Fukushima leak: Japan government 'to take measures'

Experts say it will be years before problems at the plant can be fully contained

 

Japan's prime minister pledged government action on the Fukushima clean-up, as radioactive water leaks from the nuclear plant. 

On Wednesday, a government official said up to 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water may be flowing into the sea every day.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government would take "firm measures" to contain the leak.

One proposal being considered is to freeze the ground around the plant.

The plant was badly damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. It has been hit by a spate of water leaks and power failures in recent months.

"Rather than relying on [plant operator] Tokyo Electric, the government will take measures," Mr Abe told reporters on Wednesday.

"This is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed."

Penn Bowers, a research analyst at CLSA Asia Pacific in Tokyo, told the BBC that the government appeared to be set to take a bigger role in the Tepco clean-up.

"[The government has] invested capital in the company to date but not taken any direct operational steps at the facility until now," he said.

'Frozen wall' 

Contaminated water may have been leaking from the plant into the sea ever since the 2011 nuclear disaster, an official at Japan's energy ministry said.

The government believed that up to 300 tonnes of radioactive water could be leaking into the sea on a daily basis, the official added.

However, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) told the BBC that the figure was only a guess, and that it was not clear how much water flowing into the sea was contaminated with radiation.

The contaminated water is thought to have come from the 400 tonnes of groundwater pumped into the plant every day to cool the reactors, after cooling systems were knocked out by the tsunami.

The government is discussing proposals to build a wall of frozen ground around the reactor buildings to prevent further leaks. Reports suggest this could cost up to 40bn yen ($400m; £260m).

 Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23602362#TWEET849051

Deadly shootings at US army base

A US army major has opened fire on fellow soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, killing 11 people and 31, officials say.

Base commander Lt Gen Bob Cone said the shooter had been killed in the incident and two suspects arrested. All three were US soldiers.

Lt Gen Cone said the motive for the shooting was not known. One of the dead was a policeman, others were soldiers.

President Barack Obama described it as "a horrific outburst of violence".

US officials identified the shooter as Major Malik Nidal Hasan

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, named the gunman as Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

He was reportedly a military psychiatrist in his late 30s or early 40s and due to be sent on a mission to Iraq.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, President Obama said: "It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil."

He extended his condolences to the families of the victims, adding: "We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident."

FORT HOOD
Largest US base in the world
Home to about 40,000 personnel
Built in 1942
Focus for anti-war protesters
Includes two museums and a lake

Mr Obama said the White House was working with the Pentagon, FBI and Department of Homeland Security to make sure Fort Hood was secure.

Fort Hood, near the town of Killeen, is the largest US base in the world.

Home to about 40,000 US troops, the base lies between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (100 km) from each city.

Lt Gen Cone said the shooting had begun at about 1330 (1930 GMT) at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last-minute medical check-ups.

He said the shooter, who had two handguns, had opened fire and "due to the quick response of the police forces, was killed".

President Obama: "A number of American soldiers have been killed...in a horrific outburst of violence"

Two more suspects were apprehended in an adjacent facility, he said, adding that some eyewitness accounts suggested there might have been more than one shooter.

A serviceman stationed at Fort Hood who asked to remain anonymous told the BBC: "I heard the emergency announcement over the speakers outside and saw people rushing to get indoors."


Map showing Texas

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says units at Fort Hood are among those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some will have returned from there.

The base has a centre that deals with combat stress, our correspondent adds.

Hilary Shine, of the Killeen Fire Department told the BBC's News Channel Fort Hood was like a small city.

"It has schools, a hospital, a convenience store even. And it has a large daytime population - including civilians working on the base - with as many as 80,000 in this area during the daytime."

Local congressman John Carter, speaking to NBC News, said gunfire had erupted half an hour before a graduation ceremony was due to begin.

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said in a statement: "I am shocked and saddened by today's outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others.

"My heart goes out to their loved ones."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8345713.stm

Cannabis law change 'illogical'

The reclassification of cannabis as a Class B drug has come into effect in England amid complaints by magistrates the new laws are "illogical".

The government said it went against its advisors to upgrade the drug because of worries of its affect on mental health.

Magistrates welcomed the reclassification but said planned fines for possessing small amounts undermined the more serious classification.

They said it sent the signal cannabis is not as bad as other Class B drugs.

Plans to introduce a "three strikes" system for cannabis possession start with a warning, then an £80 spot fine for a second offence.

Only when a third offence is committed, will the person be liable to arrest and prosecution.

Penalties for drug offences

The spot fine proposal is due for further consultation after magistrates expressed concerns about taking offences away from the courts system.

The Magistrates' Association argued that some of the offences were too serious to be dealt with out of court and that penalty payment rates were low.

The fines are to be debated in the Lords on Monday and are expected to come into force on Wednesday.

Currently, police can only warn or prosecute people caught in possession of cannabis.

The maximum prison term for possessing cannabis rises from two to five years with its reclassification.

Home Office minister Alan Campbell said: "Cannabis is a harmful drug and while fewer people are taking it than before, it poses a real risk to the health of those who do use it."

He added: "We are reclassifying cannabis to protect the public and future generations."

But John Fassenfelt, deputy chair of the Magistrates' Association, said the fine system would send out mixed messages.

"What is that telling the youngster on the street?" he said.

"Is it telling them well, you can have cannabis, it's not so serious as other Class B drugs.

"It's a dual justice system. If you smoke or take another Class B drug you'll be brought to court, if you take cannabis you'll be given a fine. Where's the justice in that?"

A £2.2m TV, radio and internet campaign will launch next month to warn young people about the dangers of using the drug.

'Three times stronger'


Home Secretary Jacqui Smith decided to reclassify cannabis despite an Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' review - commissioned by Gordon Brown - saying it should remain Class C.

Ms Smith said stronger "skunk" varieties account for 80% of the cannabis seized on the streets, and that the drug is nearly three times stronger than in 1995.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The move to Class B has got nothing to do with public health and education and everything to do with posturing on penalties.

"This farce would have been avoided had ministers heeded the advice of the experts on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs."

The advisory council's report, Cannabis: Classification and Public Health, described the drug as a "significant public health issue".

But it said it should still remain a Class C drug, saying the risks were not as serious as those of Class B substances such as amphetamines and barbiturates.

Class C includes substances such as tranquilisers, some painkillers, GHB (so-called "liquid ecstasy") and ketamine. Possession of Class C drugs is treated largely as a non-arrestable offence.

The Conservatives have said the government's reversal of its earlier decision showed the downgrading of cannabis had been a mistake.

PENALTIES FOR DRUG DEALING AND POSSESSION

Drug class Type of drug Possession Dealing
Class A Ecstasy, LSD, heroin, cocaine, crack, magic mushrooms, amphetamines (if prepared for injection). Up to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to life in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
Class B Cannabis, amphetamines, Methylphenidate (Ritalin), Pholcodine. Up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
Class C Tranquilisers, some painkillers, Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Ketamine. Up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7850342.stm

Repossession 'is mental threat'

The fallout from the economic downturn could be a significant threat to mental health, according to a survey.

House repossession was rated as the event most likely to cause mental health problems, ahead of redundancy, or finding out about infertility.


Charity Rethink called for action to prevent a "mental health disaster".

The survey was published as a UN report showed England spends more of its health budget on mental health care than any other European country.

Rethink's director of public affairs Paul Corry said: "I wouldn't be surprised if we see a rise in the number of people going to their doctor because of mental health problems in the coming months.

"Even for people lucky enough to hang on to their home, the stress and worry of arrears building up can be enough to harm your mental health - this survey shows it worries millions of us."

He said that people who already had mental health problems were likely to be treated less well by their lenders, and did not have a "safety net" to protect them.

He said: "There's an urgent need to do something to prevent a mental health disaster."

Another mental health charity agrees with that assessment - Mind, which is launching its own £16m initiative to link exercise to better mental health, and to reduce stigma, released its own report earlier this year warning about the dangers of debt.

High ranking

The survey of 2,000 people was released to mark World Mental Health day.

The World Health Organisation report contained a far cheerier message about the services in place to tackle the UK's mental health problems.

It compared spending on mental health in European countries, and found England and Wales spent 13.8% of its health budget on mental health - the highest level in Europe.

Scotland spent 9.8%, according to the report, and in the UK as a whole, the numbers of psychiatrists per 100,000 people was found to be above the European average.

More detained

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said he was "delighted" by the report, citing a huge rise in investment as the reason for the UK's present position, and said that the focus was now on community-based teams to treat patients.

"The pernicious concept of the asylum is over, but our commitment to improving services further is undiminished," he said.

However, a report in this week British Medical Journal suggested that, over the past 10 years, the use of inpatient mental hospitals has increased, rather than lessened.

Dr Patrick Keown, a Newcastle-based psychiatrist, calculated that the number of patients "sectioned" under the Mental Health Act increased by a fifth between 1996 and 2006.

At the same time, the number of psychiatric beds in England fell.

A spokesman for the charity Sane said: "Improvements in community care are supposed to reduce the need for compulsory admission when someone reaches crisis point - yet precisely the opposite appears to have happened.

"We urgently need to find out why this is the case."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7662119.stm

Surprise of Tanzania's albino MP

Tanzania's first albino MP has told the BBC of her surprise at being nominated by the president - and her determination to fight the discrimination that she and other people with albinism suffer.

Twenty people with albinism have been murdered in the past year in Tanzania, where there is a widespread belief that the condition is the result of a curse.

But a crackdown on the witchdoctors who encourage the killing of people with albinism was recently announced - and as part of this, 48-year-old Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer was appointed.

Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer (right) is a former airline clerk

"It was something very great for me - I didn't expect it," Ms Kway-Geer told BBC World Service's Outlook programme.

"I think the president chose me because he believed in me - I'm a very hard-working woman.

"The president chose me at this time, when albinos are being killed and abused."

The BBC's Vicky Ntetema in Dar-es-Salaam said that people were "amazed" when the president made the surprise announcement of Ms Kway-Geer's appointment.



'Zeru'

Instead of having dark skin and black hair, people with albinism are blond with pale skin, because their skin lacks pigment.

As well as the belief that albinism is a curse, witchdoctors in the country use body parts from albinos in magic potions they claim will bring people good luck or fortune.

Ms Kway-Geer was herself victimized when young.

"When I was at primary school, people used to laugh at me, tease me - some didn't even like to touch me, saying that if they touched me they would get this colour," she said.

"People used to abuse me on the road when I took the buses to school. They would run after me - crowds of kids following me - shouting 'zeru, zeru'."

"Zeru" is a Swahili word for albino. Tanzania's albino society says that traditionally, this is a word for ghost-like creatures and is derogatory.

Since the beginning to 2000, the word has been banned.

Ms Kway-Geer says she hopes to educate people about albinism to end the discrimination, and called for a census of albino people.

"First we must find out how many albinos there are all over Tanzania, so that they get education and health," she said.

Albinos are at particular risk from skin cancer and often suffer from poor eyesight.

"Many albinos are poor, and therefore they need help from the government," said the new MP.

Arrests

Our correspondent says that in some parts of the country, people think albinos bring bad luck to the whole community.

While there have not yet been any prosecutions regarding the recent spate of murders, 172 were last month arrested in connection to the cases - 71 of whom said they had been told by witchdoctors to bring them albino body parts.

They remain in custody.

"We are still waiting to find out how far these arrests will go, and how many people will be brought to book," our correspondent says.

She adds that the police don't want to talk about the case for fear of jeopardising their enquiries.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7348528.stm

Italian tax details posted on web

Privacy watchdogs have ordered the Italian authorities to block access to every Italian's personal tax details.

This comes after they were published on the internet and made available for almost 24 hours.

The move to release the information was one of the last acts of the outgoing centre-left government - and has shocked many tax-shy Italians.

Without warning, the tax authority posted on its website every tax payer's declared earnings and tax paid.

With just a couple of mouse clicks Italians were able to see just how much their favourite footballer, TV star or singer earned and paid in tax.

The idea was also an open invitation to nosey neighbours, making it just as simple to see how much the couple next door earned, or how much your local doctor or priest paid in tax.

The site proved a massive hit. Within hours it was overwhelmed and impossible to reach.

The finance ministry described the move as a bid to improve transparency. Critics condemned it as an outrageous breach of privacy.

The timing of the move, just days before the current administration hands over to Silvio Berlusconi, was intriguing too.

The outgoing government came to power promising to tackle Italians' notoriously lax approach to paying tax - prompting some sceptics to see the move as just end of term sour grapes.

Mr Prodi's coalition cracked down on tax evasion

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7376608.stm

Bird flu: Indonesia's trial run

In the backstreets of a Bali village, all hell has broken loose.

The Balinese rural calm has been invaded by men with megaphones and masks, there are sirens wailing down the main street, and at the centre of it all, Putu Arini sits quietly on the porch of her house, waiting for the police.

Parts of Bali have looked like the set of a germ-warfare film

A few hours ago, her husband was taken to the local health clinic, with bird flu-like symptoms, and now investigators have told her she is being quarantined.

Luckily, all this comes as no surprise to Putu Arini. In fact the village has been planning this for months.

Indonesia has spent the past few days simulating a human bird flu pandemic - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the largest ever such simulation in the world - and Putu Arini is one of the star players.

And now, as detailed in the script, police are on their way to rope off her house, and stop anyone from entering. Not that anyone would want to, she says.

"Everyone is scared," she told me, getting into character.

"Only a few people are brave enough to go outside their houses. Even my relatives are too scared to visit me here, and I can't leave the house either."

Countries around the world are watching for signs of a human bird flu pandemic, and they are watching Indonesia closest of all. Almost half the world's total human deaths from bird flu died here - 107 people.

And every time someone gets infected, it gives the virus another chance to switch from a disease we catch from poultry, to a disease we catch from each other.

Is Indonesia prepared for an outbreak of bird flu?

The simulation - which lasted from Friday morning until Sunday night - involved 1,000 people and 20 different institutions, from the armed forces to medics, to the foreign and trade ministries. The airport was affected, as was the district's main hospital.

The aim, said Nyoman Kandun of Indonesia's health ministry, was to "examine the government's readiness to quickly cut off a pandemic".

"We want to show the world we are prepared," he said, "ready to contain and stop the virus if a pandemic happens."

The head of the WHO here, Subhash Salunke, admits the simulation was also about learning where the gaps are.

"The world is looking at this as an experiment," he said.

"The plan is very scientific. Implementation is the critical issue. And that's what we're going to learn from the simulation exercise: which are the gaps, what are the holes, and how do we really breach them when it really strikes."

For the past three days, the hospital where Putu Arini's husband was taken has looked like the set of a germ-warfare movie. Medics clothed head to foot in white protective clothing - goggles, gloves and masks - moved like ghostly astronauts around the field hospital tents set up outside the main building.

But this is wealthy, well-connected Bali, and they have been preparing for this for months. Every event was tightly scripted, and the virus emerged in an easily-contained village. Would it look like this for real?

One of those watching the simulation was Ibu Irma from Jakarta's Centre for Disease Control. Indonesia she hinted, wasn't ready to tackle an epidemic in a city.

The simulation had to be as realistic as possible

"We've started with the simple one," she explained. "If we start with the big city? Well, I don't know."

Here at least, she said, houses had large backyards and were well-spaced. If the pandemic starts in the densely packed alleyways of Java's big cities, it could be much harder to handle.

Of course, it is the human story that grabs the headlines, but with bird flu all roads lead back to the same place - the birds that carry it.

Indonesia has been heavily criticised for not containing the virus in its poultry population - it is endemic across most of the country.

It wants to show the world it will do better should a human pandemic emerge here. And whether or not it can does not just matter here - it matters right around the world.

Source:

Hackers warn high street chains

High street chains will be the next victims of cyber terrorism, some of the world's elite hackers have warned.

They claim it is only a "matter of time" before the likes of Tesco and Marks & Spencer are targeted.

Criminals could use the kind of tactics which crippled Estonia's government and some firms last year, they warned.

The experts were members of the infamous "Hackers Panel" which convened in London this week at the InfoSecurity Europe conference.

The panel includes penetration testers and so-called "white hat" hackers, who help companies tighten up their digital security by searching for flaws in their defences.

Previous panellists include Gary McKinnon, known as Solo, alleged by the US government to have hacked into dozens of US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Defense computers.

The "hackers" usually remain anonymous, "for security reasons", but this year's panellists agreed to break cover.

Notorious hacker Gary McKinnon has previously taken part in the panel

Common cause

First up was Roberto Preatoni, the founder of the cyber crime monitoring site, Zone-H, and WabSabiLabi, a trading site for security researchers.

His appearance came just a few months after he was arrested by Italian authorities on charges of hacking and wiretapping, as part of the ongoing investigation into the Telecom Italia scandal.

Mr Preatoni told the audience that the attacks in Estonia were a harbinger for a new era of cyber warfare.

"I'm afraid we will have to get used to this," said Mr Preatoni, also known as SyS64738. "We had all been waiting for this kind of attack to happen.

"Estonia was just unfortunate to be the first country to experience it. But very soon, our own [western] companies and countries will be getting attacked for political and religious reasons.

"This kind of attack can happen at any time. And it will happen."

During the two week "cyber war" against Estonia, hackers shut down the websites of banks, governments and political parties using "denial-of-service" (DoS) attacks, which knock websites offline by swamping servers with page requests.

As many of the attacks originated from Russia, the Estonian government pointed the finger at the Kremlin. But Mr Preatoni said that, having spoken to contacts in the hacking community, he was clear that "Putin was not involved".

"In my opinion, this was a collection of private individuals who spontaneously gathered under the same flag.

"Even though Estonia is one of the world's most advanced countries in IT technology, the whole economy was brought to its knees.

"That's the beauty of asymmetric warfare. You don't need a lot of money, or an army of people. You can do it from the comfort of your living room, with a beer in your hand.



Gate control

His warning was echoed by Steve Armstrong, who teaches seminars in hacking techniques, at the SANS Institute for information security training.

"If someone wants to have a pop at the UK, they are unlikely to go for the government web servers. They will go for the lower hanging fruit - companies which are seen as good representatives of the country.

"The likes of Tesco, Marks & Spencer and B&Q can be seen as legitimate targets.

"We have to get the message across to companies [to invest in information security].

"At the moment Chief Executives are only interested in the bottom line. But remember - if tesco.com goes down, that's a lot of shopping."

Mr Preatoni said that the Estonian government's repeated failure to thwart the attacks was proof that we still have "no good solutions" for denial of service attacks.

The panellists then argued over whether Internet Service Providers should do more to tighten security, by helping customers' protect their computers from being "zombified" by hackers for use in distributed DoS attacks.

"Actually, I don't think the ISPs should have any role in security," said Preatoni.

"In my opinion, that's like asking the Royal Mail to be responsible for the quality of your post."

But his view was immediately challenged by the third panellist, Jason Creasey, head of research at the independent Information Security Forum.

"I believe ISPs can play a phenomenal role in security, with a little bit of legal pressure," he claimed.

Net weakness

He was backed by an audience member, Angus Pinkerton, of Lynks Security Consulting. "The only way to defend against a distributed attack is with a distributed defence," he argued.

"I think it's unacceptable that ISPs are content to let their customers be part of bot-nets."

He challenged Steve Armstrong's view that asking ISPs to perform security duties was "fundamentally, censorship."

"This is not about free speech," said Mr Pinkerton. "Free speech does not entitle you to shout fire in a crowded theatre."

In the meantime, Mr Preatoni warned the audience it is "only going to get easier" to carry out a DoS attack, because he claimed the latest net address system, known as Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), is actually more amenable to DoS.

Later, he told the BBC that the rise in cyber attacks originating in China was a convenient cloak for western countries to disguise their own cyber espionage activities.

"It's too easy to blame China," he said. "In fact, legitimate countries are bouncing their attacks through China. It's very easy to do, so why not?

"My evil opinion is that some western governments are already doing this."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7366995.stm

Web 2.0 debates internet's future

San Francisco's Web 2.0 Expo conference brought together thousands of people responsible for crafting the future direction of the internet, and the world of applications - or apps - was front and centre.

Opening up internet programming was a central theme of Web 2.0

Everyone from Microsoft to Yahoo to MySpace was on a mission to woo developers to create exciting applications for their devices.

Jennifer Pahlka of Techweb, one of the conference's co-chairs, said the carrot these big Silicon Valley companies were dangling to entice developers to get involved was that of openness and allowing people to devise programmes without constraints.

"Yahoo was talking about opening up advertising platforms, Mozilla was talking about opening up the mobile web and John Zittrain from Oxford University was talking about openness to drive innovation and creativity so we don't go into this closed system where every application has to be approved by someone else," said Ms Pahlka.

"So I think open versus closed and who gets to define what is open and what isn't is a big theme that dominated the week at Web 2.0."

Throwing down the gauntlet

For Charlene Li, principal analyst at Forrester Research, this over-arching principle of openness was at the heart of two of the week's major announcements.

"I think the combination of Microsoft's Live Mesh and the Yahoo! Open Strategy are throwing down the gauntlet to everybody else to open up as well," he said.

Live Mesh aims to synchronise and unite a multiplicity of devices and applications online.

Yahoo! Open Strategy is about stitching together its online services under the social profile concept for ultimate access.

Ms Li told BBC News: "All this then says that whoever has the best experience, if I can make your connection to the web better than anyone else, you will be loyal to me."

Web 2.0 intersection

The point of delivery was a hot topic throughout the Web 2.0 conference and the focus was undoubtedly on the mobile web.

Mozilla's chairwoman Mitchell Baker is banking on the Firefox browser as being one of the more important platforms for developers who are working on mobile devices.

"I think that Web 2.0 is at an intersection and the software on which it is based and the involvement of Mozilla demonstrates that by being open and allowing interoperability you get more innovative and better efforts," she said.

For the last six months, Firefox has been working on a browser that operates on mobiles and the organisation is already testing its prototype, she said.

To some degree, that takes care of the here and right now, but turning to the next stage in the world of the internet, at Web 2.0 chatter about Web 3.0 was bubbling under the surface.

While largely thought of as the semantic web - where machines understand what is being written - not everyone at this conference was ready to embrace Web 3.0.

Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff described it as "a load of baloney".

"It just shows people can count and it's some piece of marketing flim-flam dreamed up by companies pushing their products," he said.

Opening up

Dean Takahashi of Venture Beat said if you want to find out what the next big thing is, follow the big money.

For the moment that is not happening in the so-called world of Web 3.0.

"The semantic web is a longer term play and so far I don't see highly valued companies popping up there," said Mr Takahashi.

"They are all start ups digging the earth right now and their pay-off will maybe come later."

For the moment, Mr Takahashi said the venture capital landscape is being dominated by the mobile world, social networks and applications.

With a plethora of companies embracing open social networks and the demand for applications increasing, this, he said, is where there real growth will be.

"Starting a plain old application company for something like Facebook, that's like a one or two person company," said Mr Takahashi.

"What you are going to see is other businesses acquiring those small app companies so that they can have a big collection of Facebook apps that will eventually be worth something.

"That's potentially where the money will be."

Get connected

For the moment, Jennifer Pahlka advised users to enjoy the ride that is Web 2.0.

"There is still a really long way to go with Web 2.0," she said.

People were still trying to find ways of "exploiting all those principles of collective intelligence", she added.

"The fundamental aspect of what is gong on just now is more personal and that resonates more with me than the semantic web," said Ms Pahlka.

"I am just more interested in applications that connect me with other people than with a computer that says it can understand what I just wrote."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7368387.stm

Dull jobs really do numb the mind

Boring jobs turn our mind to autopilot, say scientists - and it means we can seriously mess up some simple tasks.

Monotonous duties switch our brain to "rest mode", whether we like it or not, the researchers report in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

They found mistakes can be predicted up to 30 seconds before we make them, by patterns in our brain activity.

The team hopes to design an early-warning brain monitor for pilots and others in "critical situations".

The scientists say the device would be particularly suitable for monotonous jobs where focus is hard to maintain - such as passport and immigration control.

Mistakes 'foreshadowed'

"We might be able to build a device (that could be placed) on the heads of people that makes these easy decisions," said Dr Eichele, of the University of Bergen, Norway.

"We can measure the signal and give feedback to the user that your brain is in the state where your decisions are not going to be the right one."

headset for EEG
Headsets could be designed to offer "early warning" of mistakes

In the study, Dr Eichele and his colleagues asked participants to repeatedly perform a "flanker task" - an experiment in which individuals must quickly respond to visual clues.

As they did so, brain scans were performed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

They found the participants' mistakes were "foreshadowed" by a particular pattern of brain activity.

"To our surprise, up to 30 seconds before the mistake we could detect a distinct shift in activity," said Dr Stefan Debener, of Southampton University, UK.

"The brain begins to economise, by investing less effort to complete the same task.

"We see a reduction in activity in the prefrontal cortex. At the same time, we see an increase in activity in an area which is more active in states of rest, known as the Default Mode Network (DMN)."

Workplace safety

This is not a sign of the brain going to sleep, says Debener.

"Autopilot would be a better metaphor," he explains. "We can assume that the tendency to economise task performance leads to an inappropriate reduction of effort, thus causing errors."

plane at air traffic control tower
Device could help pilots and air traffic controllers maintain focus

Since this state begins about 30 seconds prior to a mistake being made, it could be possible to design an early-warning system that alerts people to be more focused or more careful, said the researchers.

That could significantly improve workplace safety and also improve performance in key tasks, such as driving, analysis of X-rays, or airport security screening.

But MRI scanners are neither portable enough nor fast enough to be practical for these real life scenarios, so the next step is to see if more mobile EEG devices are able to detect the phenomenon.

A prototype of a wireless, mobile, and lightweight EEG amplifier is currently in development and could be ready for the market in "10 to 15 years", says Dr Debener, who is based at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research, at Royal South Hants Hospital.

"But first, we must establish what is causing these mistakes," he adds.

"We do not know whether the change in brain activity we see has a causal link to the mistakes. After we establish that, we can try to develop monitoring devices."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7358863.stm

Action urged to keep net neutral

Tough action is required by US regulators to protect the principles that have made the net so successful, a leading digital rights lawyer has said.

Professor Lawrence Lessig was speaking at a public meeting to debate the tactics some net firms use to manage data traffic at busy times.

He said the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) should act to keep all net traffic flowing equally.

The FCC said net firms had a duty to tell customers about data management.

No more rules

The seven-hour public meeting was held at Stanford University and featured presentations from Prof Lessing, songwriters, network administrators and net engineers.

Prof Lessig said one of the principles that guided the foundation of the net was that all traffic should flow equally across it.

This principle of net neutrality, he said, was being eroded as net firms manage traffic and place restrictions on what their domestic broadband customers can do.


Consumers must be fully informed of the exact nature of the service they are purchasing
Kevin Martin, FCC

The meeting was called by the FCC in reaction to the news that US net firm Comcast had been exposed as managing traffic by stopping some of its 13m customers uploading files to BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks.

The FCC has started a formal investigation to see if Comcast merits a fine for its actions.

In response to the publicity surrounding its actions, Comcast has said it would change its policy.

In the UK many net firms manage traffic at peak times in a bid to ensure that everyone gets the highest broadband speed possible.

Prof Lessig said there had to be clear rules, perhaps involving financial incentives, to force net firms to respect net neutrality. Current rules, he warned, meant that many firms were tempted to manage traffic to protect profits.

At the meeting the two Democrats who sit on the five-strong FCC board said it needed new powers to make sure net firms complied with net neutrality principles.

But the two Republican commissioners on the board warned against over-burdening net firms with more rules.

Summing up, FCC chairman Kevin Martin said its net policies were powerful enough but just needed to be properly enforced.

He said there was nothing wrong with net firms managing traffic as long as they kept customers fully informed.

"There must be adequate disclosures of the particular traffic management tools," said Mr Martin. "Consumers must be fully informed of the exact nature of the service they are purchasing."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7354133.stm