tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42438472357112148362024-02-25T23:03:37.678-08:00Tom CarnellSoftware engineering, the Internet and problems of the world...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-23543767008658429072019-12-09T06:37:00.002-08:002019-12-09T06:37:33.325-08:00UserBridge.io goes live!My latest project <a href="https://userbridge.io/">https://userbridge.io/</a> is now live. UserBridge aims to simplify user management for your busines.<br />
<br />
UesrBridge also provide tools to help businesses maintain their data compliance obligations under regulations such as GDPR.<br />
<br />
Right now, UserBridge is in its "Early Access" phase and accounts are currently free.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-59037719057296415462014-08-31T03:46:00.000-07:002014-09-01T13:43:26.967-07:00Google driverless car - Who gets to die?I was just thinking about the driverless <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car" target="_blank">Google Car</a> (actually I was thinking how Apple's lack of interest in this area is probably a terrible mistake). Then I started to think that it is actually very interesting that the computer 'driver' could be tested within a software 'sandbox/test harness' environment over thousands of scenarios - all that is required is an extremely accurate computer model of a road (different surfaces, weather etc).<br />
<br />
BUT then I started to think about something far more thought provoking - lets give an example: You are in the Google Car enjoying a coffee on your way to work but suddenly up ahead a lorry tyre blows-out and begins to loose control, it swerves, looses balances and tips over, sliding along the tarmac. As Google knows everything, it knows that the occupants of car driving next to you are a single-mother with 2 children in the back. Now, in sight of this knowledge, does your Google Car act to save your life by swerving to avoid the lorry (at the calculated possible risk of the loss of live of the mother and children), or does your own car act for 'the greater good' by putting your single life on the line to improve the chances of survival of the mother and children?<br />
<br />
There are many ways a driver can react in an emergency situation, but a human driver is generally unlikely to react in the most logical or calculated way. I remember a long distance coach driver telling me that his 'mandate' was absolutely to the safety of his passengers - if he were to round a bend and find a car stranded in the middle of the road, however awful it might sound, his training would tell him to drive straight through the car rather than attempt to swerve round it which could potentially result in a far higher loss of life if the coach were to loose control.<br />
<br />
So what 'mandate' does the Google Car have? And who gets to choose how your car will react in an emergency situation? Might there even be a dial on the dashboard so YOU can choose where the car's priorities lie?<br />
<br />
Imagine the first time it happens - that a Google Car is involved with in an accident and CCTV reply footage shows the Google Car swerving to save its single occupant as it careers into a car containing young children... Hmm, perhaps the Google PR team would have preferred that the single male adult was compromised and that the Google Car acted to save young children? So perhaps you wont get the choice after all...<br />
<br />
...and a cynical person may even suppose that the Google Car acting in the greater good by saving the most number of human lives would also conveniently fit with their business model.<br />
<br />
But really, it would be fascinating to know exactly how the Google Car would react in these situations and exactly who has decided 'who gets to die?'.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-89347423542547925742013-06-22T09:33:00.002-07:002013-06-22T09:38:26.589-07:00Horizon: Fracking - the New Energy Rush, BBC Two - PropagandaI have just watched the Horizon documentation "Fracking - the New Energy Rush". I was looking forward to a neutral and informative documentary about 'fracking' - the process of extractive gas trapped in deep layers of highly compressed rock.<br />
<br />
However, the documentary was at best a farse and at worse, suspiciously close to a propaganda video. If I was a Governement or energy company wanting to convince the British public that fracking was a magic new source of clean energy, I would have probably made exactly the same video, specifically:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The use of a geologist as a narrator to make everything he said more credible, honest and less politically motivated.</li>
<li>Scare the British audience by stating that Britain is dependant on energy from terrible rogue nations like the dreaded Iraq, with the implicit implication that fracking could secure our energy needs.</li>
<li>Enforce the general message that fracking has no negative effects when mines are built properly.</li>
<li>State that any other negative effects like earthquakes or gas polluted water are irrelevant because that might occur naturally anyway.</li>
<li>Do not interview anybody from the Royal Society.</li>
<li>Do not interview anybody from a British energy company.</li>
<li>Do not interview any British politicians.</li>
<li>Do not interview any British scientists.</li>
<li>Undertake an unofficial interview with an american doctor to show that US policy is the problem and not the secret concoction of obviously very toxic chemicals - and later explain that European energy companies would have to disclose their cocktails of toxic chemicals... which is okay then.</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And I too would have definitely avoided these issues:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Can we trust energy companies to indeed build these wells safely?</li>
<li>What are the consequences if after thousands of miles of wells are built under major British cities, it is discovered that infact, the wells had not been built safely? Or some other disastrous and previously unknown side-effect is discovered.</li>
<li>Can mines be 'unbuilt'?</li>
<li>What are these secret fracking chemicals that were used in the 2011 British trials?</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It seemed to me that Professor Iain Stewart did not want to give his real opinion about fracking, even though he just spent an hour telling us how wonderful is it when it is done properly and not how those cowboy Americans are doing it...</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I knew little about fracking before watching the documentary, but this "pre-emptive reassurance" by Professor Iain Stewart makes me worry why exactly Horizon think I need to be reassured...<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-16049776448041382082013-05-08T15:19:00.001-07:002013-07-13T02:09:23.617-07:00Innovation, Creativity, Software and SuccessIt is amazing just how many software companies are "creative" and "innovative". In addition, by reading CV's and online profiles, it is amazing just how many people are also "creative" and "innovative".<br />
<br />
At this point, let's loosely define our three terms "Innovate", "Creativity" and "Success":<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Innovate - Provide a new solution to problem that is distinctly different from existing approaches</li>
<li>Creativity - The desire, ability and resourcefulness to create 'something'.</li>
<li>Success - The measure by which an individual or organization can be said to have achieved its objectives.</li>
</ul>
<div>
So it might seem reasonable to expect that the world is full of innovative, creative companies that are full to the brim of innovative and creative people. And that all of these innovative and creative companies are creating innovative new stuff....</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thus it stands to reason that the majority of these companies are NOT successful, because most new 'stuff' is created by the same relatively small number of companies.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In most cases, not being a creative and innovative company is perfectly fine. For example, a restaurant does not have to be particularly creative or innovative to make a profit (although I am not saying it may not help).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, if you are a software company and you are not genuinely creative or innovative I would bet that you are probably not successful either. Even the big mega-corporations like Apple, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Facebook and SAP were at some point in their history creative and innovative and to varying degrees continue to be so.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So if these mega-corporations still continue to be innovative and creative, then your small software company DEFINITELY has to be.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But most software companies are neither innovative nor creative. And I wonder if this is because most people are not actually innovative or creative, despite what they say.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Companies do need different types of people, but software companies do need a genuine element of creativity and innovation which, if not always, mostly takes precedence over the best practices, rules of thumbs, processes and procedures that 'most' people would govern by.<br />
<br />
So find genuinely innovative and creative people and let them do their thing...</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-20901110945458809452012-03-27T01:36:00.001-07:002012-03-27T01:36:43.386-07:00IMified - Please dont shutdown!This morning I received the following email from IMified informing me that the service intends to shut down due to lack of profit and what seems like continual problems with the IM companies. The real shame is that IMified is an awesome service with absolutely no alternative - please do correct me if I am wrong, I'd love to know.<br />
<br />
For those of you that are not aware of IMified (<a href="http://imified.com/" target="_blank">http://imified.com</a>), it is a service which allows application developers to create 'bots' which are essentially IM users on networks like AOL, Google Chat, MSN, XMPP etc and provides a single consitent API to allow asynchronous communication with a client. This service is absolutely brilliant for notification services like Femtoo.com (<a href="http://femtoo.com/" target="_blank">http://femtoo.com</a> - online web page tracker and notification service). Maybe IMified could have a future as an open source, cloud-based service. Eitherway, I really hope that we can save IMified.<br />
<br />
Here is the email for your information:<br />
<br />
===================<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dear IMified Customer,<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>The purpose of this email is to alert you to a change in the IMified service.</div><div><br />
</div>Over the last several months, it has become apparent that running an IM bot hosting service is something that cannot be done profitably. When we created IMified several years ago, the popular IM networks had programs for running bots - bypassing limits in contact lists and message volume, for example. This made it feasible to run a large scale IM bot. However, over the last year, these programs have started to disappear. Our contacts at IM providers have left the companies or been reassigned. It's become clear that this is a business that public IM providers no longer want to be in.<br />
We've tried to keep IM support operational despite the fact that not only have we had no support from IM networks, but we have also had to fight the networks actively stopping and shutting down IM bots. Continuing to do this requires a significant amount of resources, and does not bring in enough revenue to justify the battle. So we're shutting down the service.<br />
The logical question that many of you will have next is "what can I do instead?" Unfortunately, we're not aware of any viable IM bot hosting services. Those that we knew of have all gone away. One alternative is to host one yourself. Building a basic XMPP (Jabber) bot isn't hard. You just need to sign up with an XMPP host, someone like Gmail or Jabber.org will work for low-traffic bots. There are numerous tutorials and frameworks for building XMPP bots in your language of choice. A discussion thread on Quora has some other ideas. Once you have a XMPP bot up, you can connect it to other IM networks using XMPP Gateways (also known as Transports). These sign on to an IM network for you, and relay messages to and from an XMPP account. There's not much in the way of public gateways available, so to go this route, you may need to host your XMPP server and your gateways yourself. Spectrum and Kraken are two popular gateways, and Kraken is available as an easy-to-install plugin for Openfire, an open source XMPP server.<br />
<div><br />
</div>If you have concerns or questions about the shutdown, please email <a href="mailto:shutdown@imified.com" style="color: #409f10; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" title="Contact">shutdown@imified.com</a></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- The IMified Team</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">===================</span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-88444968760601425622012-03-21T08:57:00.003-07:002012-03-22T03:19:38.820-07:00Software development and the dangers of the word "Done"People like using the word "done" and with good reason - if something is "done" it means we no longer have to worry about it and we can get on with the next task - its a decisive and positive word. But this word is usually misleading and in the real world, software development tasks are very rarely "done".<br />
<br />
To say that a software development task is "done" tends to send a message to the project manager and client that the specific user story or feature will never need any revision and is completely free from errors. This is almost certainly not the case. It's a good assumption that new code will contain errors, even if you haven't found them yet and you can be pretty sure that when the new feature is demonstrated to the client or as soon as real people start to use the system, changes will be required.<br />
<br />
And at the engineering level, well organized code will generally adhere to the DRY (dont repeat yourself) principal. This means that engineers will try to 'abstract' code, functions and structures to be as general as possible so that they are used as often as possible. This implies that although a feature may appear unchanged from one version to the next, the engineers really know that actually a lot of the underlying code may well have changed and although unit testing can 'positively' test and confirm consistent behaviour, a good dose of manual testing will do no harm.<br />
<br />
But this article is not about code organization or testing techniques, it is about why we should try not to use the word "done". When we say this word, we probably really mean: "done to the point where another task is of higher priority". If this definition of "done" is generally accepted then project managers and clients can continue as usual, but should not be alarmed when something marked as "done" contains bugs, needs changing or the code requires rework.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-4881446690182797692012-03-21T08:03:00.011-07:002012-03-22T09:16:34.266-07:00The Internet - and what it could beThe Internet is still basically a mass of insular websites that do not interact with each other. Websites are still primerily designed to be read/browsed by a human, regardless of whether it is done from a PC, mobile or tablet device. Most websites are still just like books in a library which do not communicate and share information with one another.<br />
<br />
Websites have got prettier and include more media, like music, videos and animations but essentially, websites have not changed and the Internet as a whole as not significantly changed for many years.<br />
<br />
But the Internet has an amazing potential, behind all of these insular websites are computers capable of complex data processing and hi-speed communications, but for the most part, this potential power is just used to serve up pre-defined static content.<br />
<br />
I think it is now time to build the REAL "web 2.0". For me, this implies websites that communicate and share information automatically with other websites and services in (pseudo) real-time. The end goal of which is to turn the Internet into something really powerful - a single massively parallel computer. The hard part has been done for us with technologies like HTTP, DNS, TCP/IP, JSON etc already defined and well supported by tried and tested technologies - all the building blocks of a new Internet are in place.<br />
<br />
But to create this new Internet, we must create a mechanism such that all data currently formatted and published for humans (the majority) is also available to other web services. Consider my own personal website:<br />
<br />
http://tomcarnell.com<br />
<br />
If you visit this website from a standard web browser, you would be presented with a mixture of graphics, text and hyperlinks organised to be human readable and formatted to be attractive (like any other website). Unfortunately, this type of content is completely unsuitable for a third party web service to make use of, let alone use in a meaningful way. So, lets consider the following two proposed URL's:<br />
<br />
http://tomcarnell.com/services.json<br />
http://tomcarnell.com/data.json<br />
<br />
Now, a third party web service can read the contents of 'services.json' and can learn that the 'tomcarnell.com' site has a service called 'contact_me', a programatic version of the 'contact form' (<a href="http://tomcarnell.com/contact_me/">http://tomcarnell.com/contact_me</a>) which allows the service to submit a contact request. The services.json file will also detail how the 'contact_me' service should be called, what type of data it returns and maybe some human readable text to explain what the service does and how it should be used. We could also implemenent a 'subscribeToService_xxx' service which means that before allowing just anything to use the 'contact_me' service, one must first subscribe. The rules and details of how these services work are completely up to the website owner.<br />
<br />
Our third party web service could also decide to read the contents of 'data.json' which contains semantically structured data. This data might contain the details of my portfolio, my curriculum, my contact details, links to social profile pages and any of the text found on the human readable website. It could also detail daily contractor rates, availability, location and phone number, which a third party recruitment service might find useful when searching for an available web developer in the Madrid area with experience with jQuery for example. Again, the contents of 'data.json' are completely up to the website owner.<br />
<br />
Online shops could employ the same standard to publish special offers and could provide services to allow 3rd application to check an order status or product stock levels.<br />
<br />
A news website could publish their latest headlines in 'data.json' and maybe provide a search service in 'services.json' which could return a list of news articles that fulfill the search criteria.<br />
<br />
But the fun really starts when we start to combine these services. We could have language translation services, hotel reservation services, transport reservation systems, services that interact with social networks, services to access and query government and official data and all this opens us up to the possibility of creating sophisticated 'problem specific' services, for example a service that knows how to plan an entire wedding and knows which other services it needs to locate available venues, check guests calendars, send and recieve invitations, book a chauffeur driven car, obtain estimates for food, gift lists etc...<br />
<br />
It would be really great to move in this direction, but it will take the support of lots of people. However, as a stepping stone, website owners can start by using <a href="http://livedirectory.org/" target="_blank">http://livedirectory.org/</a> - a service which provides the functionality to publish and manage an arbitrary set of data and allow 3rd party applications to subscribe to this data, which means that LiveDirectory will send change notifications to all subscribers when this data is updated. For example, I have implemented the equivilent of the 'data.json' file as a LiveDirectory profile:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://livedirectory.org/profile/tom-carnell">http://livedirectory.org/profile/tom-carnell</a><br />
<br />
The above LiveDirectory profile details information about me and allows anybody to 'subscribe' to any part of that data structure. Another example is the jQuery profile:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://livedirectory.org/profile/jquery">http://livedirectory.org/profile/jquery</a><br />
<br />
Where services can subscribe to be notified whenever a new version of jQuery is released, which is specifically located here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://livedirectory.org/profile/jquery/latest_version">http://livedirectory.org/profile/jquery/latest_version</a><br />
<br />
The LiveDirectory.org aims to provide a simply but very powerful API based data manangement, retrieval and subscription system to help the Internet take one step toward becoming a more useful tool for everyone.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-3604670448472090812011-09-14T03:35:00.001-07:002012-03-26T02:18:35.523-07:00Why database column names should be globally uniqueAfter years of working with relational databases (RDBMS's), I have just started to realise the importance of globally unique names for database columns. Generally I use the term 'globally unique' to mean unique within the database schema, but I it could potentially extend to being unique across all schemas.<br />
<br />
The problem that arises from using repeating column names is when two or more tables are used in a single query. For example, if we have two tables: 'customers' (which has a column 'id') and 'customer_orders' (which also has the column 'id') when we perform the following query: <br />
<br />
"SELECT * FROM customers c, customer_orders o WHERE c.name = 'tom';"<br />
<br />
The "*" clause means we will return every column of both tables. So considering a single row returned from the query, what would be the value of 'id'? Would it be the 'customers.id' field or the 'customer_orders.id' field? What if our application needed to use both values? Of course, we could change our query and give aliases to the columns, which would also mean we would need to explicitly list the columns we wish to be returned:<br />
<br />
"SELECT c.id customer_id, o.id order_id, c.name, o.value FROM customers c, customer_orders o WHERE c.name = 'tom';"<br />
<br />
So we can now reference either the customers.id value and the order.id value. But this solution makes our query fragile and susceptible to schema changes - what if we later rename the column 'c.name' to 'c.first_name'? The query would then break. In addition, and for the purposes of consistancy of any 'data interface' we might define, we would be forced to use these explict column aliases in all our queries, which would reduce the readability of the SQL and introduce the same problems associated with any form of code duplication.<br />
<br />
In reality, the first SQL query would be perfectly good had we used unique column names. For example, 'customers.cst_id' instead of 'customer.id' and 'customer_orders.cso_id' instead of 'customer_orders.id'. Here I have chosen a three character 'prefix' for column names that gives some clue to the name of the containing table. Therefore 'customers.name' would also become 'customers.cst_name'.<br />
<br />
Implementing a simple column naming convention across the entire database schema will greatly improve the effectiveness of SQL queries and will reduce the likelihood of application errors that may occur by accidentally referencing the wrong data within an application.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-63775372697963147502011-07-29T04:34:00.001-07:002011-11-17T03:04:14.321-08:00Delivering software projects: Drupal, Joomla or just go bespoke?Imagine you are building a house and the time has come to install the electrics. Which of the following do you do:<br />
<ol><li>Buy an 'off-the-shelf', 'one-size-fits-all' complete home eletrical system and then hire an electrician to customize and tailor the system to fit your needs, or</li>
<li>Hire an electrician straight-off to build the electrical system for you?</li>
</ol>The first option may seem like a good way to save time and possibly money by buying a pre-built solution and hiring an expert engineer to tailor the system. However, such pre-built electrical systems are not available in shops because customizing a system that does not do what it is supposed to can often be more expensive that simply building the exact system to requirements.<br />
<br />
Importantly, the second option works. An expert is hired to use their skills, experience and tools knowledge to deliver exactly what a client needs - nothing more and nothing less. This is the general approach taken not just in small-scale or private engineering, but also in large scale commercial engineering projects. And this is also the reason why 'off-the-shelf', 'one-size-fits-all' systems are simply not available for purchase - nobody builds them because nobody would buy them.<br />
<br />
<br />
So why is the world of software engineering projects so obsessed with using off-the-shelf one-size-fits-all software like Drupal and Joomla which almost certainly do not do what the client wants out of the box and will almost certainly need extensive customization and tailoring? Why not follow the rest of the engineering world and deliver client software by using expert engineers to build tailored applications that do exactly what is required using the most appropriate tools and techniques available?<br />
<br />
I believe there are three reasons to explain the software engineering obsession with using 'off-the-shelf' systems:<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Building systems like Drupal and Joomla is actually pretty easy, which explains why there are hundreds, if not thousands of these types of 'one-size-fits-all' systems on the market. And the sheer number of these systesm gives an overall impression that we should be using them. </li>
<li>Self preservation - if a software project fails, it is difficult to blame the guy that chose to use Drupal, whereas it is probably much easier to blame the guy that chose to build a bespoke system.</li>
<li>In a few cases, for simple systems like very basic websites an 'off-the-shelf' system can help speed things along if very minimal customization is required - which of course is simply not the majority of high-value business systems.</li>
</ol>A fourth reason is the often stated benefit that building a system based on an off-the-shelf product will avoid technology lock-in and avoid the problems of supporting proprietory software. However, I believe this goal is rarely, if ever achieved. It is highly likely that the parts of an off-the-shelf system that have been customized and tailored for a particular client are also likely to be the parts of the system that add most value to the client (by the very nature of those parts having been written to satisfy a specific client need). So in many cases, the most valuable parts of system are also likely to be 100% proprietory with no support available from either the off-the-shelf product team or the open source community.<br />
<br />
It is unlikely that designing and building an RDBMS from scratch would be a necessity for a given software project, therefore it is likely to be a good idea to use an off-the-shelf solution for this type of specific system component. The same goes for other system components like computer languages, operating systems, communication protocols etc. However, depending on client needs, the design and implementation of a new type of RDBMS maybe exactly what is required. This is to say that even with a bespoke project a vast amount of functionality can be provided by pre-built technologies. However, if a key requirement can not be serviced by pre-built technology then it will have to be built from scratch - drupal or no drupal.<br />
<br />
There are many great and often free tools that software engineers can use to build high-quality applications quickly and effectively. An experienced and expert software engineer should be able to choose which of these tools and technologies best fits a clients needs and deliver a bespoke system faster than using a 'one-size-fits-all' product.<br />
<br />
I wonder if as the software engineering industry matures that we will see fewer 'off-the-shelf' 'one-size-fits-all' packages and move toward boutique software consultancies that delier high-quality solutions quickly and cost effectively. And more importantly that the software engineering industry follows in the foot steps of far more mature engineering industries.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-40045857690197364772011-07-25T03:59:00.000-07:002011-07-25T04:07:26.491-07:00Web usability and HTML: Uploading files and photosMore and more people use online document and photo sharing websites (dropbox, picasa, facebook etc). However, I am still amazed at the number of websites that require files to be uploaded and that do not offer a way to link to an online resource.<br />
<br />
A classic example is adding a photo to an online profile or attaching a document to an application form. It would be really helpful to be able to either upload a file, or simply enter a URL to an online file. This is something applications developers could easily implement.<br />
<br />
However, the ideal solution would be to change the HTML5 upload file selector to allow the selection of either a disk-based resource/file or a publically available web-based resource (via a url). This change would immediately make ALL web applications that perform file uploading more flexible with zero effort required from developers.<br />
<br />
An obvious progression from this would be to allow browsers to access secured resources (private picasa galleries or files on ftp sites etc) - of course, only with the owners permission and with appropriate authentication.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-74745468033938853842011-04-26T14:16:00.000-07:002011-04-26T14:16:44.783-07:00Premium services and content - the price point is just wrong.How much would you pay per month for access to Wikipedia? $100 per month? $10 per month? $0.10 per month? Nothing?<br />
<br />
Wikipedia is probably not a great example because it recieves money via donations, not via subscriptions but the point is that most people would probably not pay $10 per month for Wikipedia. But when pushed people might agree that paying a few cents per month is so reasonable that even the most infrequent readers could justify the cost.<br />
<br />
So if people are only prepared to pay a few cents per month for one of the worlds most innovative and used information resources, how can some services or websites charge significantly more? $10's, or even $100's per month? For example, the Wall Street Journal subscription starts at €1.50 - this is not a lot of money, but when compared with the vast numbers of free news websites and alternative sources, maybe this price point completely exceeds what a casual reader would want to pay?<br />
<br />
However, great content can not be free. Currently there are two typical financing models for this content:<br />
<ol><li>Somebody else pays - commonly via advertising</li>
<li>The consumer pays - commonly via a subscription or donation</li>
</ol> The first model is great if you like webpages full of adverts. The second model it still fairly immature, especially regarding price point. I would be happy to pay for high quality content, but I think individual websites should appreciate they are one small part of a very big Internet. There are hundreds of services and content websites and if they were all to charge €1.50 p/m we would end up paying €1,000s per year and in addition, we probably couldn't read/digest/use of the services or content that these sites provide.<br />
<br />
I think the world of premium services and content could be revolutionised with micro-payments. I could see a service whereby I could see all of my website subscriptions listed in one place and how much I am paying for each. In addition, this service could act as a way to manage my subscriptions - both allowing me to cancel existing subscriptions and subscribe to new sites at the click of a button.<br />
<br />
If such a system existed, it could also allow users to give feedback to the content providers, allow users to 'recommend' websites and share opinions about them.<br />
<br />
This would be great for web service and content providers because they would not have to care about handling payments. And of course such a system would be great for consumers - having one place to manage all of their subscriptions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-9707398661042753922010-09-23T07:53:00.000-07:002011-01-05T03:11:41.021-08:00Google makes way for Femtoo.com - online tracking and notificationsGoogle have <a href="http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2010/09/turning-off-track-changes-feature.html">recently announced</a> that it will be removed the tracking features of Google Reader.<br />
<br />
In fairness it never worked very well and the alternatives, for example <a href="http://femtoo.com">Femtoo.com</a> is more sophisticated, allows far more user control and is just much cooler than Google Reader!<br />
<br />
If you are interested in tracking changes to product prices, job postings, financial or world news, sports results and fixtures, house flat prices every 30 minutes - try <a href="http://femtoo.com">Femtoo.com</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-70077683442774974982010-06-05T10:31:00.000-07:002011-01-05T03:12:54.872-08:00The last 2500 hours of BBC News headlinesFor those interested in the publishing frequency and behaviour of online newspapers, I have published the last 2500 hours of BBC News headlines along with the date and time of publication.<br />
<br />
In numerous cases it can be observed that speed of publication wins over grammatical correctness. In addition, it can be seen that numerous headlines have been amended to add drama, correct story discrepancies or simply shorten the lenth of the headline.<br />
<br />
(this data was automatically extracted using <a href="http://femtoo.com" target="_blank">Femtoo.com</a> - the online tracking and notifaction system)<br />
<br />
<table class="data_table"><thead>
<tr><th>date</th><th>time</th><th>text</th></tr>
</thead><thead>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>18:45:40</td><td>Seized aid ship taken to Israel</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>13:45:31</td><td>Israel takes control of aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>12:45:35</td><td>Israeli soldiers 'board aid ship'</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>09:45:32</td><td>Israelis threaten to board ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>08:45:35</td><td>Israel 'shadowing' Gaza aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>06:45:32</td><td>New Gaza aid ship 'intercepted'</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 June 2010</td><td>04:45:35</td><td>Israel vows to stop Gaza aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>23:45:52</td><td>Obama warning over Gulf optimism|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>22:45:43</td><td>New Japan leader to be named</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>21:45:56</td><td>Obama makes third visit to Gulf|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>17:45:40</td><td>BP begins to funnel off oil spill|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>16:45:27</td><td>BP cap begins to siphon oil spill|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>15:45:45</td><td>Turkey in threat to Israel ties|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>14:45:42</td><td>New Japan leader to be named</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>12:45:30</td><td>Turkey in threat to Israel ties|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>11:45:36</td><td>New Japan PM pledges fresh start|Footing the bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>09:45:35</td><td>New Japan PM pledges fresh start</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>08:45:31</td><td>Kan becomes Japan prime minister</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>07:45:40</td><td>Japan's DPJ chooses Kan as leader</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>06:45:35</td><td>New Japan leader to be named</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>03:45:26</td><td>Dozens killed in Bangladeshi fire</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 June 2010</td><td>02:45:35</td><td>BP set to lower US oil-spill cap</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 June 2010</td><td>23:45:49</td><td>Turkey mourns dead Gaza activists</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 June 2010</td><td>16:45:38</td><td>Anger as Turkey buries its dead</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 June 2010</td><td>14:45:29</td><td>Turkey mourns Gaza flotilla dead</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 June 2010</td><td>03:45:38</td><td>Gaza activists welcomed in Turkey</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 June 2010</td><td>20:45:39</td><td>Gun rampage leaves 12 dead in UK</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 June 2010</td><td>19:45:51</td><td>Israel 'had no choice' over raid</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 June 2010</td><td>06:45:29</td><td>Israel deports flotilla activists</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 June 2010</td><td>01:45:24</td><td>Israel to free flotilla activists</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 June 2010</td><td>18:45:27</td><td>Doubt cast on Israel raid account</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 June 2010</td><td>08:45:22</td><td>UN urges Israel convoy raid probe</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 June 2010</td><td>02:45:24</td><td>UN members decry Gaza boat deaths</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 May 2010</td><td>20:45:28</td><td>Israeli PM 'regrets' ship deaths</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 May 2010</td><td>19:45:32</td><td>Deaths as Israel storms aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 May 2010</td><td>12:45:23</td><td>Computing powers|Deaths as Israel storms aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 May 2010</td><td>08:45:22</td><td>Deaths as Israel storms aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 May 2010</td><td>06:45:25</td><td>Israeli navy storms Gaza aid ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 May 2010</td><td>01:45:22</td><td>Ex-minister leads Colombia vote</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 May 2010</td><td>17:45:24</td><td>Spill 'is worst US eco-disaster'</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 May 2010</td><td>15:45:34</td><td>'No guarantee' on new BP oil plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 May 2010</td><td>00:45:24</td><td>'Top kill' fails to stop oil leak</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>21:45:31</td><td>UK politician quits coalition post</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>19:45:24</td><td>Israel rejects nuclear talks plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>18:45:25</td><td>Israel rejects nuclear conference</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>16:45:25</td><td>Malawi pardons jailed gay couple</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>11:45:25</td><td>UN push for nuclear-free Mid-East</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>10:45:30</td><td>Minister apologises over expenses</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 May 2010</td><td>06:45:24</td><td>UN push for nuclear-free Mid-East</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>23:45:26</td><td>Obama bolsters Gulf oil teams</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>13:45:39</td><td>Deadly raids on Pakistan mosques</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>09:45:22</td><td>'Maoist sabotage' kills 65 on India train</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>07:45:30</td><td>India train 'sabotage' kills 65</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>06:45:23</td><td>India train 'sabotage' kills 40</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>04:45:23</td><td>India rail blast crash kills 25</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 May 2010</td><td>02:45:23</td><td>Indian trains collide after blast</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>19:45:38</td><td>Obama defends oil spill response</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>17:45:43</td><td>BP 'slows leaking Gulf oil well'</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>16:45:30</td><td>BP 'stops leaking Gulf oil well'</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>13:45:29</td><td>US 'to extend oil drilling ban'</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>10:45:22</td><td>North Korea scraps naval clash pact</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>05:45:13</td><td>Oil well plug 'going as planned'</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 May 2010</td><td>03:45:27</td><td>Oil well plug 'going as planned'|Spectre of debt</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 May 2010</td><td>20:45:32</td><td>BP begins 'top kill' on oil spill|Spectre of debt</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 May 2010</td><td>11:45:22</td><td>US seeks action over Korea crisis|Spectre of debt</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 May 2010</td><td>09:45:22</td><td>US seeks action over Korea crisis</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 May 2010</td><td>08:45:22</td><td>US backs South Korea in crisis</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 May 2010</td><td>06:45:24</td><td>US visit as Korean crisis mounts</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 May 2010</td><td>00:45:25</td><td>Jamaican PM vows to restore order</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 May 2010</td><td>18:45:25</td><td>Jamaica drug raid toll reaches 27</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 May 2010</td><td>17:45:24</td><td>North Korea 'severs ties' with South</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 May 2010</td><td>12:45:24</td><td>World stock markets see big falls</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 May 2010</td><td>08:45:22</td><td>Jamaican forces storm stronghold</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 May 2010</td><td>22:45:23</td><td>Jamaica police storm stronghold</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 May 2010</td><td>19:45:42</td><td>US to conduct Korea navy exercises</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 May 2010</td><td>14:45:38</td><td>US says Korea crisis 'precarious'</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 May 2010</td><td>04:45:24</td><td>S Korea freezes trade with North</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 May 2010</td><td>22:45:25</td><td>US warns it may 'push BP aside'</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 May 2010</td><td>20:45:23</td><td>India crash jet's recorder found</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 May 2010</td><td>12:45:25</td><td>Hunt for Indian air crash clues</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 May 2010</td><td>06:45:26</td><td>Tributes to India crash victims</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>19:45:33</td><td>Inquiry into deadly India crash</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>18:45:22</td><td>India air crash kills 158 people</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>08:45:22</td><td>Indian plane crash kills scores</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>06:45:24</td><td>'Many dead' in India plane crash</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>05:45:22</td><td>India plane 'crashes on landing'</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>04:45:23</td><td>India plane 'overshoots runway'</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 May 2010</td><td>03:45:28</td><td>EU seeks better crisis response</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>20:45:26</td><td>EU seeks better crisis response|The meaning of life</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>19:45:28</td><td>EU pledges better crisis response|The meaning of life</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>15:45:26</td><td>Germans approve euro rescue plan|The meaning of life</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>13:45:22</td><td>German house approves euro rescue|The meaning of life</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>12:45:20</td><td>Thailand unrest 'under control'|The meaning of life</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>10:45:25</td><td>Thailand unrest 'under control'</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 May 2010</td><td>03:45:24</td><td>US Senate backs Wall St reforms</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 May 2010</td><td>19:45:27</td><td>Scientists make 'artificial life'</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 May 2010</td><td>15:45:47</td><td>Anger at North Korea over warship sinking</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 May 2010</td><td>03:45:19</td><td>'N Korean torpedo' sank navy ship</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 May 2010</td><td>15:45:40</td><td>Curfew in Bangkok after surrender</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 May 2010</td><td>08:45:23</td><td>Soldiers storm Bangkok barricades</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 May 2010</td><td>06:45:23</td><td>Army enters Bangkok protest camp</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 May 2010</td><td>04:45:23</td><td>Army moves in on Thai protesters</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 May 2010</td><td>03:45:28</td><td>Army masses at Thai protest site</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 May 2010</td><td>22:45:23</td><td>New Iran sanctions being tabled</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 May 2010</td><td>19:45:33</td><td>New Iran sanctions plan 'agreed'</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 May 2010</td><td>15:45:37</td><td>Kabul suicide car bomber kills 18</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 May 2010</td><td>08:45:21</td><td>Kabul suicide car bomb 'kills 19'</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 May 2010</td><td>06:45:21</td><td>Greece to receive bail-out money</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 May 2010</td><td>04:45:25</td><td>Obama to set up oil spill panel</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 May 2010</td><td>21:45:24</td><td>Thais 'must step back from brink'</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 May 2010</td><td>12:45:23</td><td>Thai protesters defy order to leave camp</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 May 2010</td><td>11:45:24</td><td>Thai protesters 'must leave camp'</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 May 2010</td><td>05:45:22</td><td>Rogue Thai protest general dies</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 May 2010</td><td>02:45:22</td><td>Ash shuts Heathrow and Gatwick</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 May 2010</td><td>23:45:27</td><td>BP says new oil plan working well</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 May 2010</td><td>17:45:24</td><td>Thailand rejects protester talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 May 2010</td><td>11:45:25</td><td>New ultimatum for Bangkok protest</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 May 2010</td><td>06:45:24</td><td>Thailand protesters defy PM vow</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>17:45:25</td><td>Thai PM promises to end protest</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>16:45:25</td><td>Thai PM pledges to end protest</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>15:45:40</td><td>Six die in latest Bangkok clashes</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>11:45:27</td><td>'Live fire zone' set in Bangkok</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>08:45:22</td><td>Thai violence claims more lives</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>06:45:27</td><td>BP chief backs future of oil drilling</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 May 2010</td><td>03:45:27</td><td>UN urges halt to Bangkok clashes</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 May 2010</td><td>22:45:22</td><td>Deadly clashes shake Thai capital</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 May 2010</td><td>12:45:21</td><td>Deadly clashes erupt in Bangkok</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 May 2010</td><td>09:45:20</td><td>Thai troops clash with protesters</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 May 2010</td><td>07:45:29</td><td>Bangkok tense after fatal clashes</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 May 2010</td><td>18:45:28</td><td>Pro-protest Thai general shot in head</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 May 2010</td><td>17:45:34</td><td>Pro-protest Thailand general shot</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 May 2010</td><td>15:45:29</td><td>Pro-protest Thai general 'shot'</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 May 2010</td><td>14:30:32</td><td>UK coalition in first cabinet meeting</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 May 2010</td><td>18:45:32</td><td>UK coalition leaders in unity vow</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 May 2010</td><td>17:30:26</td><td>Cameron and Clegg: We are united</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 May 2010</td><td>16:45:22</td><td>Cameron praises 'historic' deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 May 2010</td><td>15:30:26</td><td>UK PM Cameron hails 'new era'</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 May 2010</td><td>13:30:20</td><td>New UK PM begins shaping coalition</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 May 2010</td><td>12:15:04</td><td>UK coalition government sets to work</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 May 2010</td><td>19:45:05</td><td>UK's Labour 'know Lib Dem talks over'</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 May 2010</td><td>18:45:04</td><td>Labour 'know Lib Dem talks over'</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 May 2010</td><td>06:45:04</td><td>'Crunch time' in UK government talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 May 2010</td><td>20:45:32</td><td>Brown to quit as UK Labour Party leader</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 May 2010</td><td>18:45:26</td><td>Brown to quit as Labour leader</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 May 2010</td><td>15:45:45</td><td>Shares surge after EU loan deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 May 2010</td><td>03:45:27</td><td>EU agrees euro stability package</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 May 2010</td><td>02:45:24</td><td>EU agrees 500bn euro aid package</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 May 2010</td><td>01:45:21</td><td>EU debates emergency funding</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 May 2010</td><td>15:45:28</td><td>'Pakistan Taliban' behind NY plot</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 May 2010</td><td>12:45:22</td><td>Mid-East indirect talks 'begin'</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 May 2010</td><td>10:45:22</td><td>Foreign troops join Russia parade</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 May 2010</td><td>07:45:34</td><td>EU to debate 'stabilisation fund'</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 May 2010</td><td>06:45:23</td><td>Tories and Lib Dems to meet again</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 May 2010</td><td>23:30:38</td><td>Clegg meets Cameron on power deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 May 2010</td><td>09:00:14</td><td>UK parties to consider power deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 May 2010</td><td>07:00:14</td><td>Clegg to deliberate on Tory deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 May 2010</td><td>00:00:32</td><td>Tories and Lib Dems in deal talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>18:00:14</td><td>Cameron offer to build UK government</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>17:00:14</td><td>Cameron offer to build government</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>16:00:23</td><td>UK Tories to try to form government</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>13:00:16</td><td>Germany votes to bail out Greece</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>12:00:12</td><td>Global shares fall on Greece debt</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>10:00:11</td><td>Asia shares fall over Greece debt</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>08:00:12</td><td>UK 'wakes up to hung Parliament'</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>07:00:12</td><td>Tories likely to be largest party</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>06:00:13</td><td>Tories set to be largest party</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>04:00:36</td><td>Conservatives head for big gains</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 May 2010</td><td>00:00:18</td><td>Tories 'just short of majority'</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>19:00:14</td><td>Greek parliament backs hefty cuts</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>12:00:11</td><td>Nigeria swears in new president</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>11:00:13</td><td>Nigeria's Jonathan made president</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>09:00:11</td><td>Nigerian President Yar'Adua dies</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>05:00:12</td><td>Nigeria President Yar'Adua dies</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>04:00:13</td><td>Nigeria President Yar'Adua dead</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>03:00:28</td><td>Nigeria President Yar'Adua 'dead'</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 May 2010</td><td>01:00:10</td><td>Greece is 'on the brink of abyss'</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 May 2010</td><td>15:00:14</td><td>Three killed in Greece protests</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 May 2010</td><td>14:00:17</td><td>Clashes in Greek general strike</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 May 2010</td><td>11:00:12</td><td>UK party leaders in final push for votes</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 May 2010</td><td>08:00:13</td><td>General strike paralyses Greece</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>22:00:15</td><td>NY suspect charged with terrorism</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>21:00:15</td><td>NY suspect 'on terrorism charge'</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>19:00:11</td><td>Obama defiant after NY bomb plot</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>18:00:12</td><td>NY bomb suspect to face charges</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>08:00:11</td><td>Man held over New York bomb plot</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>07:00:14</td><td>Times Square bomb plot 'arrest'</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 May 2010</td><td>01:00:12</td><td>Nuclear talks spark Iran-US clash</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 May 2010</td><td>13:00:15</td><td>Surviving Mumbai gunman convicted</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 May 2010</td><td>12:00:13</td><td>Mumbai gunman convicted in India</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 May 2010</td><td>11:00:13</td><td>Mumbai attacks trial verdict due</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 May 2010</td><td>07:00:12</td><td>NY car bomb plot 'not al-Qaeda'</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 May 2010</td><td>19:00:09</td><td>US hunts New York car bomb clues</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 May 2010</td><td>12:00:25</td><td>New York escapes car bomb attack</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 May 2010</td><td>11:00:12</td><td>New York police defuse car bomb</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 May 2010</td><td>09:00:10</td><td>New York police defuse 'car bomb'</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 May 2010</td><td>08:00:13</td><td>Suspected car bomb on NY's Times Square</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 May 2010</td><td>05:00:11</td><td>US spill 'threatens way of life'</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 May 2010</td><td>21:00:12</td><td>Weather hampers US oil clean-up</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 May 2010</td><td>08:00:11</td><td>BP under fire over US oil spill</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 May 2010</td><td>02:00:16</td><td>US Air Force to douse Louisiana oil slick</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 April 2010</td><td>14:00:12</td><td>Oil spill sparks new drilling ban</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 April 2010</td><td>08:00:12</td><td>Oil 'reaches' coast in US spill</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 April 2010</td><td>06:00:09</td><td>Oil reaches coast in US disaster</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 April 2010</td><td>03:00:17</td><td>Obama pledges to tackle oil leak</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 April 2010</td><td>00:00:13</td><td>Leaders in last TV debate appeals</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>22:00:13</td><td>Leaders clash in final TV debate</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>21:00:12</td><td>Leaders braced for crunch debate</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>20:00:14</td><td>US steps up oil disaster response</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>16:00:15</td><td>US military joins oil leak effort</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>10:00:04</td><td>US oil slick 'five times bigger'</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>07:00:04</td><td>US oil leak worse than expected</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 April 2010</td><td>02:00:07</td><td>Republicans allow finance debate</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 April 2010</td><td>23:00:03</td><td>Fears grow over Greece shockwaves</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 April 2010</td><td>18:00:05</td><td>Fears mount over Greece shockwaves</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 April 2010</td><td>13:00:15</td><td>Greece debt fears batter markets</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 April 2010</td><td>11:00:07</td><td>Greece moves to block speculators</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 April 2010</td><td>08:00:08</td><td>Greek crisis sends Asian markets sliding</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 April 2010</td><td>03:00:06</td><td>Senate panel skewers Goldman boss</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 April 2010</td><td>20:00:08</td><td>Markets hit by Greece junk rating</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 April 2010</td><td>18:00:07</td><td>Goldman Sachs comes under fire</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 April 2010</td><td>17:00:07</td><td>Goldman executive denies charges</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 April 2010</td><td>12:00:10</td><td>Chaos as Ukraine votes on fleet</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 April 2010</td><td>04:00:06</td><td>US extradites Noriega to France</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 April 2010</td><td>15:00:05</td><td>President wins key Sudan election</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 April 2010</td><td>12:00:06</td><td>IPL chief faces corruption probe</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 April 2010</td><td>11:00:06</td><td>Indian cricket suspends IPL chief</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 April 2010</td><td>05:00:06</td><td>Environmental fears over US spill</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 April 2010</td><td>18:00:06</td><td>Greek talks with IMF 'going well'</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 April 2010</td><td>10:00:06</td><td>Thai PM warns Bangkok protesters</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 April 2010</td><td>01:00:05</td><td>IMF head speaks out on Greek fear</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 April 2010</td><td>19:00:05</td><td>US urges speedy action on Greece</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 April 2010</td><td>15:00:05</td><td>Thai PM rejects protesters' offer</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 April 2010</td><td>14:20:54</td><td>Greek crisis hangs over IMF talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 April 2010</td><td>03:00:05</td><td>G20 hopeful on economic recovery</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 April 2010</td><td>13:00:05</td><td>Greece calls on emergency EU loans</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 April 2010</td><td>12:00:07</td><td>Greece 'to activate EU/IMF loans'</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 April 2010</td><td>09:45:06</td><td>Thai protest stand-off intensifies</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 April 2010</td><td>14:45:04</td><td>Obama pushes case for bank reform</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 April 2010</td><td>06:45:04</td><td>Recriminations over flight chaos</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 April 2010</td><td>01:45:04</td><td>Europe's skies returning to normal</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 April 2010</td><td>00:45:05</td><td>Europe's skies head back to normal</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 April 2010</td><td>11:45:06</td><td>Europe's skies open for business</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 April 2010</td><td>21:45:05</td><td>Chaos persists as flights resume</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 April 2010</td><td>16:45:04</td><td>Half of European flights 'to fly'</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 April 2010</td><td>15:45:14</td><td>Half of Europe flights 'to fly'</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 April 2010</td><td>11:45:11</td><td>Limited flights resume in Europe</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 April 2010</td><td>04:45:05</td><td>Europe starts to resume flights</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 April 2010</td><td>01:45:04</td><td>EU moves to ease curbs on flights</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 April 2010</td><td>19:45:06</td><td>EU moves to ease curbs on flights|Audio slideshow: Mugabe's 30 years</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 April 2010</td><td>18:45:05</td><td>Hopes rise flight chaos may ease|Audio slideshow: Mugabe's 30 years</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 April 2010</td><td>11:45:07</td><td>Airlines condemn 'European mess'|Audio slideshow: Mugabe's 30 years</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 April 2010</td><td>05:45:04</td><td>EU emergency talks on air chaos</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 April 2010</td><td>17:45:47</td><td>Airlines urge flight ban review</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 April 2010</td><td>23:45:49</td><td>Europe flight misery to drag on</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 April 2010</td><td>14:45:07</td><td>Ash deepens Europe travel chaos</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 April 2010</td><td>10:45:11</td><td>Ash shuts major European airports</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 April 2010</td><td>00:45:05</td><td>Air travel 'facing days of chaos'</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>22:15:42</td><td>Europe faces prolonged air chaos</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>18:15:42</td><td>Volcano ash spreads Europe flight chaos</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>13:15:05</td><td>Volcanic ash disrupts N European flights</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>12:15:40</td><td>Volcanic ash halts all UK flights</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>10:15:32</td><td>Volcanic ash disrupts UK flights</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>08:15:39</td><td>China earthquake rescue steps up</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 April 2010</td><td>01:15:07</td><td>China sifts rubble for survivors</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 April 2010</td><td>14:15:46</td><td>Hundreds die in western China quake</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 April 2010</td><td>08:15:48</td><td>Hundreds die in west China quake</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 April 2010</td><td>06:15:42</td><td>Quake kills scores in west China</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 April 2010</td><td>02:15:38</td><td>Nuclear stock security tightened</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 April 2010</td><td>00:15:48</td><td>Summit agrees nuclear protection</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 April 2010</td><td>14:15:53</td><td>Kyrgyz president 'ready to quit'</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 April 2010</td><td>11:15:06</td><td>Polish first lady's body returned home</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 April 2010</td><td>05:15:05</td><td>Stark nuclear warning for summit</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 April 2010</td><td>23:15:05</td><td>'Ukraine vow' at nuclear summit</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 April 2010</td><td>16:15:43</td><td>Thailand PM faces rising pressure</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 April 2010</td><td>15:15:06</td><td>Pressure mounts on Thai premier</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 April 2010</td><td>05:15:05</td><td>Poles to pay tribute to dead president</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 April 2010</td><td>04:15:51</td><td>Poles to pay tribute to Kaczynski</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>16:15:37</td><td>Polish leader's body flown home</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>15:15:06</td><td>Kaczynski body returned to Poland</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>14:15:40</td><td>Polish tributes to President Kaczynski</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>13:15:08</td><td>Poland tribute to dead president</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>12:15:47</td><td>Poland in tribute for president</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>11:15:05</td><td>Poland grieves for dead president</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 April 2010</td><td>02:15:39</td><td>Poland mourns its lost president</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 April 2010</td><td>13:01:46</td><td>Polish president dies in plane crash</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 April 2010</td><td>10:01:41</td><td>Polish president 'in plane crash'</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 April 2010</td><td>09:01:52</td><td>Vatican defends Pope over new row</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 April 2010</td><td>07:01:40</td><td>Vatican backs Pope in letter row</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 April 2010</td><td>22:01:45</td><td>Pope 'letter' reignites abuse row</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 April 2010</td><td>18:01:50</td><td>Kyrgyz president 'fears for life'</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 April 2010</td><td>17:01:45</td><td>Thai protest restores blocked TV</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 April 2010</td><td>11:01:56</td><td>Thai red-shirts storm TV station</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 April 2010</td><td>02:01:51</td><td>Netanyahu cancels US nuclear trip</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>19:01:42</td><td>Kyrgyz president refuses to quit</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>18:31:45</td><td>Labour hit back over tax plan row</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>17:31:35</td><td>Kyrgyz president refuses to quit</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>13:31:41</td><td>US and Russia hail nuclear treaty</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>13:01:49</td><td>US and Russia sign nuclear deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>12:32:30</td><td>US and Russia to sign arms deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 April 2010</td><td>10:32:28</td><td>Kyrgyz opposition seizes control</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 April 2010</td><td>23:31:41</td><td>Kyrgyz opposition claims control</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 April 2010</td><td>15:01:42</td><td>Clashes escalate in Kyrgyz crisis</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 April 2010</td><td>14:01:46</td><td>Kyrgyz protesters storm state TV</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 April 2010</td><td>12:31:39</td><td>'Four killed' in Kyrgyz clashes</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 April 2010</td><td>03:31:41</td><td>Rio de Janeiro floods kill scores</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 April 2010</td><td>23:01:38</td><td>Obama cuts US nuclear arms' use</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 April 2010</td><td>12:31:42</td><td>UK PM confirms election on 6 May</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>23:31:48</td><td>US anger at Pakistan mission raid</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>13:31:37</td><td>Attack on Pakistan US consulate</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>12:01:34</td><td>Pakistani city hit by explosions</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>10:01:40</td><td>Scores rescued from Chinese mine</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>08:01:37</td><td>Dozens rescued from Chinese mine</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>06:31:34</td><td>'Dozens survive' China mine flood</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>06:01:32</td><td>Battle to save '70 China miners'</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 April 2010</td><td>00:31:35</td><td>Chinese miners rescued after week</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 April 2010</td><td>15:31:33</td><td>Top cardinal rejects sex abuse 'gossip'</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 April 2010</td><td>15:01:39</td><td>Cardinal rejects abuse 'gossip'</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 April 2010</td><td>11:31:37</td><td>Pope's preacher sorry for abuse remarks</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 April 2010</td><td>08:31:30</td><td>S African supremacist Terreblanche killed</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 April 2010</td><td>02:31:38</td><td>Eugene Terreblanche beaten to death</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 April 2010</td><td>00:01:32</td><td>Eugene Terreblanche 'beaten to death'</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 April 2010</td><td>22:31:34</td><td>Iraq gunmen kill Sunni villagers</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 April 2010</td><td>17:31:39</td><td>Iraq gunmen 'execute' villagers</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 April 2010</td><td>16:01:37</td><td>Iraq gunmen kill Sunni villagers</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 April 2010</td><td>06:30:59</td><td>Fury at anti-Semitism link in abuse row</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 April 2010</td><td>05:30:51</td><td>Fury at anti-Semitism link to abuse row</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 April 2010</td><td>20:30:59</td><td>Sex abuse furore 'like anti-Semitism'</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 April 2010</td><td>14:31:10</td><td>Obama to step up pressure on Iran</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 April 2010</td><td>11:31:15</td><td>US presses China on nuclear Iran</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 April 2010</td><td>02:30:47</td><td>Multiple Israeli strikes hit Gaza</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 April 2010</td><td>01:30:56</td><td>Israeli air strikes target Gaza</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 April 2010</td><td>00:31:02</td><td>UN envoy denies Afghan poll fraud</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 April 2010</td><td>16:30:54</td><td>UN accused over Afghan polls</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 April 2010</td><td>12:30:53</td><td>Iran takes nuclear case to China</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 April 2010</td><td>11:31:06</td><td>China 'relents on Iran sanctions'</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 April 2010</td><td>01:30:57</td><td>UN Haiti pledges surpass targets</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 March 2010</td><td>19:31:08</td><td>Chechen rebel claims Metro blasts</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 March 2010</td><td>16:30:55</td><td>UN chief supports $4bn Haiti plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 March 2010</td><td>11:42:21</td><td>Twelve die in Dagestan bombings</td></tr>
<tr><td>31 March 2010</td><td>02:10:36</td><td>Serbia offers Srebrenica apology</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 March 2010</td><td>20:15:34</td><td>PM Putin demands bombers caught</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 March 2010</td><td>16:45:35</td><td>Putin wants Moscow bombers caught</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 March 2010</td><td>14:15:41</td><td>Russia mourns Metro bombs victims</td></tr>
<tr><td>30 March 2010</td><td>10:15:36</td><td>Moscow mourns Metro bombs victims</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 March 2010</td><td>23:46:17</td><td>Moscow vows to avenge bomb blasts</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 March 2010</td><td>14:12:59</td><td>Suicide bombings hit Moscow Metro</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 March 2010</td><td>07:45:40</td><td>Moscow Metro explosions kill 37</td></tr>
<tr><td>29 March 2010</td><td>06:45:34</td><td>Deadly explosion on Moscow Metro</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 March 2010</td><td>22:45:37</td><td>Obama hails forces on Afghan trip</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 March 2010</td><td>21:45:39</td><td>Obama hails troops on Afghan trip</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 March 2010</td><td>18:15:42</td><td>Obama on first Afghanistan visit</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 March 2010</td><td>17:15:36</td><td>Face-to-face talks on Thai unrest</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 March 2010</td><td>12:15:44</td><td>Thailand PM meets protest leaders</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 March 2010</td><td>10:45:31</td><td>Thailand PM agrees to negotiate</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 March 2010</td><td>23:15:40</td><td>DR Congo massacre uncovered</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 March 2010</td><td>12:45:28</td><td>Iraq poll winner reaches out to rivals</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 March 2010</td><td>09:15:33</td><td>Iraq PM vows to challenge result</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 March 2010</td><td>06:15:28</td><td>Iraq PM vows to challenge vote</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 March 2010</td><td>18:15:30</td><td>US and Russia cut nuclear arsenals</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 March 2010</td><td>15:45:32</td><td>US and Russia agree nuclear deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 March 2010</td><td>11:45:36</td><td>Vatican attacks media over abuse</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 March 2010</td><td>02:15:31</td><td>Vatican denies sex abuse cover-up</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>17:45:35</td><td>Pope 'failed to act' on sex abuse</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>15:15:33</td><td>Pope faces abuse cover-up query</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>13:15:30</td><td>Merkel stands firm on IMF rescue</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>09:45:32</td><td>Israeli PM hopeful on peace talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>09:15:30</td><td>Israeli PM talks of 'golden' deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>08:45:27</td><td>Israel PM hails 'golden' solution</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>07:15:29</td><td>'No progress' in US-Israeli talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 March 2010</td><td>02:15:32</td><td>Fresh bid to solve US-Israeli row</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 March 2010</td><td>18:45:34</td><td>US-Israel talks fail to solve row</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 March 2010</td><td>16:15:34</td><td>Saudis 'hold dozens of militants'</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 March 2010</td><td>08:45:29</td><td>Netanyahu meets Obama amid row</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 March 2010</td><td>04:45:30</td><td>Netanyahu meets Obama after row</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 March 2010</td><td>23:45:33</td><td>Netanyahu warns of peace talks delay</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 March 2010</td><td>17:15:31</td><td>UK punishes Israel in Dubai killing row</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 March 2010</td><td>11:15:35</td><td>Britain to expel Israeli diplomat</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 March 2010</td><td>08:15:30</td><td>China slams Google censorship move</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 March 2010</td><td>04:15:35</td><td>Israel 'will build in Jerusalem'</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 March 2010</td><td>21:45:39</td><td>Clinton warns Israel on tough choices</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 March 2010</td><td>14:45:34</td><td>Democrats hail US healthcare bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 March 2010</td><td>12:45:32</td><td>US House passes historic health reform</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 March 2010</td><td>04:15:31</td><td>US House passes key health vote</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 March 2010</td><td>18:45:34</td><td>US House set for key health vote</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 March 2010</td><td>14:15:34</td><td>Iraq vote recount calls rejected</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 March 2010</td><td>12:15:30</td><td>UN chief dismay at Gaza suffering</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 March 2010</td><td>10:15:33</td><td>UN chief pledges support for Gaza</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 March 2010</td><td>21:15:31</td><td>Obama in final health vote push</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 March 2010</td><td>12:45:30</td><td>Pope apology for Irish church sex abuse</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 March 2010</td><td>12:15:30</td><td>Pope 'sorry' for Irish church sex abuse</td></tr>
<tr><td>20 March 2010</td><td>11:15:28</td><td>Pope's letter on Irish church abuse due</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 March 2010</td><td>23:15:32</td><td>Obama hails 'historic' health bid</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 March 2010</td><td>10:15:32</td><td>Quartet urges settlement freeze</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 March 2010</td><td>09:15:33</td><td>Moscow hosts key Mid-East talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>19 March 2010</td><td>03:46:04</td><td>Taliban arrests halt UN contacts</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 March 2010</td><td>16:45:32</td><td>New US-Russia nuclear deal 'soon'</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 March 2010</td><td>11:15:29</td><td>EU's foreign chief in Gaza visit</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 March 2010</td><td>07:15:30</td><td>EU's foreign chief to visit Gaza</td></tr>
<tr><td>18 March 2010</td><td>04:45:28</td><td>Obama denies crisis with Israel</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 March 2010</td><td>18:15:34</td><td>Nigeria leader dissolves cabinet</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 March 2010</td><td>13:45:36</td><td>Irish Catholic head sorry for 'cover up'</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 March 2010</td><td>08:15:44</td><td>Thais take blood protest to PM's house</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 March 2010</td><td>07:15:41</td><td>Thais spill blood at PM's house</td></tr>
<tr><td>17 March 2010</td><td>04:45:31</td><td>Thai protests head to PM's house</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 March 2010</td><td>19:45:35</td><td>Clinton affirms US Israel support</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 March 2010</td><td>14:45:54</td><td>US envoy postpones Israel visit</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 March 2010</td><td>12:45:33</td><td>Blood protest against Thai leader</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 March 2010</td><td>09:45:31</td><td>Sri Lanka puts ex-army chief on trial</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 March 2010</td><td>03:15:36</td><td>Sri Lanka trial for ex-army chief</td></tr>
<tr><td>16 March 2010</td><td>00:15:42</td><td>US presses Israel on settler row</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 March 2010</td><td>18:15:38</td><td>Israel-US ties 'at historic low'</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 March 2010</td><td>14:46:10</td><td>Israel-US ties at 'historic low'</td></tr>
<tr><td>15 March 2010</td><td>13:45:47</td><td>Thai PM rejects protest ultimatum</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 March 2010</td><td>17:20:22</td><td>Obama aide stokes US-Israel row</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 March 2010</td><td>13:45:45</td><td>Thai protest sets poll deadline</td></tr>
<tr><td>14 March 2010</td><td>05:15:31</td><td>Huge opposition rally in Thailand</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 March 2010</td><td>19:15:35</td><td>Many killed in Afghan bomb blasts</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 March 2010</td><td>15:46:30</td><td>Karzai U-turn on polling watchdog</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 March 2010</td><td>06:15:39</td><td>EU 'nearing' Greece bail-out deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>13 March 2010</td><td>01:45:35</td><td>Clinton rebuke over Israel homes</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>23:15:39</td><td>Clinton rebuke over Israel homes|The top 100 sites</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>18:15:37</td><td>Bombs kill 45 in Pakistani city|The top 100 sites</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>17:15:34</td><td>Third blast rocks Pakistani city|The top 100 sites</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>13:15:58</td><td>Deadly blasts hit Pakistani city|The top 100 sites</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>12:45:32</td><td>Deadly blasts hit Pakistani city|The top 100 sites on the internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>10:15:40</td><td>Deadly blasts hit Pakistani city</td></tr>
<tr><td>12 March 2010</td><td>05:15:34</td><td>New York agrees 9/11 dust payout</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>16:45:35</td><td>Pinera sworn in as new quake hits</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>13:15:35</td><td>Biden tries to ease Mid-East row</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>11:45:50</td><td>Mid-East peace talks in doubt over housing</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>09:45:31</td><td>Peace talks in doubt over housing</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>09:15:33</td><td>Abbas 'refuses talks with Israel'</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>08:45:52</td><td>Greeks stage fresh general strike</td></tr>
<tr><td>11 March 2010</td><td>00:15:45</td><td>Contractors 'divert Somalia aid'</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 March 2010</td><td>20:15:33</td><td>Scientists to review climate body</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 March 2010</td><td>16:15:33</td><td>Biden steps up pressure on Israel</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 March 2010</td><td>11:15:38</td><td>Iran attacks US over Afghanistan</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 March 2010</td><td>09:15:34</td><td>'Last Bali bomber' killed in Indonesia</td></tr>
<tr><td>10 March 2010</td><td>05:15:29</td><td>Indonesia militant 'was killed'</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 March 2010</td><td>23:15:33</td><td>US attacks East Jerusalem plans</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 March 2010</td><td>18:15:33</td><td>Israel backs East Jerusalem build</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 March 2010</td><td>17:45:53</td><td>Israel backs E Jerusalem building</td></tr>
<tr><td>09 March 2010</td><td>11:15:34</td><td>US eyes chance for Mid-East peace</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 March 2010</td><td>13:15:33</td><td>'Hundreds dead' in Nigeria attack|Connected world</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 March 2010</td><td>06:45:32</td><td>Eleven die in Pakistan explosion</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 March 2010</td><td>03:46:03</td><td>Nigeria head puts forces on alert</td></tr>
<tr><td>08 March 2010</td><td>00:15:37</td><td>'Scores killed' in Nigeria riots</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>13:15:46</td><td>Iraq poll hit by deadly attacks</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>09:45:27</td><td>Bloody start to Iraq's election</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>09:15:31</td><td>Iraqis vote in general election</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>08:45:40</td><td>Iraq PM seeks high vote turnout</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>07:15:32</td><td>Iraqis vote in general election</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>04:45:37</td><td>Iraq PM seeks high vote turnout</td></tr>
<tr><td>07 March 2010</td><td>03:15:29</td><td>Iceland rejects bank payback plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 March 2010</td><td>23:45:54</td><td>Togo president 'wins re-election'</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 March 2010</td><td>10:15:30</td><td>Icelanders vote on payback plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 March 2010</td><td>06:45:27</td><td>US to conduct Blackwater review</td></tr>
<tr><td>06 March 2010</td><td>00:45:38</td><td>US will not adopt 'genocide' bill</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 March 2010</td><td>11:45:54</td><td>Iraq war was 'right', says Brown</td></tr>
<tr><td>05 March 2010</td><td>04:15:34</td><td>Turkish anger at 'genocide' vote</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>22:15:37</td><td>US vote attacks Turkey 'genocide'</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>15:15:36</td><td>Polling stations attacked in Iraq</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>12:45:30</td><td>Four jailed for German bomb plot</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>11:15:29</td><td>Four convicted over German plot</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>08:45:28</td><td>China slows military spending surge</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>08:15:29</td><td>China slows military budget rise</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>07:45:30</td><td>Birth defects 'rise' in Falluja</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>07:15:28</td><td>Birth defects 'rise' in Fallujah</td></tr>
<tr><td>04 March 2010</td><td>06:45:28</td><td>Birth defects 'rise' in Falllujah</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 March 2010</td><td>22:45:33</td><td>Obama urges vote on health reform</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 March 2010</td><td>14:15:31</td><td>Greece backs new austerity plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 March 2010</td><td>10:45:32</td><td>Iraqi city hit by triple bombing</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 March 2010</td><td>10:15:27</td><td>Iraqi suicide bombings 'kill 29'</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 March 2010</td><td>09:45:30</td><td>Iraqi suicide bombings 'kill 27'</td></tr>
<tr><td>03 March 2010</td><td>08:15:28</td><td>Greeks await fresh economic pain</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 March 2010</td><td>19:46:29</td><td>Pleas for calm amid Chile rubble</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 March 2010</td><td>17:46:29</td><td>Chile troops aim to stop looting</td></tr>
<tr><td>02 March 2010</td><td>10:46:13</td><td>Chile struggles to stop looting</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 March 2010</td><td>14:15:39</td><td>Chile troops tackle quake looters</td></tr>
<tr><td>01 March 2010</td><td>02:15:36</td><td>Chile steps up rescue after quake</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 February 2010</td><td>19:45:38</td><td>Chilean quake toll jumps to 708</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 February 2010</td><td>13:15:27</td><td>Chile counts cost as tsunami ebbs</td></tr>
<tr><td>28 February 2010</td><td>03:15:34</td><td>Chile quake 'affects two million'</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 February 2010</td><td>08:45:35</td><td>Massive earthquake strikes Chile</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 February 2010</td><td>02:45:35</td><td>Colombia president fails in third term bid</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 February 2010</td><td>02:15:36</td><td>Uribe fails in Colombia term bid</td></tr>
<tr><td>27 February 2010</td><td>00:15:31</td><td>Fresh charges over Turkey 'plot'</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 February 2010</td><td>15:45:31</td><td>Court seizes $1.4bn of Thaksin fortune</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 February 2010</td><td>15:15:29</td><td>Thai court seizes Thaksin fortune</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 February 2010</td><td>08:15:31</td><td>Suicide attack on Afghan capital</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 February 2010</td><td>06:45:30</td><td>Suicide bombs hit Afghan capital</td></tr>
<tr><td>26 February 2010</td><td>00:15:36</td><td>No breakthrough on US healthcare</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 February 2010</td><td>19:15:40</td><td>US leaders wrangle on healthcare</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 February 2010</td><td>17:15:34</td><td>Turkey seeks to calm 'plot' fears</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 February 2010</td><td>12:45:35</td><td>Turkish leaders in 'plot' summit</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 February 2010</td><td>06:45:33</td><td>India and Pakistan launch talks</td></tr>
<tr><td>25 February 2010</td><td>05:45:29</td><td>Australia anger at Dubai killing</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>22:45:41</td><td>Toyota boss apologies to Congress</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>22:15:53</td><td>Toyota boss apologies for faults</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>21:45:36</td><td>US Congress questions Toyota boss</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>20:45:31</td><td>Toyota boss appears for grilling</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>18:45:51</td><td>Toyota boss arrives for grilling</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>14:45:52</td><td>Nigeria deputy remains in charge</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>12:45:47</td><td>Nigerian president returns home</td></tr>
<tr><td>24 February 2010</td><td>08:45:46</td><td>Nigerian president 'returns home'</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 February 2010</td><td>21:15:31</td><td>Sudan and Darfur rebels sign deal</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 February 2010</td><td>18:15:34</td><td>Boss says Toyota 'grew too fast'</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 February 2010</td><td>08:45:36</td><td>Concern at Karzai poll power grab</td></tr>
<tr><td>23 February 2010</td><td>05:45:32</td><td>Summit 'backs claim on Falklands'</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 February 2010</td><td>16:45:47</td><td>Obama unveils new healthcare plan</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 February 2010</td><td>08:15:38</td><td>Air strike kills Afghan civilians</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 February 2010</td><td>05:45:37</td><td>Lufthansa four-day strike begins</td></tr>
<tr><td>22 February 2010</td><td>05:16:10</td><td>Portugal to mourn Madeira victims</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 February 2010</td><td>18:45:46</td><td>Rescuers search flood-hit Madeira</td></tr>
<tr><td>21 February 2010</td><td>17:45:36</td><td>Aid rushed to flood-hit Madeira</td></tr>
</thead></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-1734763146095325502010-06-05T00:46:00.000-07:002010-06-05T00:47:54.917-07:00What happened to the pocket television?I remember about 20 years ago seeing the first portable televisions.<br />
<br />
But technology has moved on - we now have a range of high performance, low cost, energy efficient devices that enable our mobiles, laptops, netbooks, mp3 players and cameras to host an array of advanced and broad features.<br />
<br />
Google recently announced their interest in approaching television as an amazing advertising opportunity - stating that world-wide more people engage with television than any other channel - including the Internet.<br />
<br />
So where are all the televisons? Cars now have large screen GPS devices, blue tooth capabilities, USB audio interfaces... but no televison. Mobile phones have blue-tooth, wifi, web browsers, cameras, radios, high-resolutions screens...but still no television.<br />
<br />
You see hundreds of people on trains and buses hunched over their mobile/media player watching pre-downloaded or low-resolution, low-bandwidth video online - when they could be watching the world cup live, in relatively high-definition, wherever they they go...<br />
<br />
...so why do mobile/mp3 manufacturers simply not include a dvt digital tuner and provide television capabilities.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4243847235711214836.post-43784316955042969912010-01-26T03:54:00.000-08:002010-01-29T07:04:36.207-08:00Has Java failed?Ok, so of course it hasn't failed. It's a good language. But...<br />
<br />
Where are all the Java applications that are running on all of our disperate operating systems?<br />
Where are all the pure java mobile devices and mobile java applications?<br />
Where are all the embedded Java devices? Digital cameras, VCR's, Microwaves?<br />
<br />
Why do developers prefer to build applications in 'native' languages and port the code, rather than use Java?<br />
<br />
It seems the only place Java is really used is for web applications. Which is curious, because I would argue that the web is the one place that a 'write one, run anywhere' language would be least at home.<br />
<br />
Without turning this into a Java vs. PHP contest - I fail to see why the Java language is particularly suited for Internet applications. Furthermore, I am particularly confused why the Web Development community often chooses Java above a web specific language like PHP.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0