Mozilla will relese Firefox OS

If you are experiencing fatigue after being in a closed proprietary web ecosystem - like that of Apple’s iOS or Microsoft’s Windows 8 - then the announcement from Mozilla earlier this week could be of interest to you. 

Advocates of open web standards had much to cheer at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the announcement of the first commercial build of the Firefox OS open mobile ecosystem. The first wave of Firefox OS devices are expected to be available worldwide in the coming months. The open web device initiative has already found support with key telecom operators around the world. 

A press release issued by Mozilla on the launch of Firefox OS on February 24 read: “Firefox OS smartphones are the first to be built entirely to open Web standards, enabling every feature to be developed as an HTML5 application. Web apps access every underlying capability of the device, bypassing the typical hindrances of HTML5 on mobile to deliver substantial performance. The platform’s flexibility allows carriers to easily tailor the interface and develop localised services that match the unique needs of their customer base.”

Mozilla has said it was working with Alcatel (TCL), LG and ZTE to build the first Firefox OS devices, with Huawei to follow later in the year, all powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. 

“Firefox OS brings the freedom and unbounded innovation of the open Web to mobile users everywhere,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla. “With the support of our vibrant community and dedicated partners, our goal is to level the playing field and usher in an explosion of content and services that will meet the diverse needs of the next two billion people online.”

85th OSCAR WINNER LIST

BEST PICTURE
"Argo"

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln"

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained"

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee for "Life of Pi"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Argo"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Django Unchained"

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Brave"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Amour"

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall" (Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Mychael Danna for "Life of Pi"

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
"Lincoln"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Life of Pi"

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
"Searching for Sugar Man"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"Life of Pi"

BEST MAKEUP
"Les Miserables"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Anna Karenina"

BEST FILM EDITING
"Argo"

BEST SOUND EDITING
"Skyfall"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

BEST SOUND MIXING
"Les Miserables"

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"Paperman"

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Curfew"

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
"Inocente"

Multi-car crash during the final lap of the NASCAR, 32 Fans also Injured

  You Tube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8gB3e8CQog 

A fiery last-lap crash at the Daytona International Speedway today sent chunks of debris flying into the stands, injuring at least 28 spectators, who were seen being carried away from the stands on stretchers. 

At least 14 of the injured were transported to hospitals and more than a dozen others were treated at the speedway, Daytona president Joie Chitwood III. All the drivers involved in the crash have been treated and released, Chitwood said. 

ESPN reported that one of the spectators taken to the hospital was on the way to surgery with head trauma.

The 12-car crash happened moments before the end of the Nationwide race, and on the eve of the Daytona 500, one of NASCAR's biggest events. 

The crash was apparently triggered when driver Regan Smith's car, which was being tailed by Brad Keselowski on his back bumper, spun to the right and shot up the track. Smith had been in the lead and said after the crash he had been trying to throw a "block."

Rookie Kyle Larson's car slammed into the wall that separates the track from the grandstands, causing his No. 32 car to go airborne and erupt in flames. 

When a haze of smoke cleared and Larson's car came to a stop, he jumped out uninjured. 

His engine and one of his wheels were sitting in a walkway of the grandstand. 

"I was getting pushed from behind," Larson told ESPN. "Before I could react, it was too late." 

Tony Stewart pulled out the win, but in victory lane, what would have been a celebratory mood was tempered by concern for the injured fans. 

"We've always known this is a dangerous sport," Stewart said. "But it's hard when the fans get caught up in it."

Repairs are under way on the fence where the crash happened and are expected to be completed before the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Chitwood said. 

He told reporters NASCAR does not anticipate having to move any of their fans for the Daytona 500 and expects all seats will be filled.

The meteor which closely missed hit to the Russian city of Chelyabinsk

a dashboard camera takes,the meteor streaks through the sky over Chelyabinsk

The meteor which closely missed the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on Friday is likely to go down in history as the largest celestial body to have hit the Earth over the past hundred years. 

NASA scientists said the object was a tiny asteroid that released 300 to 500 kilotons of energy when it exploded, which is roughly equivalent to 20 atomic bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This would make the Chelyabinsk meteor the largest since 1908 when a meteor hit Tunguska in Siberia, levelling an estimated 80 million trees. The energy of the Tunguska blast is estimated to have been up to 50 megatons. 

“It was something like Tunguska – a 60-metre cosmic body, which fell into the Tunguska taiga in 1908,” said Dr. Oleg Malkov of the Russian Science Academy Institute of Astronomy. 

Scientists believe the Chelyabinsk meteor was about 17 metres across and weighed 10,000 tons. Shock waves from its explosion over Chelyabinsk wounded 1,200 people and shattered doors and windows in 3,724 apartment houses, 671 schools and 235 hospitals and outpatient clinics. What saved the city was that the explosion occurred 30 to 50 km above the ground. 

Chelyabinsk governor Mikhail Yurevich said it was a very close brush for the region with a population of 3.5 million people. 

“I think yesterday was a second birthday for our region and its residents,” he said on Saturday after inspecting the damage. “Had the meteor been a little bigger, it would have caused a real catastrophe.” 

Meanwhile scientists are excited at the prospects the Chelyabinsk meteor offers for a deeper insight into the solar system. 

It was the biggest celestial body ever observed on its flight through the atmosphere and there was a good chance of finding its fragments before they get contaminated by exposure to the elements. 

Divers on Saturday searched the bottom of frozen Lake Chebarkul about 80 km from Chelyubinsk where a chunk of the meteor is believed to have plunged, but found nothing. 

Scientists said the Chelyabinsk meteor's close miss should serve a wake-up call for the international community to set up a system for monitoring meteors of similar size and providing advance warnings to the population. 

“Today we can spot about 10 percent of such objects as the Chelyabinsk meteor in the solar system,” said Dr. Malkov. “Ninety percent go undetected and some of them may crush on Earth any time.” 

Politicians backed calls for greater international effort to combat cosmic threats. 

“Instead of building a European missile defence system, the United States should join us and China in creating the AADS – the Anti-Asteroid Defence System,” said Alexei Pushkov, head of the International Committee of the State Dume, the lower house of the Russian Parliament.

Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian wins doubles debut at Brazil Open

Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian in Brazin Open

Rafael Nadal won his doubles opener on 12 Jan 2013 at the Brazil Open, his second tournament after a long injury layoff. 

Nadal teamed up with David Nalbandian of Argentina to beat Spaniards Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 11-9. 

Earlier, Fifth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci beat fellow-Brazilian Guilherme Clezar 7-6 (4), 5-7, 7-6 (1) on Tuesday in the first round of the singles. 

In other first-round matches at the clay-court event, Argentina’s Guido Pella topped sixth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-1, and eighth-seeded Albert Ramos beat Spanish compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 7-5. 

Nadal and Nalbandian saved a few match points and eventually closed out their match in 1 hour, 19 minutes. 

Nadal played in Chile last week for the first time after a seven-month absence with a left-knee injury, losing the singles and doubles final at the VTR Open in Vina Del Mar. He played doubles in Chile with Juan Monaco. 

Nadal’s first singles match at Sao Paulo is Thursday. 

Nadal, an 11-time Grand Slam winner, will play the Acapulco Open in Mexico later this month.

Wrestling on the way out in Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) leaders on Tuesday dropped wrestling from the Olympic programme, a surprise decision that removes one of the oldest Olympic sports from the 2020 Games. 

The IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon the event considered most at risk and remove wrestling instead from its list of 25 ‘core sports.’ 

The IOC board acted after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Eliminating one sport allows the IOC to add a new sport to the program later this year. 

Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. 

“This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It’s not a case of what’s wrong with wrestling; it is what’s right with the 25 core sports.” 

Secret ballot decision

Adams said the decision was made by secret ballot over several rounds, with members voting each time on which sport should not be included in the core group. The figures were not disclosed. IOC President Jacques Rogge did not vote. 

Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year’s London Olympics. Women’s wrestling was added to the Olympics at the 2004 Athens Games. 

Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020. 

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC session, or general assembly, in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It is extremely unlikely that wrestling would be voted back in so soon after being removed by the executive board.

“Today’s decision is not final,” Adams said. “The session is sovereign and the session will make the final decision.”

The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

In-depth analysis

The IOC program commission report analysed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors. 

Previously considered under the closest scrutiny was modern pentathlon, which has been on the Olympic program since the 1912 Stockholm Games. It was created by French baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement. 

Modern pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting, the five skills required of a 19th century cavalry officer. The sport’s governing body, the UIPM, has been lobbying hard to protect its Olympic status, and the efforts apparently paid off. 

UIPM President Klaus Schormann had considered travelling from Germany to Lausanne for the decision, but decided to stay away. 

“The Olympic movement always needs history,” Schormann said, ahead of the IOC decision. “You cannot just say we look only at the future. You can have a future when you are stable on the basic part of history. 

We are continuing to develop, to renovate, to be innovative and creative. We are very proud of what we achieved so far and want to deliver this as well for the next generations in 2020.”

Nadal, he returned from injury with a win and a warning to his rivals.

Former world number one Rafael Nadal had been out of the tennis tour for seven months, but he returned from injury with a win and a warning to his rivals.

“I’m only a year older than (Novak) Djokovic and (Andy) Murray. Maybe it’s not time to bury me yet,” Nadal said in an interview with L’Equipe.

“I have not forgotten how to play tennis. I think I can reach the level I used to have.”

On Wednesday Nadal returned to competitive tennis with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Argentine Federico Delbonis on clay in the Chilean seaside town of Vina del Mar.

“I felt good, very happy to play a singles tournament again. It was a very important and very beautiful afternoon for me,” Nadal said.

“After seven months the first match is always very tough. At the beginning it was hard, Federico played at a high level, made me run a lot. But I’m happy because my knee stood it well,” he said.

 

“I need time, I need days. The most important thing for me nowadays is to spend as many hours as possible on court,” Nadal said.

The tournament is grateful to have a rare top player, and the capacity crowd give him their wholehearted support. Nadal obliges in full colour — in orange shoes and a purple shirt — and he admits spectators are making him feel “like a Chilean” with their cheer.

15th-century English monarch "Richard III" skeleton found underneath a council car park

The 500-year-old mystery surrounding the remains of Richard III, the controversial 15th-century English monarch portrayed by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked tyrant, has been finally solved with archaeologists confirming that a battle-scarred skeleton found underneath a council car park in Leicester was his. 

Richard III

 “Beyond reasonable doubt it’s Richard,” Richard Buckley from the University of Leicester, who had led a team of researchers, declared on Monday, bringing down the curtains on a subject that had intrigued generations of Britons. 

Leicester University described it as “one of the most ambitious archaeological projects ever attempted”. “Richard III, the last Plantaganet King of England, has been found,” said its deputy registrar, Richard Taylor. 

The Richard III Society, which believes the monarch had been unfairly reviled by historians, said the discovery of his final resting place would “spark a lot more interest” and “hopefully people will have more open mind toward Richard”. 

Until now, all that was known was that the king was buried in an unmarked grave in the church of Greyfriars in the centre of Leicester following his brutal death in battle in 1485 at the age of 32, after only two years on the throne that he had been accused of usurping.

Burial site of Richard III (now car parking)

But after the church was demolished in the 16th century the exact location of where he was buried became uncertain, triggering the search for the “lost king”. Then, in a dramatic breakthrough in August last year, the excavation of the car park led archaeologists to the buildings connected to the church. And within days they were looking at “a battle-scarred skeleton with spinal curvature”.

The skeleton was in good condition with its feet missing. Its hands were crossed over the front of the pelvis and there was no evidence of a coffin or shroud found with it, media reports said.

“The analysis of the skeleton proved that it was an adult male but was an unusually slender, almost feminine, build for a man. Taken as a whole the skeletal evidence provides a highly convincing case for identification as Richard III,” said Dr. Jo Appleby, an osteoarchaeologist.

 

Researchers said the bones were subjected to “rigorous academic study” and carbon dated to a period from 1455-1540. The remains were compared with, and found to match a 17th-generation descendant of Richard’s sister.