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Tuesday, March 22, 2005Launched yesterday with funding for bandwidth and storage donated by Internet Archive, a new website called Ourmedia aspires to serve as a global repository for free content, which donors are encouraged to license for re-use by others.

Started by Internet Archive employee J.D. Lasica and Marc Canter, who founded Macromind, which became Macromedia, Ourmedia has a team of what Lasica refers to as “moderators” that will ensure that the site does not host pornography or copyrighted or defamatory materials. Their “Site rules” note that the moderators will be the “sole arbiters” of what will be hosted on the site.

Lasica and Canter have been working on the site with a cadre of volunteers since they met at a Supernova conference 9 months ago, according to Lasica’s blog. The site was started in the summer of 2004, and announced its official launch on March 21, 2005.

While the server initially hosting Ourmedia was not able to handle the load imposed when publicised on tech news sites such as Slashdot and BoingBoing (reported by ITConversations, among others), it has now been replaced and improved. According to a post on the Ourmedia blog, “The transition to a new dedicated server has been completed, the database configuration has been given an overhaul, and some of the code has been cleaned up.”

The software running Ourmedia is an open source content management system called Bryght, described at Bryght.com as “the Drupal core set of modules plus a set of contributed Drupal modules.” Ourmedia describes their system as being “alpha” quality; they note that because all of the media files on their site are being hosted by the Internet Archive, users will need to register with both sites with the same username and password until the registration systems are unified.

Friday, November 3, 2006

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.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

On Wednesday, various cities in the Indian state of Karnataka observed Karnataka Bandh ^{((en))English language: ?Karnataka closed}, as people protested for central government to sort out the dispute of water share for the Mandovi river, also known as Mahadayi, which has been going on for decades. Bus service in Karnataka’s capital Bangalore was at a complete halt, however, the bandh was not strictly followed in southern parts of Karnataka, including in Mysore.

The 77 kilometer (about 48 mile) river originates in northern Karnataka, and flows through Goa. Almost two thirds of the river’s length is in Goa. Requests for 7.6 billion cubic feet (about 175,000 acre-feet) of river water to be released to Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad and Gadag districts were made by Karnataka government for seventeen years. There were plans for Karnataka to build canals for storing water for those four districts, which are prone to drought, which were stopped by judge JN Panchal in July 2016, asserting the affects on environment.

As a result of bandh, various schools and colleges announced a holiday, and Bangalore University postponed their exams. Deputy Commissioner Ramprasath Manohar said, “Schools and colleges in Ballari district of Karnataka will remain closed in the light of the state-wide bandh called by the pro-Kannada organisations and farmers’ welfare associations”.

Indian Medical Association wore a black band for the support, as the medical services we not interrupted in Banglaore, nor were auto-rickshaw services. Hotels remained open at some places. Movie cinemas and malls were also to stay closed.

Kannada actor Prakash Raj uploaded a video on Twitter saying, “First of all, all political parties must stop politicising it. We Kannadigas have a right over the water that flows past Kalasa Banduri. In a democracy, once a political party comes to power, it is no longer just a political party, but a party that is duty-bound to work for the people it represents. Any party that keeps saying — ‘our party is ruling at the Centre, so we will take the water through political means’ — is telling a blatant lie. This is a pro-people agitation. Please don’t do politics over people’s fundamental rights. My request to all parties — please leave your political ideologies aside, put aside these attempts to beg for votes. We must come together and stand together to put pressure for our rightful share in the water. Let’s agitate and ensure our rights are given to us.”

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) claimed the timing of the bandh was a political ploy to distract from party president Amit Shah’s scheduled rally on the same day in Mysore.

Vatal Nagaraj, who heads the pro-Kannada umbrella group Kannada Okoota which called the bandh, thanked public and private organisations for their observance of the bandh and claimed it was “total” across Karnataka. He said he visited different parts of the city Thursday morning.

Speaking to Press Trust of India, Deryk Natto, the managing director of Goa’s state bus service Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited, said, “The services to Karnataka have been suspended for a day due to the strike called by them. The services will resume once the strike is called off”. 23 buses bound to Karnataka were suspended.

Due to the strikes, traffic in Bangalore was lesser than usual. Unlike the case with buses, Namma Metro service in Bengaluru was functioning. A spokesperson of the metro service said, “If and only if there is a hindrance to safety of the passengers, we will inform the police and stop services.” Police arrested protestors at the KSR Bangalore Railway station who attempted to disrupt the railway facilities. 15000 police officials were assigned for security measures in Bangalore alone.

In Mysore, a number of shops were open at 10:30 AM, and there was usual traffic. Pharmaceutical shops remained open, however, some shops were closed. Protesters forced some shops to close, but classes in The National Institute of Engineering continued. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappafew said a few days ago, “We fully support the Mahadayi project. There is no need for a bandh. Bandh is only needed in the areas where people are suffering.”

A person from Mangalore told Wikinews there was no effect of bandh in Mangalore, and some restaurants and hotels had posters, which roughly translate, “We feel sorry that you do not have water. But stop hurting our livelihood by organisining these bandhs” ^{((kn))Kannada language: ?????? ??????? ???? ??????. ????? ??? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ????????! ? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??????????}“.

A bandh is scheduled on February 4, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to address a BJP rally in Bangalore.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Despite promises he would testify in his own corruption trial, lawyers for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich rested their case yesterday morning. His defense did not call a single witness, and apparently feels the prosecution has not proven their case. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.

Speculation that Blagojevich would not testify began on Tuesday, when U.S. District Judge James Zagel adjourned 90 minutes early after a private meeting with the lawyers involved. Robert Blagojevich, the former governor’s brother and co-defendant in the case, had already testified on his own behalf. Blagojevich’s defense team apparently considered resting their case on Tuesday, but Zagel gave them an extra day to consider their decision more carefully.

When Zagel directly asked the former governor about his decision, he replied that he understood what he was doing. “It is my decision, under the advice of my attorneys. I make the decision fully and voluntarily,” he said.

Blagojevich is charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that had been vacated by Barack Obama when he won the 2008 presidential election, among other crimes. Robert Blagojevich testified that his brother was trying to manipulate the political situation to his advantage, but emphasized that he engaged in nothing illegal. According to some sources, Blagojevich was interested in leading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sunday, February 13, 2005Cordon-bleu chef Homaru Cantu has announced a technique which allows him to create dishes made of edible, inkjet printed paper. Cantu, a head chef at the Moto restaurant in Chicago, has modified an ink-jet printer with the help of computer specialists from local firm Deep Labs and loaded it with cartridges containing concoctions of fruit and vegetables. Using this modified printer Cantu then prints onto edible sheets of soybean and potato starch tasty images downloaded from the web.

“You can make an ink-jet printer do just about anything,” says Cantu. Once the items have been printed they are dipped into a powder made of soy sauce, sugar and vegetables before then being further processed by frying, freezing, or baking them.

Cantu has applied the technique to the printing of menus so that diners can further flavor their soups by ripping up the menu and adding it to the dish.

He hopes that his idea may find its way into popular media. “Just imagine going through a magazine and looking at an ad for pizza. You wonder what it tastes like, so you rip a page out and eat it,” says the chef who is working at perfecting the flavors and has applied for a patent on the technique.

Cantu also has plans for further culinary innovations. He plans to cook steak using a handheld laser that will sear the inside of the steak well done whilst leaving the outside medium rare. He also plans to use the laser to produce bread baked from the inside out thus producing a crust on the inside.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Researchers have found that, in terms of survival, assessing the status of a HIV/AIDS patient by clinical examination is almost as reliable as laboratory blood testing during their course of treatment.

Poor access to laboratory tests should therefore not be a barrier to rolling out antiretroviral (ARV) drug programmes for HIV in developing countries, they say.

The findings were published in The Lancet recently.

Patients on first-line ARVs in the developed world are monitored regularly for the amount of HIV circulating in their blood. When this falls below a certain level, treatment switches to second-line ARVs.

But because of limited access to laboratory tests, the WHO recommends that people in the developing world are monitored for clinical signs of HIV progression, such as bacterial infection in the mouth and certain types of cancer.

Monitoring of CD4 cell levels — an indicator of the health of a patient’s immune system — is also used when laboratory testing is available. Until now, little was known about the effectiveness of this strategy.

The researchers used a computer model to simulate the course of HIV infection and estimate the impact on survival of monitoring by viral load, CD4 count or clinical observation.

The model was initially developed for wealthy countries, but was adapted for lower-income countries by taking into account factors such as interruptions in drug supply.

It predicts that after five years, 83 per cent of patients monitored by viral load, 82 per cent of patients monitored by CD4 cell count, and 82 per cent of patients monitored by clinical examination alone, would have survived. This decreases to 67, 64 and 64 per cent, respectively, after 20 years.

Andrew Phillips, professor of epidemiology at the UK-based Royal Free & University College Medical School and lead author of the study, says the findings shouldn’t dissuade people from relying on viral-load monitoring.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to inhibit the roll-out of viral-load monitoring and the development of cheap and robust tests that don’t rely heavily on infrastructure or highly skilled laboratory staff,” he told SciDev.Net.

But, he says, that shouldn’t be done at the cost of getting ARVs to everyone who needs them.

“The issue of whether to use viral-load monitoring or not pales into insignificance when dealing with whether you’ve actually got everyone who needs ARVs on therapy. Having drugs without viral-load monitoring is a lot better than not having drugs.”

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

In an investigation reported on first by Wikinews, Wikileaks today revealed another chapter in the story of the Standard Operations Procedure (SOP) manual for the Camp Delta facility at Guantanamo Bay. The latest documents they have received are the details of the 2004 copy of the manual signed off by Major General Geoffrey D. Miller of the U.S. Southern Command. This is following on from the earlier leaking of the 2003 version. Wikileaks passed this document to people they consider experts in the field to carry out an analysis trying to validate it. Following this, they set out to assess what had changed between 2003 and 2004; including attempts to link publicly known incidents with changes to the manual.

Wikinews obtained the document and did an in-depth analysis. The American Civil Liberties Union had previously made a request to view and obtain copies of the same document, but was denied access to them.

One of the first notable changes to the document relates to the detainees themselves. Previously they read the camp rules during admission processing. Rules are now posted around the camp in detainees’ languages. The English version of the rules is as follows:

Of concern to groups such as Amnesty International who campaign for the camp’s closure, or Human Rights Watch concerned about prisoner handling under the prisoner of war aspects of the Geneva Convention, is the fact that policy for newly admitted detainees still allows for up to 4 weeks where access to the detainee by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) may be denied. In addition, guards are not to allow ICRC staff to pass mail to detainees.

A new process has been formed which allows guards to determine whether or not a detainee receives awards, or is punished. The form is called a GTMO Form 508-1 (pictured to the right). According to the manual, the form “is used to determine which rewards the detainee will lose or gain,” but “special rewards” can also be earned, outside of the process. One special reward is time allowed outside. Another special reward is a roll of toilet paper, but the detainee cannot share it with others. Doing so will result in “punishment” and confiscation of the roll. If the detainee already has a roll of toilet paper, he is not allowed to have another.

“Guards need to ensure that the detainee doesn’t receive additional toilet paper when the detainee already has it. The amount given to the detainee will be the same amount as normally distributed to the detainee,” states the manual.

No matter how bad a detainee may act, “haircuts will never be used as punitive action” against them, but they can have hair removed for health reasons. They can, however, be segregated from other detainees.

“If a detainee has committed an offense that requires segregation time, even if a segregation cell is not available, the detainee will receive a shave and a haircut for hygiene and medical reasons. If the detainee is IRFed, the haircut and shave will follow the decontamination process,” adds the manual. Barbers are also part of cell searches.

Despite these changes, a great deal of effort has gone into ensuring the furore over detainee abuse does not recur. Rules governing the use of pepper spray (Oleoresin Capsicum, or OC) appear at an earlier point in the manual with considerable expansion. Infractions such as spitting, throwing water at, or attempting to urinate on guards appear as explicitly listed cases where pepper spray may not be used. Extensive decontamination procedures are included in the document, including immediately calling for a medical check on any detainee exposed to pepper spray. This was not previously present.

As a counter to the clearer instructions on use of pepper spray, Wikileaks asserts that many of the stricter rules for guards (referred to as Military Police or MPs in the 2003 manual) aim to reduce fraternisation that may improve detainee morale and adversely influence any interrogation process. Guards are informed in the manual not to take personal mail and parcels within the detention blocks or at any other duty stations. All electronic devices except issued materiel are prohibited, and guards may face disciplinary action should they keep detainees apprised of current affairs or discuss issues in their personal lives.

Additional restrictions on the detainees’ chaplain are included in the revised document. Wikileaks speculated that many of these changes might have stemmed from the widely publicised case of James Yee. Captain Yee, a West Point graduate, served at the Guantanamo Bay base as a Muslim chaplain to the detainees and received two Distinguished Service medals for his work. Following discovery of a list of detainees and interrogators by U.S. Customs in Florida Yee was charged with sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and failure to obey a general order. Eventually all charges were dropped with national security concerns being raised should evidence be released.

The most notable changes surrounding the role of the chaplain include its removal as a permanent position on the facility’s Library Working group and its exclusion from the decision process on appropriate detainee reading material. Wikileaks contacted lawyers representing detainees in the camp to perform their own analysis. Their opinion of the changes were that the library operation had been considerably tightened up. Duplicate books are required for the individual four camps to prevent covert use of books to communicate between camps. Periodicals, dictionaries, language instruction books, technology or medical update information, and geography were additions to the prohibited material. Instructions indicate such books must be returned to the source or donor.

The revised SOP manual makes considerable progress on documenting procedures, even those that are remote possibilities. A lengthy addition details rules to follow in the event of an escape or escape attempt. Laced throughout this procedure is an emphasis on having any such incident fully documented and – wherever possible – filmed. The procedure is explicit in how to recapture an escaped detainee with minimal use of force. One additional procedure covers the admission of ambulances to the main base area. A detailed security protocol to ensure only expected and authorised traffic gains access is included, as is a procedure streamlined to ensure the ambulance arrives on the scene as quickly as possible.

Unchanged from the 2003 manual is the set menu of four ready-to-eat meals (Meal, Ready-to-Eat or MRE) issued to detainees. However, additional steps are to be taken for “MRE Sanitization”; supply personnel must remove anything that can damage waste disposal systems— presumably a military term for toilets. Under normal camp conditions, detainees should be fed hot meals as opposed to MREs, but no details on the variety of menu are included.

Wikinews attempted to get feedback on this. US Southern Command passed a query on to Rick Haupt (Commander, U.S. Navy Director of Public Affairs, Joint Task Force at Guantanamo) who responded that “questions were forwarded along with a request to authenticate the leaked document; a response is pending.” At this time no response to emails has been received from the ICRC or Human Rights Watch.

The Pentagon has requested that the document be removed from Wikileaks because “information with the FOUO (For Official Use Only) label is not approved for release to the public.” They then state that the document can be “made available through a Freedom Of Information Act request through official channels.”