8:06 PM
It appears that a Predator UAV killed 2 US soldiers in Afghanistan last week, what is believed to be the first friendly fire case with UAVs in US history:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/04/drone-reportedly-kills-two-u-s-troops-in-friendly-fire-incident/
The Japanese government raised the severity rating at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to level 7, the most serious on the international scale. That was the same rating that Chernobyl got 25 years ago--a week or so ago (before the aftershocks) the Japanese government estimated the level to be 5:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0412/Why-Fukushima-isn-t-Chernobyl-despite-rise-in-crisis-level
Radiation from Japan's nuclear crisis has reached Hawaii's food stream--a Big Island dairy had radioactive cesium and iodine in its milk, but the amounts are nowhere near levels of concern:
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110412_Traces_of_radiation_found_in_isle_milk.html
NY is considering a bill that will require all Medicaid patients to carry biometric ID cards. The card readers and ID cards will cost an estimated $20 mil, but it could reduce up to $5 bil in Medicaid fraud each year:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/new-york-proposes-biometric-ids-combat-medicaid-fraud
The Kingdom Tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah is proceeding, with an expected cost of $30 bil! It have 275 floors, twice as high as the tallest building in the world. It will take *12 minutes* to reach the top of the building in the elevator! The building should have 38 million square feet on its 275 floors:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/04/mile-high-tower-update.html
Using URL shortening services such as "Bit.ly" or "Ow.ly", or services such as "Tru.ly" and "Letter.ly" actually supports Gadhafi's regime...the "ly" domain is controlled by the government of Libya:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/libya-links-and-you-how-your-urls-help-power-gadhafis-regime-530
LightSquared may IPO this summer to raise the $6 billion they need to build out their network. The money would be nice for LightSquared, and would help Harbinger Capital get some return from the $3 bil they have poured into LightSquared, but analysts say that they need more customers before they can IPO:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/11/falcone-hedgefunds-idUSN1130199720110411
Chinese manufacturer is apparently going to offer Android tablets that will sell for between $150 and $200:
http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=47471&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/04/drone-reportedly-kills-two-u-s-troops-in-friendly-fire-incident/
The Japanese government raised the severity rating at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to level 7, the most serious on the international scale. That was the same rating that Chernobyl got 25 years ago--a week or so ago (before the aftershocks) the Japanese government estimated the level to be 5:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0412/Why-Fukushima-isn-t-Chernobyl-despite-rise-in-crisis-level
Radiation from Japan's nuclear crisis has reached Hawaii's food stream--a Big Island dairy had radioactive cesium and iodine in its milk, but the amounts are nowhere near levels of concern:
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110412_Traces_of_radiation_found_in_isle_milk.html
NY is considering a bill that will require all Medicaid patients to carry biometric ID cards. The card readers and ID cards will cost an estimated $20 mil, but it could reduce up to $5 bil in Medicaid fraud each year:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/new-york-proposes-biometric-ids-combat-medicaid-fraud
The Kingdom Tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah is proceeding, with an expected cost of $30 bil! It have 275 floors, twice as high as the tallest building in the world. It will take *12 minutes* to reach the top of the building in the elevator! The building should have 38 million square feet on its 275 floors:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/04/mile-high-tower-update.html
Using URL shortening services such as "Bit.ly" or "Ow.ly", or services such as "Tru.ly" and "Letter.ly" actually supports Gadhafi's regime...the "ly" domain is controlled by the government of Libya:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/libya-links-and-you-how-your-urls-help-power-gadhafis-regime-530
LightSquared may IPO this summer to raise the $6 billion they need to build out their network. The money would be nice for LightSquared, and would help Harbinger Capital get some return from the $3 bil they have poured into LightSquared, but analysts say that they need more customers before they can IPO:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/11/falcone-hedgefunds-idUSN1130199720110411
Chinese manufacturer is apparently going to offer Android tablets that will sell for between $150 and $200:
http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=47471&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10