customizenikeshox.com

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

With development of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) browser almost complete, Microsoft announced on Friday that it is time for IE6 users to move away from the antiquated 10-year-old browser. Microsoft has replaced it with three newer versions. On a new website, “The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown”, Microsoft has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade users to stop using IE6 and update to a newer IE. Its goal is to decrease IE6 users to less than one percent.

“[Ten] years ago, a browser was born. Its name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye,” Microsoft says on “The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown”.

Internet Explorer’s market share is slipping. IE’s various versions accounted for 70 percent of the market in 2009; this has dropped to approximately 56 percent today. Mozilla Firefox, its main rival, has been actively increasing its market share while the recently released Google Chrome is also quickly gaining users. PC World’s recent analysis of its own web traffic statistics concluded, “Usually, Internet Explorer is the #2 browser after Firefox, but over the past 30 days it’s been #3, a couple of points behind Safari-and nearly tied with Chrome. It might be a statistical blip. But if it isn’t, and Chrome continues to surge, IE could fall to fourth place.”

Web developers face big problems with IE6. As they design their web pages for the newer browsers with advanced web technology and geared to the newest web core markup language HTML 5, they are forced to accommodate older out-of-date technology to support IE6 users. Also, not mentioned on Microsoft’s “The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown” site, are the numerous security vulnerabilities putting the browser at risk of being hacked. The Internet security firm Secunia.com, has said that as of March 4, 2011, IE6 has 277 vulnerabilities; 39 percent of these are rated “highly critical”. Microsoft says that the latest versions of Internet Explorer provide the user with enhanced protection from these attacks and threats.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 is one of the most successful software products ever as measured by its durability and the massive numbers of people who have used it. IE6 shipped with Windows XP, nearly a decade ago. But it has outlived its usefulness, and Microsoft no longer wants to support it.

Friday, February 5, 2021

On Tuesday, Captain Sir Tom Moore died after suffering from COVID-19 and pneumonia, in a hospital in Bedford, England. Moore had raised nearly £ 33 million for the National Health Service (NHS) last year by walking 100 laps around his garden by his 100th birthday. He was also a World War II veteran who fought in the Burma campaign.

His daughters announced his death saying “the last year of our father’s life was nothing short of remarkable”, adding he was “an incredible father and grandfather, and he will stay in our hearts forever”.

Moore was born in Keighley, in West Yorkshire, England. He joined the British Army in 1939. After leaving the army, he was an instructor in the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington, Dorset. He moved to Bedfordshire in 2007 where his family lived.

In April 2020, he began to walk laps around his garden in an attempt to raise £1000 for the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. His campaign became highly popular, resulting in raising millions of pounds, and broke the Guiness world record for the most raised by an individual doing a charity walk. He also released a duet with singer Michael Ball, which reached number one on the UK charts, making Moore the oldest person to make this achievement. On his birthday, April 30, the British Army made him an honorary colonel; and in July, Elizabeth II knighted him for these achievements.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid his respects, saying Moore was “a hero in the truest sense of the word”, adding “he embodied the triumph of the human spirit”. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said “Britain has lost a hero”. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen would send a private message of condolence to the family of Moore. Flags at buildings such as 10 Downing Street flew at half mast to pay respect.

Moore had previously suffered from skin cancer on his head, and broke his hip in 2018. He said his hospital treatment inspired him to fundraise for the NHS, describing the staff who treated him as “marvellous”. He is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

David S. Touretzky, prominent free speech activist and critic of Scientology, discussed his opinions on the recent Internet backlash against the Church of Scientology in an interview with former Scientologist and Wikinews reporter Nicholas Turnbull. The recent conflict on the Internet between critics of Scientology and the Church has been spurred on in declarations by a nebulous Internet entity using the name Anonymous that the Church of Scientology “will be destroyed”. Anonymous has directed recent protests at Scientology centres across the world, which have attracted significant numbers of individuals supporting the cause. In recent e-mail correspondence with Wikinews, a representative of the Church of Scientology declared that the Church considers the activities of Anonymous to be illegal, and that Anonymous “will be handled and stopped”.

Touretzky, a research professor in artificial intelligence and computational neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University, has been a prominent critic of the Church of Scientology since mid-1995, and has been protesting against Scientology vociferously since then; he has also run websites that publish material that Scientology wishes to keep suppressed from the public eye, such as extracts from Scientology’s formerly-confidential Operating Thetan (OT) materials. Touretzky views the actions of the Church of Scientology as being “a threat to free speech”, and has endured harassment by the Church of Scientology for his activities.

The Church of Scientology continues to suffer damage to its public reputation through increased exposure on the Internet and vocal protests by Scientology critics such as Prof. Touretzky. A recent event that focused intense attention on Scientology’s totalitarian attitude was the leak of an internal Church of Scientology propaganda video to the Internet video sharing site YouTube, in which celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise spoke heavily in Scientology’s jargon and stated that that “we [Scientology] are the authorities” on resolving the difficulties of humanity. The declaration of war by Anonymous followed shortly after this leak, in the form of a video posted to the Internet.

The ongoing dispute, cast by some as Scientology versus the Internet, brought Scientology terms such as “SP” (Suppressive Person, an enemy of Scientology) and “KSW” (Keeping Scientology Working) into general usage by non-Scientologists from the late 1990s onwards; increased attention has been drawn to Scientology by the release of the Cruise video in addition to media coverage. This focus has caused an even greater propagation of these terms across the outside world, as Touretzky comments in the interview.

Wikinews asked Prof. Touretzky about the impact that the activities of Anonymous will have on Scientology, the public relations effect of the Tom Cruise video, the recent departure of individuals from the Church of Scientology’s executive management, the strategies that Anonymous will employ and Touretzky’s experiences of picketing the Church.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Scottish woman who set out before Christmas to purchase a turkey finally made it home on Monday, after being cut off by snow for a month. Kay Ure left the Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage on Cape Wrath, at the very northwest tip of Great Britain, in December. She was heading to Inverness on a shopping trip.

However on her return journey heavy snow and ice prevented her husband, John, from travelling the last 11 miles to pick her up. She was forced to wait a month in a friend’s caravan, before the weather improved and the couple could finally be reunited.

They were separated not just for Christmas and New Year, but also for Mr Ure’s 58th birthday. With no fresh supplies, he was reduced to celebrating with a tin of baked beans. He also ran out of coal, and had to feed the couple’s six springer spaniels on emergency army rations.

“It’s the first time we’ve been separated”, said Mr Ure in December. “We’ve been snowed in here for three weeks before, so we are well used to it and it’s quite nice to get a bit of peace and quiet.”

[edit]

Sunday, December 2, 2007

American heavy metal performer Ozzy Osbourne, who became famous as the lead vocalist for Black Sabbath and later as a solo act, has raised more than US$800,000 for The Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program, founded by his spouse Sharon Osbourne at the Cedars Sinai Hospital, by auctioning off personal items.

A number of the items that he auctioned off over the two day period have been seen on his reality TV show The Osbournes, which featured home life with Sharon, Ozzy and their two children. Amongst some of the higher-priced items were a carved walnut Victorian-style custom built pool table which raised $11,250, a painting from Edourad Drouot which fetched $10,500, a pair of Ozzy’s famous round glasses which raised $5,250 and a dog bed given to Sharon by Elton John which sold for $2,375.

Some more famous items were also amongst the 500 lots offered. Ozzy’s black satin coat, complete with bat-wing cape, raised $3,300 and a hand-painted floral cup used regularly on The Osbournes made $1,625. A bronze plaque of a demon’s head that was regularly seen in its position adorning the front door of their house had been expected to go for $800 to $1,200instead raised $8,750. A wire model of the Eiffel Tower from on the kitchen table sold for $10,000, while skull-covered trainers Ozzy had worn reached $2,625. Bidders came from as far away as Germany to buy what they could from his mansion in Beverly Hills, California.

However, three cars included in the auction failed to attract bidders and did not sell. They were a 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur, estimated at $160,000 to $180,000, a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V sedan estimated at $30,000 to $40,000 and a 1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic 88 Club Coupe previously owned by author Danielle Steel estimated at $40,000 to $50,000. Sharon had earlier said of the cars “We’re not great car people. They really don’t do a lot for us.

Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, which organised the two-day sale, said “It did very well. It raised some good money for a very worthy cause.”

“For a celebrity garage sale, it was pretty spectacular.,” he went on. He also commented on the fact that there was fierce competition for the many artworks included. “We had Ozzy fans bidding against these sophisticated fine art buyers, which you don’t see every day. For the most part the metalheads were outbidding the art crowd.”

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The main agenda was the ongoing crisis near the Russian-Ukrainian border. On Monday, Scholz had visited Kiev, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and showed support to Ukraine against the Russian position.

After Tuesday’s meeting, a joint press conference was held, in which Scholz said, “it is our absolute duty as heads of government that Europe does not see an escalation into war.” When asked about the deployments and the threat of war, Putin said Russia does “not want war in Europe.” He later added Russia is “ready to work further together” and “go down the negotiations track”.

However, Putin called Russia’s claims valid and described the situation in Ukraine’s Donbas region as a ‘genocide’. On Tuesday, the Russian Defence Ministry declared it had begun to pull back some of its troops and called the deployments a ‘military drill’.

The German Chancellor said the withdrawal of some troops was a good sign. On the other hand, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said they wouldn’t accept any claims by Russia until they see it themselves and added “if we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Russia’s response of a diplomatic solution but said it had not seen ‘any sign of de-escalation on the ground’ yet.