consult with the Department of Justice and other states to review the deal. Minnesota's Attorney General also said that she will review the deal:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/state-attorneys-general-take-aim-attt-mobile-deal/2011-03-30
Microsoft's global chief research and strategy officer says that tablets might be a flash in the pan and he questioned whether tablets like the iPad will be around much longer. Microsoft apparently believes that laptops and smartphones will be all people need, quite a different view than what Steve Jobs talked about for Apple:
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/tablets/tablets-might-be-a-flash-in-the-pan-microsoft-global-chief-strategy-officer-20110330-1cfv2.html
Nokia had its debt rating cut for the first time by Standard & Poor's, partially due to their loss of market share due to Android/Apple and partially due to uncertainty over their moving to Windows Phone 7:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/nokia-debt-rating-cut-one-level-to-a-by-standard-poor-s-outlook-stable.html
I check Amazon's App Store every day to see what paid app will be free that day--today, they are giving away the $4.99 SoundHound Infinity app:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/03/30/soundhound-infinity-is-amazons-free-app-of-the-day/
Gadhafi's troops are leaving anti-personnel and anti-vehicular mines as they retreat from rebel forces! Human Rights Watch employees found 60 mines left along the outskirts of the rebel capitol...finding the first landmine by driving over it and having it detonate under their truck. Libyan troops are placing mines near the road connecting Benghazi to Ajdabiya...an area that civilians walk and drive on all the time:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/03/video-gadhafi-leaves-landmines-behind-for-rebels/
The new Lofted Communications System was operationally deployed for the first time as part of the air strikes conducted on Libya. The helium-filled balloon was used to bridge the gap in communications from ship to Harriers conducting air strikes. The balloons increase the range of line of sight communications and can relay encrypted and non-encrypted data hundreds of miles for about 6 hours:
http://www.asdnews.com/news/34410/Lofted_Comm_Used_in_Libya_Air_Strikes.htm
The radioactive core in the Unit 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has apparently melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and is not sitting on a concrete floor. It is sad that they found that Tokyo Electric Power Company officials dismissed scientific evidence and geological history that had indicated that a massive earthquake and tsunami was far more likely than they had wanted to believe and prepare for. The earthquake and tsunami is apparently going to be the most expensive natural disaster on record, projections say it could reach $310 bil:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant-lost
Japanese officials have widened the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which will further strain their temporary shelters:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/japan-widens-evacuation-radius
Disasters in 2010 caused more than 3x the economic damage as 2009--the $218 bil in economic losses in 2010 was the most in over 30 years. The losses due to disasters in 2011 are expected to break all records, with the damage in Japan already estimated to be more than the all losses last year combined:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/2010-record-year-economic-costs-disasters
Lloyd's of London said that its profit dropped by 43% last year due to the big losses from earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand and from BP's oil rig spill...so, they made "only" $3.5 bil in profit last year:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/disasters-cause-profits-at-insurance-market-lloyds-of-london-to-fall-43-percent-in-2010/2011/03/30/AFpRQD1B_story.html
Researchers showed that the main chemical in the curry spice turmeric could be used to make cheap explosives detectors. So, curry spice is good for fighting cancer, as an anti-oxidant, and now to detect explosives:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/curry-spice-could-be-used-detect-explosives
The Chief Scientist for Israel Energy Initiatives came up with a plan for them to get oil from the Sheflt Basin. If they are able to extract that oil, it apparently contains *250 billion* barrels of oil about the same as what Saudi Arabia has! Not surprisingly, with that amount of oil being discovered, other countries are arguing over the borders and stating that they own some of the oil rights. If Israel ends up having the same amount of oil as Saudi Arabia, the economic and political implications would be significant:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/israel-could-have-more-oil-reserves.html
I think that it is pretty funny that Donald Trump demanded that Pres. Obama show his birth certificate and then showed off his birth certificate...but it turns out that what he said was a copy of his birth certificate was NOT an official birth certificate. Real birth certificates in New York are issued by the Department of Health and have the agency's seal and a signature of the city registrar, but the certificate Trump displayed none of that:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0311/Trump_fails_to_produce_birth_certificate.html
The state of New York will investigate the competitive implications of AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, including possible increases in cost of mobile broadband for NY residents and businesses:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/new-york-investigate-t-mobile-att-deal-151
The Attorney General of Connecticut also said that the AT&T/T-Mobile "clearly raises concerns" and said that their state will consult with the Department of Justice and other states to review the deal. Minnesota's Attorney General also said that she will review the deal:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/state-attorneys-general-take-aim-attt-mobile-deal/2011-03-30
Microsoft's global chief research and strategy officer says that tablets might be a flash in the pan and he questioned whether tablets like the iPad will be around much longer. Microsoft apparently believes that laptops and smartphones will be all people need, quite a different view than what Steve Jobs talked about for Apple:
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/tablets/tablets-might-be-a-flash-in-the-pan-microsoft-global-chief-strategy-officer-20110330-1cfv2.html
Nokia had its debt rating cut for the first time by Standard & Poor's, partially due to their loss of market share due to Android/Apple and partially due to uncertainty over their moving to Windows Phone 7:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/nokia-debt-rating-cut-one-level-to-a-by-standard-poor-s-outlook-stable.html
I check Amazon's App Store every day to see what paid app will be free that day--today, they are giving away the $4.99 SoundHound Infinity app:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/03/30/soundhound-infinity-is-amazons-free-app-of-the-day/