Correction — November 14, 2009 This article contradicts NASA. The prize money was $900,000 and of the three teams, the Seattle team won and managed to climb the entire length, missing out the extra money only due to being unable to reach the required speed. The remaining money can still be claimed at a future competition, beating this team, but they were very much the winners of this contest. There was no Alaskan team, but there was a Canadian one.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
During a NASA competition, a group of researchers managed to create a robot, powered by a ground based laser, to climb a cable 1 kilometer high dangling from a helicopter.
The contest winners will receive US$2 million for inventing a functioning robot which climbs to the set height in a reasonable amount of time.
The competition took place in the Mojave desert at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, and teams from Missouri, Alaska, and Seattle competed for the prize. It was held to further the research on technology capable of making the 22,000 mile journey into outer space.
The laws of physics are playing against the researchers. The cost of implementing a project where these laws could be handled and orbit achieved is very high: an estimated $22 Billion. Although a working space elevator is a futuristic idea, the projects used in the research today could potentially create such an elevator.
A team from Seattle was announced as the second place winner, winning $990,000 in prize money. They did not earn the full $2 million because they were unable to achieve the required speeds. Despite their research, none of the teams were able to get their robots to the top.
Have you ever heard of Forex trading and wondered how you could get in on it? Forex trading is getting a great deal of attention in the press in lately because there are so many people making a lot of money at it.
Public interest is growing daily as a result, but beginners may find it a quite daunting task to figure out the best way to get started. Let me recommend you start out with automated Forex trading. That way you can start reaping the rewards of Forex trading without having to have a deep understanding of markets, reading charts, and more. However there are so many automated forex trading systems, also called Forex trading robots, out there, it can be very helpful to those just starting out in the market to get a few tips. Below you will find some easy quick start tips for beginners. Before you start your search for the best automated Forex trading system, it is good to decide before hand how much money you are willing to invest. There are accounts for every level of investor, ranging from the micro accounts that can be started for as little as under $100 to the mini accounts that usually require about a few hundred dollars to start with. Obviously the more you invest, the more you could make and conversely, the more you could lose. Never invest more than you can stomach losing! To begin with, you can do what is called “paper trading”, where you open an account and trade “on paper”. This way you can practice and actually see how much money you would have made with no risk whatsoever. Once you get more confident and have traded for a while, you can have a bigger account. It is possible to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Forex market, but it does require a much larger investment. Once you have decided on how much you want to invest, now you can choose your automated Forex trading program. These programs are also referred to as Forex trading robots. There are hundreds of different programs to choose from, and it is important that you make sure you choose a Forex robot that is actually working for you around the clock. Some “automated” systems are not fully automated; they will automatically send you alerts but still need you to make decisions round the clock. A truly automated Forex program will work for you, even when you are on vacation or asleep. Some of the best programs even work when your computer is off. Beginners will usually do much better when they have a program that can make money for them without a great deal of intervention on their part. After you have chosen your amount of investment and selected an automated Forex trading program that has a good record of success, you will need to download your Forex program to your personal computer. Once your Forex trading robot is loaded, you can set it to work. If you prefer, you can make manual decisions on trades, but most beginners find that watching their own Forex robot in action is the best way for them to learn how to make smart decisions in the market.
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John Ogilvie is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Carleton—Mississippi Mills riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.
An Academy Award.(Image missing from Commons: image; log)
Monday, March 6, 2006
The 78th Academy Awards were hosted by Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
Crash won the Best Picture award, a surprise for many predictors. Co-producer Cathy Schulman commented “[thank you for] embracing our film, about love and about tolerance, about truth. Thank you to the people all around the world who have been touched by this message. And we are humbled by the other nominees in this category. You have made this year one of the most breathtaking, and stunning, maverick years in American cinema, thank you.”
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco also won best original screenplay for Crash.
Directed and co-produced by Canadian Paul Haggis, film distribution rights were purchased for just USD$3 million by Lions Gate Films. Noted film critic Roger Ebert called it his favourite picture of 2005, and the picture made many North American “10 best” lists.
Backstage, Best Director winner Ang Lee commented to the press on how Brokeback Mountain refreshed his will to direct. “Before I get into making this movie, I was very tired from two very ambitious work, The Hulk and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I almost wanted to retire. I felt I had enough, I hit the bottom, sort of like my mid life crisis or something, and this movie teach me how to look at myself, how to manage myself in movie making again, enjoying making them, and the movie was shot very simple, nothing special, but most important, it taught me again, it’s about human emotions, drama and acting.”
Foreign Language Film winner Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) commented that he felt the Oscar win would “change the way South Africans view their moviemaking… hopefully it means that people will keep investing in our local stories, because this gives investors a little more confidence and what we want more than anything else is that people and human emotion is universal and we’re more alike than we think we are around the world… we’re actually so similar as human beings inside.”
Tsotsi was the People’s Choice Award winner at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, while Crash debuted at the fest in 2004. Capote and Brokeback Mountain both played at the festival days after debuting at the Telluride Film Festival. TIFF’s winners often go on to win Best Picture or Best Foreign Language Film; Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), American Beauty, and Whale Rider are such examples.
Stewart’s humor fell short of expectation for most North American film and television critics who commented on the broadcast.
At one point, Stewart jokingly chastised Hollywood for being “out of touch” with mainstream American values. Actor George Clooney later responded to this notion, saying, “We are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood. It’s probably a good thing. We’re the ones that talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered. And we talked about civil rights when it wasn’t really popular. We bring up subjects. This group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I’m proud of this Academy, of this community. I’m proud to be out of touch.”
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A hacker, or group of hackers, operating under the alias of The Dark Overlord uploaded ten episodes of Netflix’s web TV series Orange is the New Black on Friday and Saturday on The Pirate Bay after they said the online streaming service failed to meet their demands. Netflix had planned to release the season on June 9.
According to The New York Times, the unreleased content from the upcoming fifth season of Orange is the New Black was likely stolen from a postproduction company Larson Studios, based in Los Angeles. Netflix in a statement said, “A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved.” In a tweet on Saturday, the hacker said, “Who is next on the list? FOX, IFC, NAT GEO, and ABC. Oh, what fun we’re all going to have. We’re not playing any games anymore.”
The hacker tweeted about uploading the first episode on The Pirate Bay on Saturday saying, “Let’s try to be a bit more direct, Netflix”. The hacker allegedly demanded an amount of money which they publicly described as “modest”, from Netflix for not releasing the episodes prematurely. The New York Times reported that the final three episodes were not pirated since the security breach occurred before the postproduction studio was handed those episodes. In January, the hacker erased the data from the servers of a Muncie-based charity called Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana demanding 50 bitcoins to restore their data, which was estimated to be about US$43,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly investigating this cyber crime. Netflix has more than 100 million subscribers, CEO Reed Hastings announced recently. Variety noted that Netfilx’s shares experienced a 0.57% loss on the day the first episode was uploaded by the hacker.
On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Don Valley West (Ward 25). Three candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include John Blair, Robertson Boyle, Tony Dickins, Cliff Jenkins (incumbent), and Peter Kapsalis.
Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell announced Tuesday morning that a deal had been struck between state and local officials and the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey franchise. The Penguins organization will formally announce the deal tonight, prior to the Penguins game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Mellon Arena. The deal will ensure that the Penguins will remain in the city with a 30 year lease on a new arena to be built in downtown Pittsburgh. The framework of the deal was constructed in an emergency meeting last Thursday in Philadelphia, when both government and franchise officials indicated that progress had been made, with the details laid out over the weekend. With the new deal, the Penguins organization would be expected to pay $3.8 million per year, as well as $7.5 million per year from both Don Barden, owner of Majestic Star Casino, and the state economic development fund. The Penguins organization has also been given the option of building a parking garage on property of the Pittsburgh Sports Authority between Centre and Fifth avenues, by contributing $500,000 per year.
The new arena is expected to cost approximately $290 million, and should be completed and ready to host hockey games by 2009. The Penguins will sign a temporary lease to keep the team at Mellon Arena until the new building is finished.
Yesterday, the German Bundestag passed a law to legalise cannabis drug for medicinal purposes. The law is to come under effect in March.
“Seriously ill people must be treated in the best ways possible” ((de))German language: ?Schwerkranke Menschen müssen bestmöglich versorgt werden., German health minister Hermann Gröhe tweeted. Doctors can prescribe marijuana — cannabis — for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, or loss of appetite or nausea from cancer’s chemotherapy treatment.
Christian Democrats (CDU) lawmaker Rainer Hayek said this law would still prevent recreational use of cannabis. The cost of cannabis is to be covered under health insurance. Patients can buy dried buds or cannabis extracts from pharmacies with a prescription or get synthetic derivatives from other countries, though possession of the drug in large quantities is not allowed.
Cannabis cultivation is to be monitored by the government. Germany has joined other European countries such as Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Netherlands in legalising the drug to some extent.
In October, a 53-year-old multiple sclerosis patient showed cannabis was the only solution to reduce his pain, and the court granted him permission to grow as many as 130 plants in one year for personal use. Purchasing, rather than growing, medical cannabis at the time cost about €15 (US$16.85) per gram.
