7:22 PM
A new version of a gold rush has hit California's Gold Country after a fireball shot across the sky and exploded, scattering a meteorite with carbonaceous chondrite--the rarest of the rare elements, older than the sun, holding the building blocks of life. Small pieces earn over $1,000 a gram and large pieces can be worth much more. I think that it is cool that even with all of the treasure seekers/meteorite hunters searching all over the area, a lady walking her dog found a huge 17-gram piece and made geologists gasp...and that the dog she was walking is named Sheldon, named after the Big Bang Theory character:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-meteorite-search-20120501,0,4356537,full.story
Tuareg rebels have declared independence in the northern 2/3 of Mali--the area they are claiming as a new country is larger than France! There are concerns about the relationship between an independent Tuareg government and al Qaeda-affiliated organizations in North Africa, and about how the Tuareg-populated areas in Niger contain large deposits of uranium and active uranium-mining operations:
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120429-tuaregs-set-sahara-aflame-proclaim-new-country
The parents of a sophomore in Northern California have sued their school district for kicking their son out of an honors English class last month for copying a classmate's homework. They admit that their son copied his English homework from another student (that student was also kicked out of the honors class and is not suing to try to get back in), but they say that the punishment is too severe and will hurt their son's academic future. The sophomore had signed an "Academic Honesty Pledge" at the beginning of the school year that said that cheating was grounds for immediate removal from the honors program and his Mom also signed it...so I don't see what example they are trying to set for their son and the rest of the school:
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_20481609/parents-sue-district-kicking-son-out-sequoia-high
Intel invested billions in WiMAX 5-7 years ago and now they are heavily investing in LTE, buying patents (they spent $75 mil to get patents from Aware) and initiating a collaborative effort on TD-LTE with Huawei:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/intel-puts-its-money-where-lte/2012-04-29
LG announced that they won't be making Windows phones anymore, focusing all of their efforts on Android because of Windows Phone's market share. LG has had a close relationship with Microsoft for years, including their signed agreement in 2009 that was supposed to widely increase the number of LG handsets running Windows OS, with *26* new Windows phones released in a single year. LG had been the world's #3 handset maker, but after focusing their smartphone lineup on Windows phones their market share plunged and they lost money for 7 consecutive quarters. They finally were profitable again in the final quarter of last year, thanks to their LTE Android smartphones:
http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120430001206
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lg-puts-windows-phone-back-burner-favor-android/2012-04-30
Microsoft has been trying to get into the e-book business for over a decade and they finally succeeded--Barnes & Noble settled a lawsuit with Microsoft in part by agreeing to make a version of their Nook ereader for Windows Mobile, with Microsoft getting a minority ownership in the venture in exchange for their $300 mil investment:
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-barnes-noble-microsoft-deal-20120430,0,3805602.story
Google released the FCC report of its Street View probe and Google admits it knowingly gathered sensitive data from unprotected WiFi networks with Street View and did nothing to stop it. The entire Street View Team was informed about it, but it is unknown how far the information spread up the management chain. For that privacy breach, the FCC fined Google $25,000...how is that a deterrent?
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/lies-spies-and-wi-fi-google-fesses-192061
Half of new Web users in some countries have *never* gone on the Internet via PC...that is a big indication of how mobile devices are bringing the internet to much of the world. 56% of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browser users worldwide only get to the Web with mobile devices:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/opera-half-new-mobile-web-users-have-never-gone-online-pc/2012-04-30
Amazon is being criticized for their Kindle billboard in DC that shows the first page of Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. That page reveals key plot points from the first 2 books, providing huge spoilers for those who haven't read the first 2 books:
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/kindle-ad-third-hunger-games-book-spoils-first-two-139937
A man in Poland broke up with his dentist girlfriend and then just a few days later he asked her to help him with a toothache. She gave him a massive dose of anesthesia and pulled out *all of his teeth, one by one*! She wrapped his jaw in bandages to prevent him from opening his mouth and then walked away:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/sweet-revenge-dentist-pulls-ex-boyfriend-teeth-dumped-article-1.1069114
Oregon had to get federal approval to shoot the double-crested cormorants (protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act) in order to stop the sea bird from eating millions of baby salmon trying to reach the ocean. Those wild fish are protected by the Endangered Species Act--so, protected birds have to be killed to protect endangered fish:
http://www.eastoregonian.com/free/oregon-asks-to-kill-salmon-eating-birds/article_44c2ab88-9024-11e1-a2d5-001a4bcf887a.html
A month after the huge Mega Millions jackpot, there are still 3 tickets worth $227,955 each (5 out of 6 numbers matched) that have not been claimed in California. The current Mega Millions jackpot is getting interesting again--it is already up to $102 mil:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/mega-millions-three-winning-tickets-still-unclaimed-in-calif-.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-meteorite-search-20120501,0,4356537,full.story
Tuareg rebels have declared independence in the northern 2/3 of Mali--the area they are claiming as a new country is larger than France! There are concerns about the relationship between an independent Tuareg government and al Qaeda-affiliated organizations in North Africa, and about how the Tuareg-populated areas in Niger contain large deposits of uranium and active uranium-mining operations:
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120429-tuaregs-set-sahara-aflame-proclaim-new-country
The parents of a sophomore in Northern California have sued their school district for kicking their son out of an honors English class last month for copying a classmate's homework. They admit that their son copied his English homework from another student (that student was also kicked out of the honors class and is not suing to try to get back in), but they say that the punishment is too severe and will hurt their son's academic future. The sophomore had signed an "Academic Honesty Pledge" at the beginning of the school year that said that cheating was grounds for immediate removal from the honors program and his Mom also signed it...so I don't see what example they are trying to set for their son and the rest of the school:
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_20481609/parents-sue-district-kicking-son-out-sequoia-high
Intel invested billions in WiMAX 5-7 years ago and now they are heavily investing in LTE, buying patents (they spent $75 mil to get patents from Aware) and initiating a collaborative effort on TD-LTE with Huawei:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/intel-puts-its-money-where-lte/2012-04-29
LG announced that they won't be making Windows phones anymore, focusing all of their efforts on Android because of Windows Phone's market share. LG has had a close relationship with Microsoft for years, including their signed agreement in 2009 that was supposed to widely increase the number of LG handsets running Windows OS, with *26* new Windows phones released in a single year. LG had been the world's #3 handset maker, but after focusing their smartphone lineup on Windows phones their market share plunged and they lost money for 7 consecutive quarters. They finally were profitable again in the final quarter of last year, thanks to their LTE Android smartphones:
http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120430001206
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lg-puts-windows-phone-back-burner-favor-android/2012-04-30
Microsoft has been trying to get into the e-book business for over a decade and they finally succeeded--Barnes & Noble settled a lawsuit with Microsoft in part by agreeing to make a version of their Nook ereader for Windows Mobile, with Microsoft getting a minority ownership in the venture in exchange for their $300 mil investment:
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-barnes-noble-microsoft-deal-20120430,0,3805602.story
Google released the FCC report of its Street View probe and Google admits it knowingly gathered sensitive data from unprotected WiFi networks with Street View and did nothing to stop it. The entire Street View Team was informed about it, but it is unknown how far the information spread up the management chain. For that privacy breach, the FCC fined Google $25,000...how is that a deterrent?
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/lies-spies-and-wi-fi-google-fesses-192061
Half of new Web users in some countries have *never* gone on the Internet via PC...that is a big indication of how mobile devices are bringing the internet to much of the world. 56% of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browser users worldwide only get to the Web with mobile devices:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/opera-half-new-mobile-web-users-have-never-gone-online-pc/2012-04-30
Amazon is being criticized for their Kindle billboard in DC that shows the first page of Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. That page reveals key plot points from the first 2 books, providing huge spoilers for those who haven't read the first 2 books:
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/kindle-ad-third-hunger-games-book-spoils-first-two-139937
A man in Poland broke up with his dentist girlfriend and then just a few days later he asked her to help him with a toothache. She gave him a massive dose of anesthesia and pulled out *all of his teeth, one by one*! She wrapped his jaw in bandages to prevent him from opening his mouth and then walked away:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/sweet-revenge-dentist-pulls-ex-boyfriend-teeth-dumped-article-1.1069114
Oregon had to get federal approval to shoot the double-crested cormorants (protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act) in order to stop the sea bird from eating millions of baby salmon trying to reach the ocean. Those wild fish are protected by the Endangered Species Act--so, protected birds have to be killed to protect endangered fish:
http://www.eastoregonian.com/free/oregon-asks-to-kill-salmon-eating-birds/article_44c2ab88-9024-11e1-a2d5-001a4bcf887a.html
A month after the huge Mega Millions jackpot, there are still 3 tickets worth $227,955 each (5 out of 6 numbers matched) that have not been claimed in California. The current Mega Millions jackpot is getting interesting again--it is already up to $102 mil:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/mega-millions-three-winning-tickets-still-unclaimed-in-calif-.html