Star Wars laser successfully destroys ballistic missile

by Doug Hanchard

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan supported a program designed to shoot down Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) which raised protest and skepticism — if such a technology was even possible — six years after the movie Star Wars debut. Billions of dollars were invested in a variety of research programs. The military has methodically researched a variety of concepts on how to defend against incoming nuclear missiles. SDI was born and today is managed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

Among the concepts: Using a high powered laser to hit an ICBM and destroy it. Ground based systems made no sense for a variety of logistical and technical reasons. Airborne-based platforms made sense. Spaced-based systems would have been ideal, many thought.

Ground-based systems were never seriously considered because of many obstacles that could occur between the ground station and the target and the limited amount of area that it could protect.

Spaced based systems are ideal, but posed significant technical, financial and security challenges. Throughout the 1990’s, the program evolved, and continues down two primary paths. One is using ground based missiles to hit opposing missiles such as the Patriot system and the second is using aircraft with the payload that is then fired to intercept an ICBM. The latter concept has continued development as a satellite attack platform.

Modifying the second approach evolved using large airborne platforms to house powerful high powered (as in multiple Megawatt) based lasers. The program offered several advantages. It’s rechargeable, it can be stationed anywhere over the United States and its allies, and it can be above any obstacles between itself and the target. In 2004, a B-747-400, heavily modified to be used as the test platform, known as the YAL-1A, was built.

A Chemical Oxide Laser is housed in the aircraft and is going through testing to destroy short and long range ballistic missiles. On Wednesday just before 9 PM Pacific time, the second successful test was completed.

At 8:44 p.m. (PST), February 11, 2010, a short-range threat-representative ballistic missile was launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform. Within seconds, the ALTB used onboard sensors to detect the boosting missile and used a low-energy laser to track the target. The ALTB then fired a second low-energy laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the ALTB fired its megawatt-class High Energy Laser, heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure. The entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch, while its rocket motors were still thrusting.

This was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform. The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies.

If the program continues to have success, it could offer the U.S. and its allies protection against future attacks from rogue nations that have chemical, biological or dirty nuclear warhead based missiles,


The Entertainment Blog at www.pop97.com

Star Wars laser successfully destroys ballistic missile

by Doug Hanchard

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan supported a program designed to shoot down Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) which raised protest and skepticism — if such a technology was even possible — six years after the movie Star Wars debut. Billions of dollars were invested in a variety of research programs. The military has methodically researched a variety of concepts on how to defend against incoming nuclear missiles. SDI was born and today is managed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

Among the concepts: Using a high powered laser to hit an ICBM and destroy it. Ground based systems made no sense for a variety of logistical and technical reasons. Airborne-based platforms made sense. Spaced-based systems would have been ideal, many thought.

Ground-based systems were never seriously considered because of many obstacles that could occur between the ground station and the target and the limited amount of area that it could protect.

Spaced based systems are ideal, but posed significant technical, financial and security challenges. Throughout the 1990’s, the program evolved, and continues down two primary paths. One is using ground based missiles to hit opposing missiles such as the Patriot system and the second is using aircraft with the payload that is then fired to intercept an ICBM. The latter concept has continued development as a satellite attack platform.

Modifying the second approach evolved using large airborne platforms to house powerful high powered (as in multiple Megawatt) based lasers. The program offered several advantages. It’s rechargeable, it can be stationed anywhere over the United States and its allies, and it can be above any obstacles between itself and the target. In 2004, a B-747-400, heavily modified to be used as the test platform, known as the YAL-1A, was built.

A Chemical Oxide Laser is housed in the aircraft and is going through testing to destroy short and long range ballistic missiles. On Wednesday just before 9 PM Pacific time, the second successful test was completed.

At 8:44 p.m. (PST), February 11, 2010, a short-range threat-representative ballistic missile was launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform. Within seconds, the ALTB used onboard sensors to detect the boosting missile and used a low-energy laser to track the target. The ALTB then fired a second low-energy laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the ALTB fired its megawatt-class High Energy Laser, heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure. The entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch, while its rocket motors were still thrusting.

This was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform. The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies.

If the program continues to have success, it could offer the U.S. and its allies protection against future attacks from rogue nations that have chemical, biological or dirty nuclear warhead based missiles,


The Entertainment Blog at www.pop97.com

EU Likely to OK Microsoft / Yahoo Deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Microsoft is expected to secure unconditional EU approval for its landmark search deal with Yahoo Inc to challenge market leader Google, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.

U.S. software company Microsoft and Internet firm Yahoo signed a 10-year global Web search partnership last July, which must be approved by regulators to take effect.

The European Commission, competition watchdog of the 27-country European Union, has a self-imposed deadline of February 19 to approve or block the deal.

It can extend the review and seek remedies from the companies if it believes the transaction might hurt rivals or consumers. Friday was the last day for Microsoft to submit such proposals.

The company has not done so, one of the sources said.

"I expect clearance without any concessions next Friday," that person said.

Experts said any regulatory concern would be minimal because of Google's dominance.

Google had 90 percent of the global search market versus 7.4 percent for a combined Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing, according to November data from Web research firm StatCounter.

In a questionnaire sent to rivals and consumer groups last month and seen by Reuters, the Commission asked whether the merger would allow Microsoft to compete better against Google.

Google abandoned its own advertising deal with Yahoo in 2008 under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department. Microsoft had opposed the proposed tie-up.

Microsoft in December ended a decade-long battle with the European Commission by letting European consumers have better access to rival Internet browsers in its Windows operating system.

(Editing by Dale Hudson)

Taking Google's Buzz mobile

We've taken a first look at Google Buzz (video) from many angles--as a Gmail feature, as a privacy nightmare, and as a pain to disable. Now it's time to fire up the mobile phone to see how Google's new social networking service works on the go.

We give you a taste of Google Buzz for mobile in our First Look video, as tested (fittingly) on Google's Nexus One phone. But heed our warning--what you can access using Buzz from various outlets is a brain-bender, and depends on your smartphone.


There are four main ways to buzz:

1. From a link on Google.com
2. From a dedicated Buzz site, buzz.google.com
3. As a layer in the native Google Maps app
4. As a voice prompt

Now here's the first kicker: you can't exercise just any posting option from every phone.

Here's how you can get to Buzz if you have:

* iPhone: Google.com, buzz.google.com, iPhone-optimized Google Maps Web site (not the native Maps app), Google Mobile App voice search shortcut
* Android: Google.com, buzz.google.com (for Android 2.0+ only at launch), Google Maps (Android 1.6+), Google voice search shortcut (Android 2.0+)
* Symbian Series 60 and Windows Mobile 5+: Google Maps 4.0 (download from m.google.com)

Google plans to roll out broader support for all of the above on more platforms and more phones in the coming months.

Confusing, disparate

Buzz.Google.com

Buzz.Google.com is accessible from iPhone and some Android phones.


After working out how you can get to Buzz from which smartphone comes the second kicker. Not every Buzz outlet lets you do the same thing. You can post a geolocation-optional buzz from any of these four avenues, but the extras--finding buzzes from others nearby, adding a photo, and seeing locations on a map--differ by Buzz portal.

For instance, the well-developed buzz.google.com Web app lets you search, view nearby buzzes, read the updates of those who follow you, and view a map of nearby Buzzers (Buzzards?). Tap a person's buzz and you can "like" it, reply, and view the geotagged location from a map. Those are good features, as is being able to use Google search to find your precise location if there's no perfect match on Google's list of GPS'ed suggestions.

The Buzz layer in Google Maps, however, lacks the granularity of being able to search for your GPS location. You can't "like" another's buzz, and you can only view buzzes from those around you, not your buddies. On the plus side, you can include a photo in a Maps buzz.

What it all boils down to is that Buzz as service lacks unity and inhabits an almost frenetic quality. While all public buzzes post to the same place--your Google profile--the experience differs too greatly through the various portals. We'd like to see the Buzz Web app and Maps layer, the two most substantial ways to get to Buzz from a mobile phone, share all their features. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to peek at who you're following from the map, or upload photos to the Web.

India successfully tests nuclear-capable missile

By MUNEEZA NAQVI, Associated Press Writer Muneeza Naqvi, Associated Press Writer – Sun Feb 7, 7:39 am ET

NEW DELHI – India again successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile Sunday that can hit targets across much of Asia and the Middle East, a defense ministry press release said.

It was the fourth test of the Agni III missile, the statement added. The first attempt in 2006 failed, but the last two tests were successful.

"The Agni III missile tested for the full range, hit the target with pinpoint accuracy and met all the mission objectives," the press release added.

India's current arsenal of missiles is largely intended for confronting archrival Pakistan. The Agni III, in contrast, is India's longest-range missile, designed to reach 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) — putting China's major cities well into range, as well as Middle Eastern targets.

India's homegrown missile arsenal already includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Akash, the anti-tank Nag and the supersonic Brahmos missile, developed jointly with Russia.

The missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa on Sunday morning.

The test appeared unlikely to significantly raise tensions in the region.

Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan usually notify each other ahead of such missile launches, in keeping with an agreement between the two nations. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.

The two sides began talks aimed at resolving their differences over the Himalayan region of Kashmir and other disputes in 2004. India put the peace process on hold soon after terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, which India blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India recently offered to restart peace talks, though Pakistan has yet to formally accept.

NASA fuels space shuttle 2nd time, clouds back

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – With cloudy weather still a concern, astronauts boarded shuttle Endeavour for the second day in a row early Monday in hopes of blasting off on the last big space station construction mission.

The six astronauts looked more optimistic than they did Sunday morning, when the launch site was socked in with clouds. They waved to the crowds and made A-OK gestures with their fingers.

"Welcome aboard," launch controllers told commander George Zamka as he strapped in.

An hour later, low clouds moved back in and threatened to delay the flight again. Forecasters were hopeful that conditions would improve in time for the 4:14 a.m. Monday liftoff. Aboard Endeavour were a new room and observation deck for the International Space Station.

NASA had to make a last-minute run out to the launch pad after astronaut Stephen Robinson forgot the binder holding all his flight data files. The emergency red team rushed it to him, just before he climbed aboard the shuttle.

"Glad we got your file for you," a launch controller teased.

NASA began fueling Endeavour on Sunday evening just as the Super Bowl was kicking off to the south in Miami. Launch director Mike Leinbach told his controllers to be at their computers, ready to support the launch, football or not. He said there would be no distractions in the firing room, scene of all the shuttle monitoring.

Sunday morning's try was spoiled by thick, low clouds. The clouds returned Sunday night, but forecasters said it looked more favorable than the previous night and they put the odds of acceptable conditions at 60 percent.

It was the last scheduled night launch for the space shuttle program, winding down after nearly 30 years. After this one, just four flights remain. The astronauts will work the overnight shift during the two-week mission.

If Endeavour does not make it off the ground Monday, NASA officials said they would probably not try again Tuesday, given the exhausting middle-of-the-night schedule. An unmanned rocket with a solar observatory would have a chance to fly next, on Wednesday, and the shuttle would get in line behind that, later in the week.

"That's space 'biz!" space station commander Jeffrey Williams said in a Twitter update live from orbit. "We on ISS now have some extra prep time."

Endeavour is loaded with two major payloads: the Tranquility living quarters and a seven-windowed dome that will give space station residents sweeping 360-degree views of their orbital home, as well as Earth and outer space.

Both compartments are courtesy of the European Space Agency. They're worth more than $400 million.

The space station will be 98 percent complete once Tranquility and the dome are installed. The Endeavour crew will conduct three spacewalks to hook up everything.

As for the Super Bowl that unfolded 200 miles south of Kennedy Space Center, the coin used in the opening toss flew on the last shuttle mission, in November. A former wide receiver, Leland Melvin, was on that flight. He was picked by the Detroit Lions in the NFL draft in 1986, but injured his hamstring and went on — famously — to science and space-flying careers.

No, the shuttle crew did not watch the Super Bowl, NASA's launch commentator said. But the game was beamed up to the space station in case the five men there wanted to see it.

TOYOTA:Prius Recall Ready

By Chang-Ran Kim and Taiga Uranaka

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp is preparing a recall of its new Prius hybrid car in Japan as early as Tuesday, followed by similar steps in the United States, Europe and other markets, a source familiar with its plans said.

Toyota, which has earned a reputation as the green-vehicle front-runner with the fuel-sipping Prius, has said it is discussing with safety authorities worldwide how to fix a software glitch that delays braking on the model in certain road conditions.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized on Friday for a separate series of recalls covering more than 8 million vehicles, saying the company was rushing to reach a decision on the Prius as it seeks to restore consumers' confidence in the brand.

Toyota has come under intense scrutiny, with U.S. safety authorities and members of the Obama administration accusing it of responding too slowly on problems related to uncontrolled acceleration that have been linked to up to 19 crash deaths in the United States over the past decade.

An announcement to recall the Prius, cumulative global sales of which total more than 300,000 units, will likely come from a filing with Japan's Transport Ministry on Tuesday, followed by plans elsewhere, the source said.

The Prius was Japan's top-selling car in 2009 and is arguably Toyota's most important model, as car makers around the globe prepare for a new era in low-emission vehicles.

"We think (Toyota's) start of efforts to resolve quality problems is a step forward in terms of regaining investor confidence," JPMorgan auto analyst Kohei Takahashi said in a report, referring to Toyota's announcement on Friday to set up a committee to review its quality controls.

OTHER HYBRIDS AFFECTED

Toyota will likely announce a recall of the 2010 Prius as early as Tuesday, said the source, who asked not to be identified before an official announcement.

The recall could also include the Toyota Sai and its sister model under the premium Lexus brand, HS250h, which debuted last year and use the same brake system as the third-generation Prius.

A Toyota spokeswoman said the company was still discussing plans with safety authorities in the United States and Japan. The new Prius model is sold in some 60 countries.

The Sai sedan is the second hybrid-only model under the Toyota brand, and the HS250h is the automaker's first dedicated hybrid model under the Lexus brand.

As of the end of December, Toyota sold 15,500 HS250h cars globally since its release in July. Sales of Sai, a Japan-only model released in December, came to 3,800 units in the first month, Toyota said.

U.S. competitor Ford Motor Co said last week it was fixing up to 17,600 hybrid sedans for similar braking problems.

Toyota shares fared better on Monday than other Japanese auto stocks, which were hit by a stronger yen. The stock fell 1.1 percent, compared with a 2.1 percent drop in Honda Motor shares and a 2.6 percent loss in Nissan Motor. The broader Tokyo market fell 1 percent.

On Friday, Toyota's U.S.-listed shares jumped 4 percent following the news conference by the President Toyoda.

The stock has lost more than a fifth of its value since the world's biggest automaker expanded a recall related to unintended acceleration to millions of vehicles globally.

LAWSUITS GROW

In addition to the cost of repairing the vehicles, Toyota faces a rise in indirect spending, including from a likely rise in lawsuits.

At least 30 class-action lawsuits have been filed against the Japanese automaker in the United States, as law firms across the nation call out to consumers to capitalize on Toyota's vehicle defects.

San Diego law firm Steiner & Associates, for one, has a website up and running (http://www.ustoyotalaw.com) that asks: "Have You or Loved One Been Injured or Killed in an Accident Due to a Defective Gas Pedal or Floor Mat? You may be entitled to substantial compensation!"

Toyota had skirted a full investigation into unintended acceleration of its vehicles and faced a risk of more recalls, according to a consumer advocate set to testify this week in a U.S. congressional probe over safety issues.

"I suspect that we are going to see a series of recalls appear over a period of time here, certainly over the next year, and they are going to address varying issues and varying vehicles," said Sean Kane, founder of the Safety Research & Strategies Inc, a consumer safety group.

Toyota has said it found no evidence of any safety problems beyond those covered by recalls under way.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Hacker Training Shut Down In CHINA...

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – Police in central China have shut down a hacker training operation that openly recruited thousands of members online and provided them with cyberattack lessons and malicious software, state media said Monday.

The crackdown comes amid growing concern that China is a center for Internet crime and industrial espionage. Search giant Google said last month its e-mail accounts were hacked from China in an assault that also hit at least 20 other companies.

Police in Hubei province arrested three people suspected of running the hacker site known as the Black Hawk Safety Net that disseminated Web site hacking techniques and Trojan software, the China Daily newspaper said. Trojans, which can allow outside access to a computer when implanted, are used by hackers to illegally control computers. The report did not say exactly when the arrests took place.

Black Hawk Safety Net recruited more than 12,000 paying subscribers and collected more than 7 million yuan ($1 million) in membership fees, while another 170,000 people had signed up for free membership, the paper said.

The report said police seized nine servers, five computers and a car, and shut down all Web sites involved in the case. Authorities also froze 1.7 million yuan ($250,000) in assets.

The shutdown of the site followed an investigation involving 50 police officers in three other provinces, the local d iang Times newspaper said.

The case can be traced to a hacking attack in 2007 on an Internet cafe in Macheng city in Hubei that caused Web services for dozens to be disrupted for more than 60 hours, the paper said. A few of the suspects caught in April said they were members of the Black Hawk Safety Net.

Black Hawk's Web site 3800hk.com could not be accessed, but a notice purportedly from Black Hawk circulating on online forums said that a backup site had been set up. The notice also sought to reassure members of its continued operations and said its reputation was being smeared by some Internet users.

"At this time, there are Internet users with evil intentions who have deliberately destroyed Black Hawk's reputation, deceived our members and stole material," the notice addressed to members said. "We must join forces and attack these Web sites."

A customer service officer contacted by phone, who refused to give his name, said the backup site provides content for its paying members to download course material to allow them to continue their computer lessons — though not in hacking.

The Hubei government refused to comment Monday while officials at the provincial public security bureau did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Google threatened last month to pull out of China unless the government relented on censorship, an ultimatum that came after the search giant said it had uncovered a computer attack that tried to plunder its software coding and the e-mail accounts of human rights activists protesting Chinese policies.

Government officials have defended China's online censorship and denied involvement in Internet attacks, saying the country is the biggest victim of Web attacks. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said hackers tampered with more than 42,000 Web sites last year.

Meanwhile, scrutiny of Chinese Internet security grows following a rash of attacks traced to China and aimed at a wide array of U.S. and European targets, including military contractors, banks and technology companies.

Security consultants say it is hard to know what proportion of hacking from China is the work of individuals and whether the government is involved. But some say the high skill level of some attacks suggests China's military or other agencies might have trained or directed the hackers.

"The scale, operation and logistics of conducting these attacks — against the government, commercial and private sectors — indicates that they're state-sponsored," security firm Mandiant Corp. said in a report last month. "The Chinese government may authorize this activity, but there's no way to determine the extent of its involvement."

___

Associated Press researcher Xi Yue contributed to this report.

A Whole New Space Debate

First NASA laid out its new vision for human spaceflight, putting the moon on hold and focusing instead on new technologies and space commercialization. Then Congress weighed in. Now former astronauts, an aerospace guru and Hollywood's hottest director are boosting the debate to a higher level.

The next few months are likely to bring a far-reaching debate over America's future in space, based on the reactions that have greeted the budget proposal for NASA since Monday's release. The debate won't be just about one year's spending, but about the next decade or two. That's why space aficionados are so passionate on both sides of the issue.

One former shuttle astronaut, Tom Jones, said that the decision to cancel NASA's Constellation back-to-the-moon program signaled that "human spaceflight is unimportant to U.S. national interests."

"Starting next year, and for the foreseeable future, we will launch just four Americans into space annually, as passengers on foreign rockets, to a space station slated to be decommissioned in 2020," Jones wrote in his Flight Notes blog. "What will Americans do in space beyond that gloomy date?"

He expects that China will pursue increasingly ambitious space goals and become the next country to send explorers into deep space. "We will watch, helpless to follow," he wrote.

Jones doesn't say much about the commercial spaceflight companies that are angling to provide NASA with rides into orbit, other than to note that none of them has "built a human-rated booster or spacecraft."

Another former shuttle astronaut, Ken Bowersox, is more bullish on the commercial prospects - perhaps in part because he's now an executive at one of those companies, California-based SpaceX. Today Discovery News quoted him as saying that space contractors "should be able to come up with new and innovative ways" to fill NASA's needs for resupplying the International Space Station.

Yet another ex-astronaut, Leroy Chiao, says in his blog that "we are ready for commercial human spaceflight." Chiao was a member of the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine panel, which laid out a spectrum of options for NASA's future.

"Anytime there is significant change in the air, the establishment gets nervous," he wrote. "This is to be expected. Sometimes dramatic change is necessary to achieve fresh results. Time will tell if the private companies will achieve [low Earth-orbit] access, but I for one remain optimistic."

Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin went even further, praising President Barack Obama for redirecting America's space policy "away from the foolish and underfunded moon race that has consumed NASA for more than six years." In The Huffington Post, Aldrin sketched out his expectations for a "flexible-plus" approach to exploration:

"If Congress agrees, we'll turn over all space taxi services to the private sector and aim NASA at fully using the station - extended to at least 2020 in Obama's plan - and spending a billion dollars a year in creating these new private sector spaceships. When the time comes to start building deep space transports and refueling rocket tankers, it will be the commercial industry that steps up, not another government-owned, government-managed enterprise. And if we want to use the moon as a steppingstone in the future, we'll have to join with our international partners for the effort. No more 'go it alone' space projects. If you or your children or grandkids ever hope to fly into orbit, these new vehicles are their only hope for a ride to space."

Aldrin said the decision to change NASA's course ranked as Obama's "JFK moment." That's an interesting phrase, because in a commentary last year, NBC News' Jay Barbree said that Obama was facing a "Kennedy decision" - and that the right choice would be to stick with the Constellation program.

One of the most successful figures in the private-spaceflight industry, Scaled Composites' Burt Rutan, also weighed in on NASA's future. Rutan, the aerospace designer behind the SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo rocket planes, has delighted in tweaking "Nay-Say." He sometimes jokes that the space agency's acronym stands for "No Adult Supervision Apparent." But he turned serious in an e-mail sent to several journalists after this week's unveiling of the NASA budget proposal:

"I am for NASA doing either true Research, or doing forefront Exploration, with taxpayer dollars. Ares/Orion is more of a Development program than a Research program, so I am not depressed to see it disappear.

"I am concerned to see NASA manned spaceflight disappear, since they provided world leadership in the '60s and part of the '70s. The result was America’s universities being the leader in science/engineering Ph.D.s. Many American kids will be depressed by the thought that our accomplishments will not be continued and thus America will fall deeper away from our previous leadership in engineering/science/math. I believe our future success depends on our ability to motivate our youth.

"I would support a restructuring of goals and funding so NASA can be allowed to perform like the '60s on space Research and on Exploration. There is not a shred of evidence that the president sees any value in those goals."

Even James Cameron - the director of the world's two top-selling movies, "Avatar" and "Titanic" - had something to say about America's future in space. At one time, Cameron was in the market to go into orbit himself, and he still talks about making a Mars movie someday. Here's the bottom line from his op-ed in today's Washington Post:

"Over the past 15 years, I have gotten to know a lot of people at NASA while working on projects to advance space and ocean exploration. I've found that many, if not most, started as starry-eyed childhood dreamers. Maybe they loved science-fiction stories, with their promise of alien worlds, or maybe they were geeks like me, peering through a telescope in the back yard until their moms yelled again for them to come inside - "It's a school night!" They grew up to become engineers, brilliant planetary scientists and steely-eyed missile men who collectively have pushed our human presence out to the moon and our robotic presence not just to Mars but also to the outer reaches of the solar system. I applaud President Obama's bold decision for NASA to focus on building a space exploration program that can drive innovation and provide inspiration for the world. This is the path that can make our dreams in space a reality."

There's a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt out there, especially among NASA employees and contractors who are wondering what will happen to their jobs. Earlier this week, I asked whether NASA's new vision marked the beginning of a new era or the start of a death march. Feel free to reflect on such questions over the weekend - perhaps as you follow the coverage of the shuttle Endeavour's launch - and offer your own perspective as a comment below.

Apple vs Flash and E-Book Overload on PCWorld Podcast 64

Adobe Flash has become the overwhelming leader for online video streaming, but Apple's recent announcement of the iPad has cast a shadow over Adobe's technology and led many to wonder whether Flash is on its last legs. PCWorld editors Ed Albro, Jason Cross, Robert Strohmeyer, and Nick Mediati take a look at the facts surrounding Flash and HTML5. Is HTML5 almost ready for prime time, or is this just more posturing from Apple?

Meanwhile, the sudden rise of e-book readers may now be threatened by the upcoming crop of tablets. Is it time for Amazon to give up on the Kindle and shift its focus back to content?

Download the podcast here.

You can also stream the podcast via QuickTime:

Subscribe to the PC World Podcast on iTunes or via the PC World Podcast RSS feed. You can reach us atpodcast@pcworld.com and review our podcast oniTunes.

Facebook removes Microsoft banner ads.

By Alexei Oreskovic Alexei Oreskovic

Facebook is taking full control of display ads on the world's No. 1 social networking website, cutting short an exclusive deal that had allowed Microsoft Corp to manage part of that business.

However, Microsoft -- the exclusive provider of Web search on Facebook -- will continue to sell text-based search ads on the website as the partners extended the arrangement beyond 2011, when it had been due to expire. A Facebook spokesman declined to say how long the deal has been extended.

Microsoft also said it will further integrate its Bing search engine into Facebook while expanding its reach beyond the United States.

Facebook, which counts nearly 400 million users, said its own display ads feature interactive aspects and can target viewers based on their personal information, making them better suited to its social networking service than Microsoft's standard Web banner ads.

"Ad formats that feature social actions perform better and provide a better user experience since they are more consistent with the look and feel of Facebook," the company said in a statement. "This combination of targeting and social relevance is the primary driver behind the shift in strategy."

Facebook said it stopped displaying Microsoft banner ads in some international markets recently, and following additional talks with Microsoft, has agreed to stop running the banner ads across all of Facebook. The change will take place over the next 30 days.

Facebook has long sold its own display ads on users' profile pages and other parts of the site, but the company allowed Microsoft to sell banner ads in certain sections of its website in 2006. The deal, which was extended in 2007, was supposed to run until 2011.

A Facebook spokesperson would not provide details on whether the advertising deal with Microsoft entailed any revenue sharing agreement, or whether Facebook would pay Microsoft a fee for altering the deal early.

The news comes as Facebook has increased its focus on its financial performance. In September, Facebook said it had become free cash flow positive -- meaning that the company makes enough money to cover the costs associated with running the service -- ahead of schedule.

Microsoft said on its corporate blog on Friday that Web searches within Facebook will bring up information from Bing beyond just links to websites. Microsoft's search technology will be available on Facebook worldwide, instead of just the United States, it added.

Facebook, which lets users connect and share information with friends online, has emerged as one of the Internet's most popular destinations and is increasingly challenging the Web's established powerhouses like Yahoo Inc and Google Inc.

Microsoft invested $240 million in Facebook for a 1.6 percent stake in the company in October 2007.

On Thursday, Facebook said it expected to reach 400 million active users of its site within the week, representing a gain of 50 million new users since December. The company also announced a new design to its homepage.

Microsoft shares finished Friday's regular trading session up 18 cents at $28.02.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon)

Pluto changing color, ice sheet cover

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer – Thu Feb 4, 4:17 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Spurned Pluto is changing its looks, donning more rouge in its complexion and altering its iceball surface here and there.

Color astronomers surprised.

Newly released Hubble Space Telescope photos show the distant one-time planet — demoted to "dwarf planet" status in 2006 — is changing color and its ice sheets are shifting.

The photos, released by NASA Thursday, paint a Pluto that is significantly redder than it had been for the past several decades. To the layman, it has a yellow-orange hue, but astronomers say it has about 20 percent more red than it used to have.

The pictures show icy frozen nitrogen on Pluto's surface growing and shrinking, brightening in the north and darkening in the south. Astronomers say Pluto's surface is changing more than the surfaces of other bodies in the solar system. That's unexpected because a season lasts 120 years in some regions of Pluto.

"It's a little bit of a surprise to see these changes happening so big and so fast," said astronomer Marc Buie of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "This is unprecedented."

From 1954 to 2000, Pluto didn't change in color when it was photographed from Earth. But after that, it did. The red levels increased by 20 percent, maybe up to 30 percent, and stabilized from about 2000 to 2002, Buie said. It's not as red as Mars, however, Buie said.

Buie said he can explain the redness, but not why it changed so dramatically and so recently. The planet has a lot of methane, which contains carbon and hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen gets stripped off by solar winds and other factors, leaving carbon-rich areas on the surface, which tend to be red and dark.

The Hubble photos were taken in 2002 and the analysis took a few years. But why Pluto changed so quickly was such a mystery that Buie held off for years on announcing what he had found, worried that he might be wrong. However, since Pluto's moon Charon hadn't changed color in the same telescope images, he decided the Pluto findings weren't an instrument mistake.

His analysis also found that nitrogen ice was shifting in size and density in surprising ways. It's horribly cold on Pluto with, paradoxically, the bright spots being the coldest at about -382 degrees Fahrenheit. Astronomers are still arguing about the temperatures of the warm dark spots, which Buie believes may be 30 degrees warmer than the darker areas.

Part of the difficulty in figuring out what is going on with Pluto is that it takes the dwarf planet 248 years to circle the sun, so astronomers don't know what conditions are like when it's is farthest from the sun. The last time Pluto was at its farthest point was in 1870, which was decades before Pluto was discovered. Unlike Earth, Pluto's four seasons aren't equal lengths of time.

Buie's explanation makes sense, said retired NASA astronomer Stephen Maran, co-author of a book on Pluto. "Pluto is interesting and poorly understood, whether it qualifies as a planet or not," he said.

Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Feb 4, 7:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat panel TV or your computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors.

The recalls and other technical problems besetting Toyota in the last few weeks highlight the risks of relying on electronics instead of the mechanical rods and cables that controlled vehicles for most of the 20th century.

Such advancements bring many benefits, but the worry is that the car is a computer on wheels that could freeze up and potentially crash. No less a computer celebrity than Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak has said his Toyota Prius sometimes accelerates on its own.

For many years, a car's gas and brake pedals were connected directly to the throttle and the brake assembly. Now computers and electronic sensors govern many of those functions, as well as a vehicle's exhaust system, its inside temperature and a host of other operations.

Those design changes were reviewed this week when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began looking into 124 reports from consumers that their Toyota Priuses momentarily lost braking ability while traveling over uneven roads, potholes or bumps. Four of the reports involve crashes.

The Prius problem is part of a broader issue for Toyota: Accelerators in its non-hybrid cars can get trapped under floor mats or become stuck on their own and fail to return to the idle position. Toyota has recalled eight top-selling models, involving 2.3 million cars in the U.S. alone.

The wider problems appear to be conventional mechanical issues, but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said his department would undertake a broad review of whether automobile engines could be disrupted by electromagnetic interference caused by power lines or other sources.

In the Prius, in addition to traditional hydraulic brakes, the car has an electronically operated braking system to recover some of the energy lost as the car slows. Some of that energy is sent to the battery that powers the Prius' electric motor. The hybrid design saves fuel and reduces emissions, but it increases the complexity of the car and the number of potential failures.

One explanation Toyota has offered for the Prius problems is that there's a time lag when the Prius switches between its gas engine and the electric motor. The car would then be delayed in switching between the traditional hydraulic brakes and the electronic braking system.

However, even if there's a momentary lapse of the brakes, they will work if the driver keeps pushing the pedal, the company has said.

On Thursday, Toyota instead pointed toward the antilock braking system. Antilock brakes engage and disengage many times per second to prevent skidding. The company said that it changed settings on the assembly line to prevent "inconsistent brake feel during slow and steady application of brakes on rough or slick road surfaces." It has not recalled cars to make the same change.

The first computer-controlled antilock braking system for cars was introduced in 1971. Yet the technology's complexities can still trip up manufacturers: 39,000 trucks and tractors and 6,000 school buses were recalled in 2000 to fix problems with the software on brakes made by Bendix Corp.

Today's cars are far safer and more reliable than those manufactured without electronic controls, said Bruce Belzowski, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. At the same time, he said, the added complexity demands much more testing in different conditions.

In 2005, Toyota announced a recall of 160,000 Priuses following reports that brake lights lit up for no reason and gasoline engines shut down of their own accord. The culprit was the software controlling critical car functions.

Software also appears to be to blame at Ford Motor Co., which said Thursday it plans to fix 17,600 Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion gas-electric hybrids because of a glitch that can give drivers the impression the brakes have failed.

The automaker says the problem occurs in transition between two braking systems and at no time are drivers without brakes. Ford spokesman Said Deep says the company will ask owners to bring their vehicles in for a software fix that changes the pedal feel.

Jake Fisher, senior automotive engineer for Consumer Reports magazine, criticized another electronic feature of some Toyotas and Lexuses: the push-button ignition.

To turn the engine off in an emergency, such as when the accelerator is stuck, Toyota and Lexus drivers must hold the button for three seconds — much like a computer can be rebooted by pushing the power button for a while. Drivers of other makes such as Cadillac, Nissan and Infiniti can shut off the engines by pushing the start button more than once. A driver in an emergency may not think to hold the button, but likely would push it several times, Fisher said.

An easier way to turn off the engine may have prevented an accident with a runaway Lexus last summer that killed four people. The gas pedal got stuck under a floormat. (It's not known why the driver did not shift into neutral to slow the car.)

Dennis Virag, president of the Automotive Consulting Group, said Toyota has erred in not adopting a brake override system for all its cars — one that shuts off the fuel supply to the engine if the brakes are engaged and the accelerator is down.

Most other manufacturers have such systems, which can save lives even when the gas pedal is working as intended because there have been many cases of confused drivers stepping on both the brake and the gas at the same time.

Of course, the override makes for yet another layer of electronics between the driver and the car — and another way that vehicles are getting more complex even as they get safer.

Toyota Prius brakes FAULTY!

By KEN THOMAS and STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writers Ken Thomas And Stephen Manning, Associated Press Writers – Wed Feb 3, 10:24 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Americans should park their recalled Toyotas unless driving to dealers for accelerator repairs, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned Wednesday — then quickly took it back — as skepticism of company fixes grew and the government's probe expanded to other models in the U.S. and Japan. Questions now are being raised about the brakes on Toyota's marquee Prius hybrid.

The Prius was not part of the most recent recall, but Japan's transport ministry ordered the company to investigate complaints of brake problems with the hybrid. LaHood said his department, too, was looking into brake problems.

Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said Thursday in Tokyo that the automaker was aware of 77 complaints in Japan about braking problems for the Prius, just a day after the Japanese government had confirmed 14 complaints had come in on the same Prius braking problems. About 100 complaints over Prius brakes have been filed in the U.S.

Harried dealers began receiving parts to repair defective gas pedals in millions of vehicles and said they'd be extending their hours deep into the night to try and catch up. Toyota said that would solve the problem — which it said was extremely rare — of cars unaccountably accelerating.

At a congressional hearing, LaHood said his advice to an owner of a recalled Toyota would be to "stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it." His comments prompted new questions and rattled Toyota stockholders, causing shares to plunge 8 percent before they recovered, declining 6 percent for the day.

LaHood later told reporters, "What I said in there was obviously a misstatement. What I meant to say ... was if you own one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and they're going to fix it."

Adding to Toyota's woes, LaHood said his department had received new complaints about electronics and would undertake a broad review, looking beyond Toyota vehicles, into whether automobile engines could be disrupted by electromagnetic interference caused by power lines or other sources. Toyota has said it investigated for electronic problems and failed to find a single case pointing that direction.

Toyota Motor Corp., in a statement, said if owners were experiencing problems with the accelerator pedal "please contact your dealer without delay. If you are not experiencing any issues with your pedal, we are confident that your vehicle is safe to drive."

But the damage was done for many drivers.

Meredyth Waterman, who bought a 2010 Toyota Corolla in December, said the alarming statements from Washington confused her and she planned to wait until her dealer told her to come get the fix to bring her car in for repairs.

"If it is largely believed to be a rare instance, why would he tell people to stop driving their cars?" asked Waterman, of Burrillville, R.I. "It was an irresponsible thing to say."

The confusion came as the world's No. 1 automaker dealt with fresh probes in the U.S. and Japan over the Prius, the best-selling gas-electric hybrid, and growing interest from congressional and other government investigators. Toyota has shut down several new vehicle assembly lines and is rushing parts to dealers to fix problems with the accelerators, trying to preserve a reputation of building safe, durable vehicles.

Since October, Toyota first recalled about 5 million vehicles over problems with floor mats trapping gas pedals and now, in a recall announced Jan. 21, some 2.3 million vehicles amid concerns that gas pedals could become stuck or slow to return to the idle position. The latest recall involves 2009-10 RAV4 crossovers, 2009-10 Corollas, 2009-10 Matrix hatchbacks, 2005-10 Avalons, 2007-10 Camrys, 2010 Highlander crossovers, 2007-10 Tundra pickups and 2008-10 Sequoia SUVs.

Toyota has said excess friction in the gas pedal assembly could in rare cases cause the pedals to stick. Engineers traced the problem to a friction device in the assembly that is supposed to provide the proper pedal "feel" by adding resistance.

Lawmakers who are now digging into the recalls said they would also look into the Prius. Rep. Bart Stupak, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee, said his panel would request a briefing from Toyota officials about the hybrid.

New York Rep. Edolphus Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sought more information about the acceleration issue from Yoshi Inaba, chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor North America and asked the question on the minds of Toyota owners: "Is it safe to drive the Toyota models that have been recalled?"

Towns' committee, which is planning a Feb. 10 hearing, also wants more details on how Toyota handled complaints about pedal entrapment, reports of stuck accelerators and electrical problems. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee's top Republican, also wrote Toyota and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials seeking documents on the Prius and other investigations.

Other panels in the House and Senate also are planning hearings.

Many consumer groups have questioned whether Toyota's fix will work and have asserted it could be connected to problems with the electronic throttle control systems.

Joan Claybrook, who formerly lead Public Citizen, a watchdog group, noted that Toyota told owners during last year's recall to remove floor mats to keep the accelerator pedal from becoming jammed. "I don't think that's what the issue is. I think it has to be electronic when it slam dunks and takes off and goes 120 miles an hour," Claybrook said.

LaHood, who plans to speak with Toyota President Akio Toyoda about the recalls, said the government is considering civil penalties against the carmaker. But he also said that it appeared "Toyota is making an all-out effort to do all that they can to fix these cars."

The Obama administration has been forced to backtrack on several statements during its first year, though LaHood's warning was particularly striking.

Last year, when LaHood suggested the administration consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive instead of how much gasoline they buy, his comments were quickly rejected by the White House. Vice President Joe Biden triggered a day of backtracking after publicly swearing off trains and planes because of swine flu worries.

LaHood's comments irked many dealers, who have been fielding calls from nervous customers for days. Most dealers are just getting the parts, a steel shim a couple of millimeters thick, to be inserted in the pedal assembly to address the potential sticking problem.

The secretary "has the best of intentions, but unfortunately we can't fix 100 cars at the same time," said Adam Lee, head of Lee Auto Malls and owner of a Toyota dealership in Topsham, Maine. "I'm sure he has the best of intentions but it may not be very constructive for us."

Earl Stewart, who owns a Toyota dealership in North Palm Beach, Fla., said LaHood's comments "could instill panic." Stewart was expecting to begin making repairs — at half an hour per vehicle — later Wednesday.

"We're leaving our service department open 'til the last customer tonight," he said. "After Ray LaHood's statement, it might be all night."

___

AP Business Writer Dan Strumpf in New York and Associated Press writers Larry Margasak and Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.

iMussolini application taken down from store by developer.

ROME (AFP) – The developer of iMussolini, a popular iPhone application of the fascist dictator's speeches, said he took down the application from the Apple online store after legal threats from Cinecitta Luce, who says it owns the copyright for the videos.

Luigi Marino, a 25-year-old developer from Naples in southern Italy, said he called Cinecitta Luce, the public company from whose archives the videos are taken, and decided he "preferred taking it down" in order to verify with his lawyer whether the application did not infringe copyright.

Marino said he was not worried about the application which offers video, audio and text staying "two or three days out of the app store", and would rather verify he is on safe legal grounds before putting it back on sale.

Cinecitta Luce said in a statement on Wednesday they would sue whoever improperly sells content over which they have copyright and described iMussolini as an "instrumental and commercial use of Mussolini speeches that is particularly odious", ANSA news agency reported.

The application had been a hit among Italian iPhone users, selling more than 1,000 per day during the first week and quickly becoming the best-selling iPhone application on Apple's Italian online store.

Many wired Chinese unfazed at possible Google exit

By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer Anita Chang, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 1, 8:08 pm ET

BEIJING – A world without Google? They can imagine it just fine in China. After all, it's not like losing "World of Warcraft."

The online giant's threat to pull out of China over censorship has drawn little reaction among the country's 384 million Internet users. No flood of complaints to China's consumer rights agency, like the tens of thousands received in one day when the online fantasy game "World of Warcraft" was yanked last year because of a bureaucratic turf battle. Nor has there been the type of fury that saw 32,000 indignant gamers participate in an online chat session on the "World of Warcraft."

"If Google leaves China, we'll lose one search engine. But we still have other choices," said 28-year-old Deng Zhiluo, who works in marketing in Beijing. He said while Google's search results are more "international," most of what he wants can be found on Chinese competitor Baidu. "For locals, Baidu is enough."

The indifference of many Chinese points to a telling challenge for Google in the world's most populous Internet market. The Chinese Internet world is youthful, with people under 30 making up 61.5 percent of the online population, and Google's cause isn't generating popular support among China's wired teens and 20-somethings.

"It's like in the U.S. saying, 'You can't use Yahoo search anymore'," said T.R. Harrington, CEO of Shanghai-based Darwin Marketing, which specializes in China's search engines. "What would people say? 'So what? I'll use Google more, and I'll try Bing and I might try a few other ones ... I don't care.'"

Google threatened three weeks ago to shut down its Chinese search engine, Google.cn, citing cyberattacks emanating from China plus attempts to snoop on dissidents.

Some Chinese admire the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's stand and its "don't be evil" image: A few dozen laid flowers outside Google's Beijing headquarters, and a few hundred joined a "Don't Go Google" Web site before it was shut down for unknown reasons.

The trouble Google is having generating support among Chinese underscores how successfully the communist government controls information. While authorities have set up an extensive network of Internet filters, blockades and monitoring — dubbed the "Great Firewall of China" — that's only part of the picture. China's permissible Internet universe is flooded with choice, with 3.2 million registered Web sites offering politically acceptable news coverage and loads of diversions from shopping to music downloads.

The generation of Chinese currently in their teens and 20s are known for their love of consumerism and disdain for politics. Most aren't interested in scaling the "Great Firewall" by using proxy servers or other technical subterfuges, according to Kaiser Kuo, a Beijing-based technology analyst. Their favorite online activities: listening to music, chatting with friends and playing video games.

For many sites blocked by the government — including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter — there are readily available, government-approved Chinese substitutes: Youku and Tudou for videos, Kaixinwang and Renren for social networking. Sina.com, the largest Internet portal, runs a Twitter-like microblogging site.

"Baidu does the same things as Google," said 30-year-old IT salesman Zheng Hongyi. "And if it leaves there will be more companies coming up to fill this need."

Beijing may be interested in seeking an accommodation. Google is an innovator whose presence could spur innovation by Chinese competitors. Blocking Google sites could encourage more Chinese to seek ways of getting around Internet controls. That's what happened last year when two government agencies prohibited Chinese sites from offering "World of Warcraft" while they battled over the right to regulate the lucrative online game. Local stores started selling access cards that allowed Chinese fans to play the game on Taiwanese servers.

Google's message is resonating with some Chinese. Wen Yunchao, a popular blogger who writes about social issues and the Internet, said the publicity Google touched off has raised awareness about censorship and Internet access, especially in less worldly cities.

"A lot of people might not normally feel the existence of censorship. This lets more people know, understand and like Google. I've heard in some second and third-tier cities, Google's usage is increasing dramatically," Wen said.

Outside big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Google's brand recognition is low, said Tangos Chan of Internet and technology blog China Web Radar. When visiting his rural hometown in southeastern Fujian province a year or so ago, Chan found that some of his childhood friends "didn't really know what it was ... they just use Baidu."

While Google is generally seen in China as the go-to site for searching overseas Web sites, Baidu is known for being better at finding Web sites in Chinese, both in China and abroad. The Nasdaq-listed company also runs a popular message board, online encyclopedia and vast digital music library.

Baidu has about 60 percent of China's search engine market, compared with Google's 35 percent, according to Analysys International, a Beijing research firm.

"Baidu has more products that make it a destination for the average user in China," said Harrington, the marketing specialist.

Also hurting Google is the Chinese government's control of the country's news media. State-run media have glossed over the company's allegations about China-based hacking attacks and instead portrayed the affair as a business decision by Google. Many young Chinese believe that Google wants to leave because it's being drubbed by Baidu.

State media recently hardened their stance, accusing the U.S. government of being behind the dispute, particularly after a speech by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Jan. 21 when she called on China to investigate the attacks that led to Google's threat to pull out.

"Right now, a lot of netizens feel the American government was involved. Google's image is becoming more and more negative," said Rao Jin, an online entrepreneur who recently launched google-liar.com. "If Google leaves, we will be losing an Internet tool but we must be aware of national security threats."

Rao has been successful in tapping popular sentiment in China. He is the founder of anti-cnn.com, launched during ethnic rioting in Tibet in March 2008 and aimed at exposing alleged bias in Western media reports. It still receives 1 million page views a day.

The 25-year-old has such influence that he was among bloggers and other Chinese Internet personalities invited to round-table discussions at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing before President Barack Obama's visit in November and after Clinton's speech, in an effort by the State Department to sway Chinese public opinion.

Ironically, some of the anti-Google articles Rao posted on google-liar.com were found with the help of Google. The Internet entrepreneur and his friends even use the company's Gmail e-mail service.

Rao said he's backing up his Gmail account and preparing to switch to a Chinese e-mail provider. He said you can always find a ready Chinese substitute.