While Intel is talking up its "Westmere" CPUs and their graphics co-processing, which puts a 45 nanometer graphics chip and memory controller inside the same chip package as a two-core Core processor implemented using 32 nanometer processes, rival AMD wants to change the subject to a truly integrated, single-chip CPU/GPU combination - and at the same time make you think about the future, not the present.…
I didn't watch AMC's remake of The Prisoner when it aired last November, but I was delighted to see that all 17 episodes of the original 1967-1968 British series are still viewable in full for free on the AMC site. If JG Ballard wrote a TV series, I'd imagine it would have been something like The Prisoner. For those who aren't hip to it yet, the show is a trippy psychological drama about a former spy held captive in a mysterious resort-like prison. The Prisoner video player(AMC, apologies if non-US viewers are shut out)
Murray sez, "I recently launched a podcast at the UK-based harmonica website www.harpsurgery.com. The episode here features five young players aged 14-18 (with one 22-year-old to mess up our average) who are playing WAY beyond their years... and in some cases, pushing harmonica-playing into dark scary places where it was never meant to go.
The podcast is a little ragged but the playing is great. I thought it pertinent to send this through after Roger Daltrey's shabby harp solo at last night's Super Bowl show. Any one of these kids could destroy Roger Daltrey with a single fog-horn like blast from their instrument. All he'd leave behind is a smoking pair of hush puppies."
While the debate continues in Washington, health care systems nationwide struggle to offset money spent to treat patients who cannot afford to pay their bills.
Alan sez, "A Japanese company is producing gramophones with natural touches such as bamboo needles."
The player is produced by world-class hobbyist supplier Gakken, and the quality shows. This gramophone supports all record sizes, features speed and tone adjustment, and even lets you record music! No file formats to worry about, no batteries to replace, and the warm, nostalgic sound of analog - this just might be the perfect music player.
by By JENNY ANDERSON and ZACHERY KOUWE at 21:43 PM, 02/08/2010
The new enforcement team at the Securities and Exchange Commission is working to police Wall Street -- and to shake off the psychic blow of the Bernard L. Madoff affair.
Morgunblaðið, Iceland's oldest newspaper and most-visited website (now co-edited by the former prime minister and head of the central bank) has just announced an anti "deep linking" policy saying that Icelanders aren't allowed to link to individual pages on the site, only the front door. Which is to say, the people of Iceland can no longer talk about any news online unless it happens to still be on the front page of the newspaper. Ah, there's the commitment to public service that makes journalism so critical to a free society! (Thanks, Halli!)
As production resumes this week in Georgetown, Ky., and other American cities where Toyota builds cars, people are eager to see its recall problems blow over.
Doctors and aid workers are wrestling with proving that they are not illegally transporting children, whose risk of dying is rising while the paperwork awaits.
The persistent snow issues forced organizers to reduce athletes’ practice time at Cypress Mountain and move some training sessions to Whistler, the site for downhill skiing at the Games.
by By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS at 21:33 PM, 02/08/2010
Mike Richards scored the go-ahead goal with less than eight minutes left in the third period, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Devils.
A district court judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit headed by Ed O’Bannon and arguing that athletes should be compensated when their images are used.
The first race of the 33rd America’s Cup was postponed Monday because of fickle winds, and now the best-of-three match is scheduled to begin Wednesday, weather permitting.
A third trial of an experimental drug found that it worked better than a rival to delay the risk of bone complications in men with advanced prostate cancer.
Rajendra K. Pachauri and the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change face accusations of scientific sloppiness and potential financial conflicts of interest.
A growing number of business travelers are using portable renewable energy devices to power up their electronics when they work in places that offer little or no access to electricity.
Kirin, the Japanese brewing giant, cited differences over management independence and transparency in a merged company as the reason for ending the talks.
The chairman of SAP, the German software company, said a decision to raise maintenance fees was wrong and acknowledged that he had been partly responsible for the move.
The Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the cholesterol treatment to be used by millions of people who are not normally prescribed such drugs.
Riverbed Technology announced new models of its network accelerator appliance, increasing the throughput for on-site and off-site backups to 1Gbit/sec.
Talk about a snow-day killjoy. Shortly after the federal government announced that it would close for Monday -- cue the yelping for joy around Washington -- the office of the executive secretary for Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner sent out a message to its staff.
The names of small businesses seeking loans are scrawled across a whiteboard in the Bethesda offices of Mid-Atlantic Financial Partners: A Denny's franchisee with plans for a new restaurant, the owner of a limousine fleet hoping to consolidate his auto loans, a government contractor seeking a line...
China's sovereign wealth fund has lifted the veil on its U.S. securities holdings, revealing more than $9.6 billion of holdings in about 60 U.S. companies.
by Carol Morello and N.C. Aizenman at 21:00 PM, 02/08/2010
Jeff Campbell has been at his job as a security officer since Friday, sleeping in a chair and eating military MREs. Andre Wye left home at 4 a.m. Monday to drive 25 scary, slippery miles to the supermarket where he's a cashier. Sia Gbolie deposited her teenage son with a neighbor and camped out with...
Martha N. Johnson is the new head of the General Services Administration, which serves as the government's primary landlord and buyer. Johnson was interviewed Thursday, moments after the Senate approved her confirmation.
As the Senate this week considers a "jobs bill" to reduce unemployment, lawmakers will have to decide whether to continue an unprecedented change in how the country treats people who are out of work, which was quietly approved last year.
The Obama administration proposed a new climate service on Monday that would provide Americans with predictions on how global warming will affect everything from drought to sea levels.
“First, they will expect a continuous brand experience… Despite the fact that some look at the 10:45ers as the poster children for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, if you look a little closer, their extensive use of these various devices actually creates a new continuity.… From their point of view, their experience is more continuous than the “old days” of separate television, radio, telephones and paper mail. In this increasingly seamless media landscape, you need to ask yourself, how “continuous” is your brand and the service that supports it? Do people “see” the same company across the web, phone, call center, and in person?…
Second, Generation 10:45 will desire transparent service. Anyone can “see” where they are any time of the day or night. Why cant you and your organization show that same level of transparency? They expect to be able to get status updates on any order, any service, or any request — immediately!”
Nikon tonight had its second round of camera news in as many weeks with two new lenses for both its DX- and FX-mount DSLRs. The 24mm f1.4G ED provides an even wider angle than many of Nikon's other primes and has an extremely wide aperture that both takes in a large amount of light and focuses quickly. It lacks image stabilization but uses Nikon's extra-low dispersion optics to minimize chromatic effects....
Nikon has announced the worlds first image stabilized ultra-wide angle zoom for full frame cameras. The AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR lens includes a Silent Wave autofocus motor and VR II technology, which Nikon claims gives up to four stops benefit against camera shake when hand-holding. Other goodies include Nano Crystal coating to combat flare, a magnesium alloy barrel, and weather sealing.
Nikon has released the AF-S Nikkor 24mm F/1.4G ED wide aperture prime lens for full-frame DSLRs. It features an anti-reflective Nano Crystal coating and both ED and aspherical lens elements to help minimize distortion and chromatic aberration. The lens comes in a weather-resistant body and includes a Silent Wave Motor for quieter autofocus operation.
Bunkspeed has announced that its upcoming SHOT software will integrate Iray rendering technology developed by Mental Images. The new system will allow the software to process renders using a combination of CPU and GPU resources, including NVIDIA's CUDA-equipped graphics cards. Offloading the rendering tasks to various components is said to significantly reduce processing times....
A possibly last-minute slip hints that Apple may be close to updating the MacBook Pro line. One Best Buy employee notes that all MacBook Pro models have been deleted from the company's inventory system, preventing them from ordering new models. The systems can still be found but are listed as "deleted."...
PC World - South Korea's two biggest cell phone makers previewed on Tuesday handsets they plan to unveil at next week's Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona.
by By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. at 19:31 PM, 02/08/2010
Through his work in poor countries, Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, has positioned his company as the leader among drug makers in advancing world health issues.
Health Care: Who Knows 'Best'? "...comparative research on effectiveness is only part of the strategy to improve care. A second science has captured the imagination of policymakers in the White House: behavioral economics. This field attempts to explain pitfalls in reasoning and judgment that cause people to make apparently wrong decisions; its adherents believe in policies that protect against unsound clinical choices. But there is a schism between presidential advisers in their thinking over whether legislation should be coercive, aggressively pushing doctors and patients to do what the government defines as best, or whether it should be respectful of their own autonomy in making decisions. The President and Congress appear to be of two minds. How this difference is resolved will profoundly shape the culture of health care in America." Interesting NY Review of Books article by Jerome Groopman.
The Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition takes place March 12-14 in Emeryville, CA. Organizers promise "the best elements of traditional science fiction and fantasy conventions, [combined] with the passion, ingenuity, and hands-on workshops of Maker events, in a steam-powered, neo-Victorian setting that spans the 1830s through the early 1910s, from the cultured salons of gaslit London to the rugged coast of San Francisco." Sure sounds fun. I'm delighted to see a number of folks we've covered on Boing Boing before, including Jon Sarriugarte, Kimric Smythe, and The Neverwas Haul Crew in the "kinetics" portion of the event.
Iran's envoy to the International International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the window for nuclear negotiations is still open -- even as tensions rise over Iran's decision to defy the world on uranium enrichment.
ZoomMediaPlus has introduced the ZoomIt memory card reader for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new dock-connecting accessory works with the companyís ZoomIt application that provides access to content stored on SD cards. Support is offered for all file types recognized by iPhone OS 3.0, ranging from photos and videos to PowerPoint documents. The accessory allows users to upload all stored media for use at a later time, or share files with other users via e-mail, Facebook or Flickr....
Although I have already highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran on several occasions in writing and in person, I deem it necessary to once again draw the attention of Your Honor and the distinguished members of the UNHRC to the following issues as you prepare to review the Islamic Republic of Iran's human rights record, on February 15, 2010.
Reuters - China plans to crack down on the online gambling industry, including the banks and websites that support it, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website.
AFP - US videogame giant Electronic Arts was unable to fight its way out of the red over the Christmas holidays, and has posted a net loss for the 12th consecutive quarter.
Standard vaccine injections, done with a 1-in.-long needle, aren't as effective in obese patients. Instead, they need a longer needle to get the same level of immune response. Researchers aren't sure why, but it's possible that fat prevents shorter needles from delivering the vaccine directly into muscle, where it has better access to immune cells.(Via Ivan Oransky.)
AFP - US technology titans IBM and Intel have rolled out powerful new computer chips designed for businesses continually demanding more from networks and data centers.
AP - Google Inc. has lowered by $200 the fee it charges customers who break a standard two-year contract for its new Nexus One phone on the T-Mobile USA Inc. network.
The whole American food system, from farm to fork, accounts for about 10% of the energy we use in this country. Of that, the largest single portion, 32%, is the energy involved in household food storage and cooking.
Put it another way: If we reduced agricultural energy use by 5%, nationwide, we'd save about 20 trillion British Thermal Units of energy a year. Them's no small potatoes.
But if just 5% of American households got a more efficient refrigerator, we'd save 54 trillion BTU.
A man pulled alive from the rubble of a building in Haiti's capital may have been trapped since the January 12 quake that leveled much of the city, doctors said.
AP - Speech-recognition software maker Nuance Communications Inc. said Monday it narrowed its loss in the fiscal first quarter as revenue in the company's two largest divisions, health care and dictation, and mobile and enterprise, increased.
PC World - Last week I wrote about reports that some Windows 7 users are experiencing anomalies with battery life, or at least how Windows 7 reports remaining battery life. The issue seemed worthy of exploring, but not big enough to cause any significant damage to Microsoft's flagship desktop operating system.
Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the pop star's death last summer.
A former Sri Lankan general who ran against President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the country's government.
Google tonight confirmed talk of a significant product update by sending an invitation to a special event on Tuesday at the company's Mountain View, California campus. The company is short on details but promises "some new product innovations" at the gathering....
Cell phone provider Metro PCS' new campaign, featuring two supposed Indian tech experts, is proving a little controversial. The company admits it has received complaints.
As their protest runs into a fourth day, some are said to be fainting or injured. But the Home Office denies wrongdoing
An immigration removal centre was reported to be in a state of chaos yesterday, as at least 50 women entered the fourth day of a hunger strike in protest against their detention and conditions, with several reportedly fainting in corridors and almost 20 locked outdoors wearing few clothes.
Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire, which houses 405 women and children, was in lockdown, leaving women in communal spaces without food, water or toilet facilities.
Several women who tried to escape through a window were then locked outside, according to one detainee, including one whose finger was almost severed as she escaped but who had not received medical treatment.
"We have been on hunger strike since Friday protesting about the length of time we have spent in detention here," said Aisha, who has been in Yarl's Wood for three months. "We have been locked in the hallway all day – five ladies have fainted because they have not eaten since Friday. No one has come to give them any medical attention.
"I had an asthma attack, but no one would come to give me my inhaler. I'm very weak. But we will stay on hunger strike for as long as it takes."
Campaigners condemned the response of the authorities at the centre, accusing them of using a "kettling" technique to trap the women.
"The women are currently trapped in an airless hallway," said Cristel Amiss, of Black Women's Rape Action Project. "Women should be allowed back into their rooms immediately; there should be an immediate investigation."
The Home Office confirmed the disturbance, saying that 40 women were involved, and insisted the measures were temporary until the women could be reintegrated into the centre.
"The wellbeing of detainees is of paramount concern, which is why healthcare staff are at the scene to monitor developments," said David Wood, strategic director at the UK Border Agency. "The detainees will be integrated back into the centre at the earliest opportunity."
The hunger strike is the latest in a series of protests at the facility, which has attracted controversy for detaining women for long periods.
Campaigners say many of the women being detained are also victims of abuse and rape and should not be held while awaiting deportation decisions.
"Over 70% of women in Yarl's Wood are rape survivors, many are sick and vulnerable," said Amiss.
"Why are they being punished for raising serious injustices?"
The Home Office denied its practices in detaining immigrants were unfair.
"All detainees are treated with dignity and respect, with access to legal advice and health care facilities," said Wood.
Federal authorities are proposing to control, but not close, Illinois shipping locks in an effort to prevent the Asian carp from infiltrating the Great Lakes. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm did not agree with the plan.
He was an enigma, a man looking for a home, producing writing that was cryptic and full of longing.... the McSweeneys insisted that the use of the name was acceptable, even appropriate, given Timothy's background as an artist and search for connection and meaning through the written word.
It seems odd that Apple execs would even hint at the possibility of an early price cut lest they give folks already on the fence about buying the first iteration of the device more reason to stay there.
Rep. John Murtha died after gallbladder surgery complications, his office said. An ex-Marine who became an Iraq war critic, he was known as one of the "kings of pork."
• Democrats fear Republicans will win seat held since 1974 • President's poll ratings fall further amid health care impasse
The Democratic party faces another election test after the death yesterday of John Murtha, a congressman dubbed by his colleagues the "king of pork".
Murtha, aged 77, had been in the House of Representatives since being elected to his Pennsylvania district in 1974.
The fear in the party is that Republicans will notch up another victory when a special election is held, probably May.
The Democrats have been panicking since losing Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat to the Republicans last month.
Murtha's nickname referred to so-called pork barrel politics – bringing government spending to bear in a representative's own district.
His death came on a day that saw Barack Obama's poll ratings fall further. A Marist poll found that only 44% of voters surveyed approved of his job performance, down 2% on December. More alarming for Democratic strategists, 57% of independents disapprove of his performance.
Murtha's death will have a neglible impact on the arithmetic of the House, where the Democrats have an overwhelming majority, unlike in the Senate. But another defeat in the spring would add to the sense of panic among Democrats in the run-up to the Congressional mid-term elections in November.
Murtha's office said he had died in hospital after complications following gallbladder surgery. He had been in hospital for several months.
His election in 1974 marked him out as the first of those to have served in Vietnam to make it into Congress.
He was popular on the left as one of the first senior Democrats in 2005 to turn against the Iraq war. But he was also one of the leading exponents of 'pork-barrel' politics, a practice that has long been reviled outside Washington and is one of the reasons for the present levels of disenchantment.
Murtha, as chairman of the House defence appropriations sub-committee, added 'earmarks', special spending projects to help his district, to defence bills, hence the King of Pork.
Scandal hovered over him throughout much of his career.
Murtha faced a tough race for re-election in 2008 after sabotaging his own campaign by referring to some of voters in Pennsylvania as "racist".
One of the reasons for the turnaround in Democratic fortunes is opposition to Barack Obama's health reform plan.
The president will make a fresh push this month to get his troubled health reform package through Congress by meeting both Democrats and Republicans, hoping to find common ground.
The half-day discussion at Blair House, opposite the White House, will be broadcast live on television to counter public criticism that too many deals in Washington are made behind closed doors.
Obama announced the meeting during a CBS television interview on Sunday evening. "I want to consult closely with our Republican colleagues … to ask them to put their ideas on the table. I want to come back and have a large meeting, Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward," he said.
The Republican leader in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, welcomed the move as "a real, bipartisan conversation", but added: "The problem with the Democrats' healthcare bills is not that the American people don't understand them; the American people do understand them and they don't like them."
The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, welcomed the meeting, but suggested he was unlikely to compromise, calling for the Democrats' bill to be shelved.
The move buys the Democrats a few more weeks while they debate among themselves whether to push forward with the bill or abandon it. The version of the bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve would extend health care to 30 million more Americans.
Rep. John Murtha (D) of Pennsylvania, who died Monday, was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to Congress. He also brought home billions in defense-related earmarks for his struggling district.
Conrad Murray freed on $75,000 bail after pleading not guilty to involuntary manslaughter
Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles yesterday in relation to the singer's death last year from a cocktail of drugs.
Murray, aged 57, pleaded not guilty just hours after being charged, and was released on bail of $75,000 (£48,000), and is due to reappear before the court on 5 April. The charge carries a jail term of four years.
The doctor has been under investigation almost since the singer's body was found at his home in Los Angeles in June last year.
Some Jackson fans shouted "murderer" as Murray entered the courthouse.
The doctor was appointed by Jackson appointed the doctor in May on a promise of $150,000 a month to help the singer through a series of comeback shows in London. Murray prescribed drugs to help the singer sleep, but insists there was nothing illegal in this.
The single charge against him claims he administered the powerful general anaesthetic propofol and two other sedatives "without due caution and circumspection" and "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson".
Murray flew from his home in Houston to Los Angeles last week for negotiations between prosecutors and his lawyers on his surrender.
A coroner's report in August said Jackson had died from a cocktail of drugs, including propofol, which Murray has admitted administering. Propofol is often used as an anaesthetic in surgery, but was used on Jackson to help him sleep. The doctor administered the drug on the morning Jackson died, and then left the room. On his return, the singer had died.
The case will centre in the main on the use of propofol to help Jackson sleep, but also how long Murray stayed by his side immediately afterwards, while the drug took effect. Murray said he had left Jackson for two minutes to go to the bathroom.
Legal specialists said it could be a complicated and protracted case, with medical experts called by both sides to discuss the ethics of administering propofol.
Jackson's parents, Kathryn and Joe, were in court yesterday, along with his siblings LaToya, Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Randy. Brian Oxman, Joe Jackson's lawyer, said some family members were disappointed that the doctor was charged only with involuntary manslaughter.
The Los Angeles district attorney's office said the deputy district attorney, David Walgreen, who is handling the attempt to extradite Roman Polanski in a child-sex case, will try the case. The district attorney's office credited the Los Angeles police and coroner's office for building the case against Murray. "Both agencies worked diligently and exhaustively to collect the evidence leading to the filing of the case," a statement said.
Bottles of propofol were in Murray's medicine bag and on the bedside table of Jackson's home.
Murray was employed by Jackson as he prepared for a series of 50 concerts aimed at reviving his career. The singer's career had been in steady decline after a series of allegations of child molestation that led to his arrest in 2003.
Jackson left an estate worth hundreds of millions and his death saw a new burst in sales of the star's music. A documentary film, Michael Jackson's This Is It, compiled from footage from rehearsals, earned nearly $260m.
On Safer Internet Day, the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is promoting a cartoon to help children stay safe online, and making information and advice available via Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8
It's the EU's annual Safer Internet Day today and CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, is using it to raise awareness among children and parents. In particular, it's promoting a new animated film, Lee and Kim's Adventures, which aims to help children aged from 5-7 to understand "the concepts of personal information and trust" and thus stay safer online. Research published last year by Ofcom suggested that 80% of this age group use the net.
CEOP has also worked with Microsoft to add features to the Internet Explorer 8 browser, mainly by installing a Web Slice, though it's also possible to add search suggestions and Favorites (bookmarks). A Web Slice adds a button to the Favorites bar and shows a panel of content that can be updated from the site. In this case, the ClickCEOP button provides links that children can click for help with cyberbullying, harmful content and other problems, or ask for age-appropriate advice.
Users who don't have IE8 can download the CEOP version. Where children use a different browser, parents can add a link to https://www.ceop.police.uk/reportabuse/ This web page provides the same information.
CEOP is also running a Protect programme, where volunteers from O2, Visa Europe and Microsoft are "joining forces with CEOP to deliver online safety into hundreds of schools".
Jim Gamble, chief executive of the CEOP Centre and lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on protecting children on the internet, said:
"This is about behaviour, not technology. But it is also about delivering contemporary, dynamic advice that is sympathetic to the needs of the children and young people we reach and helps the parent or carer to play their role in a way that is positive, supportive and understanding. CEOP's materials do that. We have updated them to cover new issues such as 'sexting' and new forms of bullying and we have listened to teachers to deliver new cartoons for very young children."
Children's Secretary Ed Balls said: "The internet is a fantastic tool for young people and can open their eyes to tremendous opportunities. But it's important that parents and children understand the risks involved with using the internet, as with any area of life."
Cynthia Crossley, director of Microsoft Online in UK, said: "This is about making kids more savvy. You want to raise your children to make smarter decisions about what they do online."
Although Safer Internet Day is promoted by the EU, these are UK-only initiatives.
by Stephen Brook, Helen Pidd at 17:05 PM, 02/08/2010
Claim of separation 'false as well as intrusive', say lawyers, as Pitt and Jolie begin action in London high court
As Hollywood's most famous power couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are used to every aspect of their life together being dissected in the world's media, whether it's rumours over yet another adoption, the meaning of a new tattoo, or their feelings about the other's exes.
But when the News of the World ran a front page story last month declaring the couple were splitting up after six years and as many children, and dividing their £205m joint fortune, the pair decided enough was enough, and wrote to the paper to demand an apology for these "false and intrusive allegations".
The tabloid refused to retract the story, or apologise, according to Pitt and Jolie's lawyers, and so yesterday the actors decided to sue. The couple "unequivocally" say that the story was false, and appear to be suing not for just for libel, but also for "misuse of private information", or privacy.
The action comes two years after the News of the World lost its privacy battle with Max Mosley when a high court judge ruled the F1 boss had a right to keep private his adventures with five dominatrices.
Pitt and Jolie began their legal action in the high court in London against News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary which publishes the News of the World. News Group is owned by Rupert Murdoch – as is 20th Century Fox, which made Mr and Mrs Smith, the film that gave the setting for Pitt and Jolie's blossoming love affair six years ago.
Keith Schilling of Schillings, their London lawyers, said yesterday the allegations had been reproduced in other newspapers. "The News of the World has failed to meet our clients' reasonable demands for a retraction of and apology for these false and intrusive allegations, which have now been widely republished by mainstream news outlets. We have advised them to bring proceedings, which they have now done."
Schillings said the News of the World article contravened the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct, which states that a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion "once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and – where appropriate – an apology published".
The law firm added that publication amounted to a serious misuse of private information; it was not required to disclose whether the information was true or false. "However in this case we can confirm unequivocally, and upon instructions, that the allegations published by the News of the World are false as well as intrusive," the firm said.
The News of the World alleged on 24 January that the couple visited a lawyer to begin thrashing out a separation deal and that, last month, they signed a deal to divide their wealth. The article also claimed their children would live with Jolie but Pitt would have visitation rights; the separation would occur imminently.
Pitt and Jolie have three adopted children – Maddox, eight, Pax, six, and Zahara, five – as well as Shiloh, three, and 17-month-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
Schillings also said some media reports falsely identified a woman called Sorrell Trope as the couple's lawyer. Trope gave a statement to Schillings saying: "I have had no contact from .... Angelina Jolie and/or Brad Pitt. I have never met your ... clients or had any involvement with either of them. The foregoing is true with respect to all other members of this firm".
The News of the World's story went round the world but was rubbished by news outlets such as TMZ.com, which broke news of Michael Jackson's death, and US celebrity magazine People.
Pitt and Jolie have never married. Pitt divorced Jennifer Aniston, in 2005 after five years of marriage. Jolie has been married twice, to actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton; both marriages ended in divorce.
A spokeswoman for the News of the World declined to comment.
In his action against the paper in 2008, Mosley was awarded £60,000 damages, after the judge, Mr Justice Eady, ruled: "The law now affords protection to information in respect of which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, even in circumstances where there is no pre-existing relationship giving rise of itself to an enforceable duty of confidence."
When celebrity scoops have turned sour
In 2008, the Daily Star had to apologise for a story headlined: "It's Sven Giggle Eriksson. Laughing boss still a hit with the ladies." The story said the former England manager "put on an irresistible charm show" as women queued to meet him. "Sven got so carried away with one ... that his hand appeared to stray towards her bum." Unfortunately, the lady in question was Lina, Eriksson's daughter.
Also in 2008, Le Monde published a front-page apology to President Nicolas Sarkozy after a mix-up over the first names of his third wife and his second. "An unfortunate slip" had caused the French daily to report on antics of one Cecilia Bruni-Sarkozy: "We were of course referring to the wife of the head of state, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy," explained the correction.
In 1988 the Sun ran a front-page apology under the headline SORRY ELTON, after it printed two false stories about the singer – one about him having sex with rent boys, and another accusing him of removing the voice boxes of his guard dogs because their barking kept him awake. Elton John was also awarded £1m in damages after suing in the high court.
The Sunday Mirror in 2003 claimed Victoria, below, and David Beckham had split up. The apology confirmed "that Victoria did not tell David to leave Spain, or that their marriage was over. David did not refuse to back down, and far from being in ruins, their marriage is very strong and they are as much in love as ever. They have not discussed a trial separation and there has been no row about the children's schooling."
In the Daily Mirror had to fall on its sword when showbiz reporter Fiona Cummins wrote, together with a photo, that Sienna Miller was seen drunkenly rolling on the floor at a children's charity ball. The paper acknowledged she had not been drunk and the photo was of her playing on the floor with a seriously ill six-year-old child
In October 2009, after 2.5 years of using Twitter every day, I wrote a piece that explained the limits of Twitter that we'll have to look past Twitter to see solved, because Twitter doesn't seem to be trying to solve them.
Tomorrow, we hear, Google will announce a product that aims to take on Twitter. If so, here's a list of features to look for. Any of these features would give Google a serious edge over Twitter. Maybe they thought of some things I don't have on my list. It's always nice to put your stake in the ground. I did it with the iPad with some hilarious results.
So here's the list of must-have features:
1. Reliability. Twitter still has trouble dealing with high-flow events like last night's SuperBowl. Lots of Fail Whales. So if Google is able to offer reliability, no matter how much of an advantage Twitter's installed base is, it won't matter. When Twitter goes down everyone will reassemble on Glitter.
2. Enclosures. Can you imagine if you couldn't enclose a picture or an MP3 with an email message? Why do we jump through so many hoops just to tweet a picture?
3. Open architecture metadata. Let developers throw any data onto a status message, giving it a name and a type, and let everyone else sort it out. It would result in an explosion of creativity.
4. Relationships with hardware vendors. I still want a one-click Twitter camera. If I can't have it from Twitter, I'll take it from Google.
5. No 140-character limit. I debated this one with myself. At first I compromised and said okay let's have a 250-character limit, or a 500-character limit. But I really don't want a limit. If I want to write short status messages, no problemmo. We've already made the cultural transition. We know how to do it. But sometimes a thought just can't be expressed in 140 characters. No one is wise enough to know what the limit is, so let's just not have one.
6. No URL-shorteners. I've explained this so many times. They're stupid and ugly and they hurt the web. I like it when developers take the time to craft their URLs so they make sense to users. That's all the shortening we really need and all we should have.
Those are some of my wish-list items. It seems likely Google will offer #1 and #2. Very unlikely they'll do #3 (they don't trust developers any more than Apple does). Probably not #4, though it would be easy to get some people from Kodak and Sony to come on stage with them. #5 would take a teeny bit of guts. It's a perfect way to throw some serious confusion at Twitter. I'd recommend going all the way, but if they can't, go to 500-characters. Get some editors and authors on stage to say how nice it would be. Because they're making a commitment to their own URL-shortener it seems unlikely they would outlaw them on their status network, but one can hope.
I usually don't subscribe to the idea that new products aimed at the user base of an established product are "killers" -- but it's been a long time since we've seen a product as ripe for killing as Twitter. (Lotus 1-2-3 was probably the last great example.)
The hubris of Twitter is the assumption that the product is unassailable because of the features they leave out. Sooner or later one of their competitors is going to test that theory, and I'm pretty sure it'll prove incorrect. And where they include horrendous features that a competitor might leave out (I'm thinking of URL-shortening) they don't seem to feel any pressure to take it out. Yet almost every user would enjoy a Twitter with real full URLs that didn't take up any of the 140-character space. Hard to imagine anyone objecting.
OTOH, Google is a big clunky Microsoft-like company with strategy taxes, and they don't trust the web or developers, or each other, and their internal politics drive most of the decisions they make. To compete with Twitter is an easy sell inside Google, but to actually have the will to be cut-throat about it, that's another thing. It'll probably have to pay homage to Google Wave (remember that?) and therefore will have some elements that are completely incomprehensible. Twitter likely won't get killed, because Google's product will likely fall far-short of what's needed to get us all to think they can be trusted.
The usual disclaimers apply. This is all tea-leave-reading, I have no actual information, and I'm usually way wrong with these prognostications, but it's still good to share the thought process.
Update #1: A commenter named Scott says: "If people were posting dissertations, I'd be much less likely to read." Tom Caswell says: "How about a 'more' button you could set in the preferences? I would set mine at 140 characters for old times sake." Even better, it could default to 140 for old times sake.
Update #2: Cesar Razuri: "also, make hashtags some sort of meta data in our tweets that doesn't add to character length" Good idea.
Update #3: Scoble weighs in. Even though Google's past efforts at social media have failed, he thinks this time they have a good chance of succeeding.
PC World - Rumors are hinting that an upgrade to Apple's MacBook Pro notebook line could be coming in the near future. The rumor comes courtesy of French site Nowhere Else, which claims that Apple will reveal updated Macbook Pro's featuring Intel's newest Core i7 chips. '
Hudson's nifty turn-based strategy game, Military Madness, enjoyed a revival on Xbox Live last year with Nectaris. Now it's spreading the love to iPhones with Military Madness: Neo Nectaris.
Fujitsu's LifeBook line has produced some impressive contenders among tablet PCs, and the Fujitsu LifeBook T4410 rates as a solid and versatile performer for business users. With a glut of multitouch-friendly tablets (including the vaunted Apple iPad) promising to revolutionize the way we compute, it's easy to forget that convertible laptops have been around for a while now. The LifeBook T4410 ($1299 for the configuration we tested) may not match the low prices of those "other" tablets, but it has the advantage of being a fully functional laptop, too.
The singer Pink's recent performance at the Grammy's evoked this reaction from comedian Joe Rogan: Her performance was like Jimi Hendrix doing the star spangled banner while Michael Jackson moon walked and Susan Boyle sang back up. The song, "Glitter in the Air," is from Pink's 2008 album "Funhouse." Much of that album was Pink's reflections on the breakup of her marriage to motocross star Carey Hart. But the story between Pink and Hart doesn't end there... Pink and Carey Hart were married in 2006 (she asked him to marry her by holding up a sign during one of his races). They separated in early 2008 prompting Pink to write her number one hit "So What." The song opens with the lines "I guess I just lost my husband, I don't know where he went." The video includes a giant pillow fight.
Later that year Hart's brother died in a motorcycle accident. Pink attended the funeral, sang at a benefit, and the two eventually reconciled. Hart then surprised Pink in Hannover, Germany at the final show of her "Funhouse Tour." During Pink's performance of "So What," the song about the end of their relationship, the dancers sneaked Hart, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, on-stage (in place of the dancer who is supposed to represent Hart). Pink pulls his hood off and, upon recognizing Hart, staggers backwards in surprise. Then she pulls him in for a kiss. Cue the pillow fight...
Former Intel executive Rajiv Goel has pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy and securities fraud in connection with the Galleon insider trading case. Goel is the tenth person to plead guilty in the case, which the FBI and the US attorney's office in Manhattan call the largest hedge fund inside trading case in US history.…
Twins logging on to Facebook to read birthday wishes instead discover that people have left RIP posts about their 17-year-old brother. Police hadn't notified the family.
At this week's Macworld Expo, iHound Software will hand out stickers aimed at aiding people who find lost iPhones to reunite them with their owners. And for the month of February, iHound has dropped the price on its iPhone app.
Google has quietly chopped $200 off its early termination fee on the Nexus One, meaning it will now cost users less -- $350 rather than $550 -- to cancel service on the smartphone. That matches Verizon Wireless's termination fee for smartphones, now tied with the Nexus One as the steepest return fee in the industry.
"What Would You Change About the NYC Taxi Cab?" is one response to The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission's call for a new taxi cab design. New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission:
Today's taxi fleet is made up of 16 different vehicles, supported by 9 manufacturers. None of the vehicles currently approved as taxis were designed by the original manufacturers as taxis; rather they have all been outfitted ("hacked up") by third party upfitters, garages and meter shops to
conform to TLC's taxicab specifications. But these current vehicles fall short of meeting the
needs of stakeholders: there is no one vehicle that is clean, accessible, and comfortable and
meets the needs of a New York City taxicab.
The goal of the RFP is to seek a highly-qualified manufacturer that has the knowledge
and practical experience necessary to bring the TLC's and its stakeholders' vision of the next
generation of taxicab to fruition, representing all the stated qualities below:
Meets highest safety standards
Superior passenger experience
Superior driver comfort and amenities
Appropriate purchase price and ongoing maintenance and repair costs
Smaller environmental footprint (lower emissions and improved fuel economy)
Smaller physical footprint (with more usable interior room)
Universal accessibility for all users
Iconic design that will identify the new taxi with New York City
Concerns about the ability of Greece, Spain, and Portugal to pay their debts caused the Dow Jones Industrial average to drop more than 100 points, closing below 10000 for the first time since early November.
AP - A disappointing outlook from Electronic Arts Inc. sent shares of the video game publisher sharply lower Monday, a sign that significant cost-cuts and layoffs have not ended the company's slump.
Crime author Simon Beckett is huge in Scandinavia and Germany but totally unknown in his native Britain
Until the end of last week, I had no idea I was one of the bestselling authors in Europe in 2009, let alone the bestselling UK author. It came as a real, pleasant shock. After years in the career doldrums, I'm still getting used to the novelty of seeing the word "bestseller" next to my name.
I had known that my crime series about Dr David Hunter, an emotionally damaged forensic anthropologist, was doing well. The books have been translated into 27 languages, and appeared on bestseller charts in several of those countries. In the last 12 months, I've done interviews and readings in the Netherlands and Sweden, and been forced to turn down almost as many invitations again.
But the biggest surprise has been with Germany. Over there, the books have sold in their millions. I had no idea of the scale of things until I went over last year to give readings. These are normally sedate affairs where empty chairs outnumber the audience. So I was unprepared to find myself – a British author who doesn't speak German – selling out several-hundred-seat venues in Hamburg, Munich and Dusseldorf.
In Cologne, I was casually told on the way to the hall (yes, an actual hall) that 900 tickets had been sold. Afterwards, as I sat for almost an hour signing books, ticket stubs and photographs, it took me a while to realise that the man standing beside me was a security guard. My own security guard. How did that happen?
German journalists often ask if I'm recognised in my home city of Sheffield. Well, no: not that I'd want to be. A few days before I heard the news about the European ranking I was at a funeral, along with people I'd not seen for a few years. "Still writing?" one of them asked. "Managing to keep your head above water?"
I said I was. Which is as it should be. I didn't exactly become a writer to be a celebrity.
The obvious question I'm asked now is why the books have been such a success, especially in Germany. The honest answer is that I don't know. I wanted to write tense, involving thrillers with engaging characters, but then any crime writer would say that. I could point to good editors, marketing and translators, who all contribute. But I think it's mainly indefinable. Call it being in the right place, with the right idea, at the right time. It's fantastic, of course, and what every writer hopes will happen. It's just a little strange when it does.
Simon Beckett's latest novel, Whispers of the Dead (Bantam Books), is out now
• Wintry weather helps push January sales to a 15-year low • Retail figures dash government's hope of spring election boost
The high street suffered its worst January in at least 15 years last month as snow storms, higher VAT and anxious consumers all took their toll on sales, the British Retail Consortium reports today.
The warning from the BRC that trading in 2010 got off to an "awful" start will dent the government's hopes of accelerating growth in the run-up to a spring poll and will also cast further doubt on David Cameron's plans to cut spending in a snap post-election budget.
The BRC said a bumper Christmas had been followed by a new year hangover, with sales down 0.7% in January. It was the worst start to the year since the BRC started releasing data 15 years ago and reflected falling sales of non-essentials, such as books and furniture, as people were unable or unwilling to brave the bad weather.
Stephen Robertson, the trade body's director general, said January's performance was in "stark contrast" to an upbeat December, when some retailers posted double-digit sales growth.
"The coldest January since 1987 boosted food sales at the start of the month, as shoppers stocked up. But food sales growth melted with the snow. The month as a whole was significantly weaker than December," he said.
The snow boosted sales of knitwear, winter boots and electric blankets, but smaller shops struggled to stay open, clothes shoppers stayed home – including during the normally busy winter sales weeks – and DIY and gardening sales also suffered. Non-essentials were knocked, the BRC said, with book sales falling at the fastest rate in more than a year.
The blow to January sales was not just as a result of the bad weather. The government reintroduced the 17.5% VAT rate, after having reduced it to 15% in December 2008 in a bid to stimulate spending. While Christmas prompted many shoppers to spend as pent-up demand from the year boiled over, economic and political uncertainty encouraged them to tighten their belts again in January.
Helen Dickinson, head of retail at the report's sponsor, the auditors KPMG, said consumers were worried about further job losses, the prospect of other tax rises and the risk of interest rate rises later in the year."The underlying trend is difficult to read, but there is no doubt that the strong sales we saw in December 2009 are not indicative of the trend for the rest of this year," she said.
Philip Shaw, an economist at specialist bank Investec, said: "Because of the relative size of the service sector, GDP was probably negatively impacted over January as a whole." He did not predict a prolonged effect. He added: "The likelihood is that was a temporary factor and there will be a catch-up in February – unless of course we see blizzards in February."
In a report into 2009's snow storms, the Centre for Economics and Business Research thinktank estimated there would be a daily loss of £900m, using the calculation of UK GDP per day of about £4.5bn and a 20% loss in productivity, as people stayed home from work or were less effective once they got there.
The BRC said the snow boosted food sales in the first week of January as people stocked up on essentials. Over the month, food, clothing and footwear showed gains on a year ago, but homewares and furniture showed declines - echoing economists predictions that the snow could delay, but not necessarily cancel, major purchases.
While the high street suffered in the blizzards, there was a boost to home shopping as internet, mail order and phone sales of non-food items jumped 14.6% in January.The snow did not just hurt retailers in January. In the housing market, activity was hit by the bad weather although prices continued to rise, according to a report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, also released today.
However, surveyors reported that buyer inquiries fell for the first time in 14 months."The cold snap in January clearly had a huge impact upon both supply and demand in the housing market with activity coming to a halt amidst the seasonal chaos. Activity and interest is likely to pick up in the coming months as the market experiences a spring bounce," said RICS spokesman Ian Perry.
"House prices are likely to rise in the short term but if more supply continues to come onto the market, it is possible that the market will run out of steam in the latter part of the year."
George Kerr has been playing judo since he was eight; now he's one of only seven people in the world to have attained 10th Dan
'It is a huge achievement, I must admit," says George Kerr when pushed, with a slight note of reticence in his Scottish accent. On Saturday, Kerr was given the status of 10th Dan in judo at a ceremony in Paris – one of only seven living judokas in the world, and only the second Brit, to have achieved the highest level in the sport. (All but five of the 19 people who have won the honour since 1935 have been Japanese.)
"I used to read the [judo] books when I was a kid, and see these old people in them who were 9th and 10th Dan," he says, "but I never dreamt I would one day be one of them." At 72, Kerr is also the youngest of this elite group – "a very young 72," he points out – chosen by the International Judo Federation, the sport's governing body.
What do you have to do to reach 10th Dan (to put its dizzying height in perspective, someone who is a "black belt" in judo is only a 1st Dan)? You don't need to be able to beat a 22-year-old – most are elevated to 10th Dan in their 80s, and even posthumously. "I think I just ticked all the boxes," says Kerr, who was European judo champion in 1957, twice won the British Open championship, trained an Olympic two-times-gold medallist, has refereed the sport at the Olympics and is president of the British Judo Association. He first tried the sport when he was eight – his father, an amateur boxer, had tried to get him to do boxing, but he lost his heart to judo. At 18, he won a scholarship to train in Japan, and lived there for four years.
"Judo has been my life," he says, adding that it's more than just a sport. "There is the whole moral code you need to live by as well – honour, integrity, discipline, politeness, not picking on people who are weaker than you. You have to live up to things such as looking after people. It's the way of the samurai, really."
Kerr teaches all this – as well as some sharp moves – at the Edinburgh club he now runs for children (he says the kids he trains are "over the moon"). When I ask if he has any plans to retire, he laughs and says, "Don't be silly. If you retire, you die. I can't imagine it; this is just in my blood."
Post Office Ltd 'missed opportunities' to discover how closures would effect local communities
The national consultation that led to the government's controversial post office closure programme was deeply flawed and so ineffective that it was regarded by many consumers as "a sham", a hard-hitting report will claim today. Research carried out by the consumer champion Consumer Focus reveals that although record numbers of people responded to the exercise, the Post Office failed to engage with them and missed the opportunity to understand how the planned cutbacks would destroy local communities.
Consumer Focus says its report, Seen and Heard? Consumer Engagement in the Post Office Closure Programme, identifies lessons for providers of other essential but vulnerable local services such as libraries and community transport.
The closure programme and consultation were overseen by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which in May 2007 announced that Post Office Ltd would close 2,500 branches and set up 500 new outreach services. Post Office Ltd consulted on each of its closure and outreach proposals for a six-week period, to determine which post offices would shut. Public consultations followed an 11-week period in which local authorities and the then industry watchdog, Postwatch, could seek changes to the proposals.
While Post Office Ltd reportedly received 190,000 formal responses to its consultation, Postwatch received a further 15,000 submissions. Consumer Focus's research suggests wider consumer engagement with the programme was significantly higher, with an estimated 2.7 million consumers making their views known through signed petitions, public meetings, responses to newspaper campaigns and letters to MPs and other elected officials – as well as formal responses to the consultation through Post Office Ltd.
However, only about one in 13 directly contributed to the formal decision-making process. The report warns: "As a result Post Office Ltd missed opportunities to obtain valuable local knowledge of how cutbacks would affect communities, and many consumers were left feeling that the consultation process was a sham."
Andy Burrows, public services expert for Consumer Focus, said: "With difficult times ahead, Consumer Focus urges public service providers who may face cuts, such as local authorities responsible for social care, community transport and libraries, to engage with consumers to ensure service changes meet their needs."
Lord Young, minister for postal affairs, commented: "The post office closures which took place were difficult but necessary to ensure the viability of the rest of the network and stop it losing half a million pounds a day. Post Office Ltd is now on a more sound financial footing and the government has made it clear that it will not support another round of closures. Robust consultations took place across the country with 2.7 million people making their views known. This led to 353 closure proposals being withdrawn."
Laws protecting workers' rights need to be improved to properly tackle poverty, a charity says.
This is the mysql man page, I'll put other information on here some other time.
mysql is a simple SQL shell (with GNU readline
capabilities). It supports interactive and non-interactive
use. When used interactively, query results are presented
in an ASCII-table format. When used non-interactively (for
example, as a filter), the result is presented in
tab-separated format. The output format can be changed
using command-line options.
If you have problems due to insufficient memory for large
result sets, use the --quick option. This forces mysql to
retrieve results from the server a row at a time rather
than retrieving the entire result set and buffering it in
memory before displaying it. This is done by using
mysql_use_result() rather than mysql_store_result() to
retrieve the result set.
Using mysql is very easy. Invoke it from the prompt of
your command interpreter as follows:
shell> mysql db_name
Or:
shell> mysql --user=user_name --password=your_password db_name
Then type an SQL statement, end it with `;, g, or G and
press Enter.
You can run a script simply like this:
shell> mysql db_name < script.sql > output.tab
OPTIONS
mysql supports the following options:
o --help, -?
Display a help message and exit.
o --batch, -B
Print results using tab as the column separator, with
each row on a new line. With this option, mysql does
not use the history file.
o --character-sets-dir=path
The directory where character sets are installed. See
Section 7.1, "The Character Set Used for Data and
Sorting".
o --compress, -C
Compress all information sent between the client and
the server if both support compression.
o --database=db_name, -D db_name
The database to use. This is useful mainly in an option
file.
o --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]
Write a debugging log. The debug_options string often
is 'd:t:o,file_name'. The default is
'd:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace'.
o --debug-info, -T
Print some debugging information when the program
exits.
o --default-character-set=charset
Use charset as the default character set. See
Section 7.1, "The Character Set Used for Data and
Sorting".
o --execute=statement, -e statement
Execute the statement and quit. The default output
format is like that produced with --batch. See
Section 3.1, "Using Options on the Command Line" for
some examples.
o --force, -f
Continue even if an SQL error occurs.
o --host=host_name, -h host_name
Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.
o --html, -H
Produce HTML output.
o --ignore-space, -i
Ignore spaces after function names. The effect of this
is described in the discussion for IGNORE_SPACE in the
section called "THE SERVER SQL MODE".
o --local-infile[={0|1}]
Enable or disable LOCAL capability for LOAD DATA
INFILE. With no value, the option enables LOCAL. It may
be given as --local-infile=0 or --local-infile=1 to
explicitly disable or enable LOCAL. Enabling LOCAL has
no effect if the server does not also support it.
o --named-commands, -G
Named commands are enabled. Long format commands are
allowed as well as shortened * commands. For example,
quit and q both are recognized.
o --no-auto-rehash, -A
No automatic rehashing. This option causes mysql to
start faster, but you must issue the rehash command if
you want to use table and column name completion.
o --no-beep, -b
Do not beep when errors occur.
o --no-named-commands, -g
Named commands are disabled. Use the * form only, or
use named commands only at the beginning of a line
ending with a semicolon (`;). As of MySQL 3.23.22,
mysql starts with this option enabled by default.
However, even with this option, long-format commands
still work from the first line.
o --no-pager
Do not use a pager for displaying query output. Output
paging is discussed further in the section called
"FBMYSQLFR COMMANDS".
o --no-tee
Do not copy output to a file. Tee files are discussed
further in the section called "FBMYSQLFR COMMANDS".
o --one-database, -O
Ignore statements except those for the default database
named on the command line. This is useful for skipping
updates to other databases in the binary log.
o --pager[=command]
Use the given command for paging query output. If the
command is omitted, the default pager is the value of
your PAGER environment variable. Valid pagers are less,
more, cat [> filename], and so forth. This option works
only on Unix. It does not work in batch mode. Output
paging is discussed further in the section called
"FBMYSQLFR COMMANDS".
o --password[=password], -p[password]
The password to use when connecting to the server. If
you use the short option form (-p), you cannot have a
space between the option and the password. If you omit
the password value following the --password or -p
option on the command line, you are prompted for one.
The password should be omitted on SysV-based UNIX
systems, as the password may be displayed in the output
of ps.
o --port=port_num, -P port_num
The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.
o --prompt=format_str
Set the prompt to the specified format. The default is
mysql>. The special sequences that the prompt can
contain are described in the section called
"FBMYSQLFR COMMANDS".
o --protocol={TCP | SOCKET | PIPE | MEMORY}
The connection protocol to use.
o --quick, -q
Do not cache each query result, print each row as it is
received. This may slow down the server if the output
is suspended. With this option, mysql does not use the
history file.
o --raw, -r
Write column values without escape conversion. Often
used with the --batch option.
o --reconnect
If the connection to the server is lost, automatically
try to reconnect. A single reconnect attempt is made
each time the connection is lost. To suppress
reconnection behavior, use --skip-reconnect.
o --safe-updates, --i-am-a-dummy, -U
Allow only those UPDATE and DELETE statements that
specify rows to affect using key values. If you have
set this option in an option file, you can override it
by using --safe-updates on the command line. See the
section called "FBMYSQLFR TIPS" for more information
about this option.
o --secure-auth
Do not send passwords to the server in old (pre-4.1.1)
format. This prevents connections except for servers
that use the newer password format.
o --show-warnings
Cause warnings to be shown after each statement if
there are any. This option applies to interactive and
batch mode. This option was added in MySQL 5.0.6.
o --sigint-ignore
Ignore SIGINT signals (typically the result of typing
Control-C).
o --silent, -s
Silent mode. Produce less output. This option can be
given multiple times to produce less and less output.
o --skip-column-names, -N
Do not write column names in results.
o --skip-line-numbers, -L
Do not write line numbers for errors. Useful when you
want to compare result files that include error
messages.
o --socket=path, -S path
The socket file to use for the connection.
o --table, -t
Display output in table format. This is the default for
interactive use, but can be used to produce table
output in batch mode.
o --tee=file_name
Append a copy of output to the given file. This option
does not work in batch mode. Tee files are discussed
further in the section called "FBMYSQLFR COMMANDS".
o --unbuffered, -n
Flush the buffer after each query.
o --user=user_name, -u user_name
The MySQL username to use when connecting to the
server.
o --verbose, -v
Verbose mode. Produce more output. This option can be
given multiple times to produce more and more output.
(For example, -v -v -v produces the table output format
even in batch mode.)
o --version, -V
Display version information and exit.
o --vertical, -E
Print the rows of query output vertically. Without this
option, you can specify vertical output for individual
statements by terminating them with G.
o --wait, -w
If the connection cannot be established, wait and retry
instead of aborting.
o --xml, -X
Produce XML output.
You can also set the following variables by using
--var_name=value options:
o connect_timeout
The number of seconds before connection timeout.
(Default value is 0.)
o max_allowed_packet
The maximum packet length to send to or receive from
the server. (Default value is 16MB.)
o max_join_size
The automatic limit for rows in a join when using
--safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000,000.)
o net_buffer_length
The buffer size for TCP/IP and socket communication.
(Default value is 16KB.)
o select_limit
The automatic limit for SELECT statements when using
--safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000.)
It is also possible to set variables by using
--set-variable=var_name=value or -O var_name=value syntax.
This syntax is deprecated.
On Unix, the mysql client writes a record of executed
statements to a history file. By default, the history file
is named and is created in your home directory. To specify
a different file, set the value of the MYSQL_HISTFILE
environment variable.
If you do not want to maintain a history file, first
remove if it exists, and then use either of the following
techniques:
o Set the MYSQL_HISTFILE variable to /dev/null. To cause
this setting to take effect each time you log in, put
the setting in one of your shell's startup files.
o Create as a symbolic link to /dev/null:
shell> ln -s /dev/null /.mysql_history
You need do this only once.
FBMYSQLFR COMMANDS
mysql sends SQL statements that you issue to the server to
be executed. There is also a set of commands that mysql
itself interprets. For a list of these commands, type help
or h at the mysql> prompt:
mysql> help
List of all MySQL commands:
Note that all text commands must be first on line and end with ';'
? (?) Synonym for `help'.
clear (i Clear command.
connect (
) Reconnect to the server. Optional arguments are db and host.
delimiter (d) Set statement delimiter. NOTE: Takes the rest of the line as new delimiter.
edit () Edit command with .
ego (G) Send command to mysql server, display result vertically.
exit (q) Exit mysql. Same as quit.
go (g) Send command to mysql server.
help (h) Display this help.
nopager (
) Disable pager, print to stdout.
notee ( ) Don't write into outfile.
pager (P) Set PAGER [to_pager]. Print the query results via PAGER.
print (p) Print current command.
prompt (R) Change your mysql prompt.
quit (q) Quit mysql.
rehash (#) Rebuild completion hash.
source (.) Execute an SQL script file. Takes a file name as an argument.
status (s) Get status information from the server.
system (!) Execute a system shell command.
tee (T) Set outfile [to_outfile]. Append everything into given outfile.
use () Use another database. Takes database name as argument.
warnings (W) Show warnings after every statement.
nowarning (w) Don't show warnings after every statement.
Each command has both a long and short form. The long form
is not case sensitive; the short form is. The long form
can be followed by an optional semicolon terminator, but
the short form should not.
In the delimiter command, you should avoid the use of the
backslash (`) character because that is the escape
character for MySQL.
The edit, nopager, pager, and system commands work only in
Unix.
The status command provides some information about the
connection and the server you are using. If you are
running in --safe-updates mode, status also prints the
values for the mysql variables that affect your queries.
To log queries and their output, use the tee command. All
the data displayed on the screen is appended into a given
file. This can be very useful for debugging purposes also.
You can enable this feature on the command line with the
--tee option, or interactively with the tee command. The
tee file can be disabled interactively with the notee
command. Executing tee again re-enables logging. Without a
parameter, the previous file is used. Note that tee
flushes query results to the file after each statement,
just before mysql prints its next prompt.
Browsing or searching query results in interactive mode by
using Unix programs such as less, more, or any other
similar program is possible with the --pager option. If
you specify no value for the option, mysql checks the
value of the PAGER environment variable and sets the pager
to that. Output paging can be enabled interactively with
the pager command and disabled with nopager. The command
takes an optional argument; if given, the paging program
is set to that. With no argument, the pager is set to the
pager that was set on the command line, or stdout if no
pager was specified.
Output paging works only in Unix because it uses the
popen() function, which does not exist on Windows. For
Windows, the tee option can be used instead to save query
output, although this is not as convenient as pager for
browsing output in some situations.
A few tips about the pager command:
o You can use it to write to a file and the results go
only to the file:
mysql> pager cat > /tmp/log.txt
You can also pass any options for the program that you
want to use as your pager:
mysql> pager less -n -i -S
o In the preceding example, note the -S option. You may
find it very useful for browsing wide query results.
Sometimes a very wide result set is difficult to read
on the screen. The -S option to less can make the
result set much more readable because you can scroll it
horizontally using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys.
You can also use -S interactively within less to switch
the horizontal-browse mode on and off. For more
information, read the less manual page:
shell> man less
o You can specify very complex pager commands for
handling query output:
mysql> pager cat | tee /dr1/tmp/res.txt
| tee /dr2/tmp/res2.txt | less -n -i -S
In this example, the command would send query results
to two files in two different directories on two
different filesystems mounted on /dr1 and /dr2, yet
still display the results onscreen via less.
You can also combine the tee and pager functions. Have a
tee file enabled and pager set to less, and you are able
to browse the results using the less program and still
have everything appended into a file the same time. The
difference between the Unix tee used with the pager
command and the mysql built-in tee command is that the
built-in tee works even if you do not have the Unix tee
available. The built-in tee also logs everything that is
printed on the screen, whereas the Unix tee used with
pager does not log quite that much. Additionally, tee file
logging can be turned on and off interactively from within
mysql. This is useful when you want to log some queries to
a file, but not others.
The default mysql> prompt can be reconfigured. The string
for defining the prompt can contain the following special
sequences:
Option Description
v The server version
d The current database
h The server host
p The current TCP/IP port or socket file
Your username
YOUR FULL USER_NAME ACCOUNT NAME
\ A LITERAL ` BACKSLASH CHARACTER
A NEWLINE CHARACTER
A TAB CHARACTER
A SPACE (A SPACE FOLLOWS THE BACKSLASH)
_ A SPACE
R THE CURRENT TIME, IN 24-HOUR MILITARY TIME (0-23)
THE CURRENT TIME, STANDARD 12-HOUR TIME (1-12)
M MINUTES OF THE CURRENT TIME
Y THE CURRENT YEAR, TWO DIGITS
Y THE CURRENT YEAR, FOUR DIGITS
D THE FULL CURRENT DATE
S SECONDS OF THE CURRENT TIME
W THE CURRENT DAY OF THE WEEK IN THREE-LETTER FORMAT (MON, TUE, ...)
P AM/PM
O THE CURRENT MONTH IN NUMERIC FORMAT
O THE CURRENT MONTH IN THREE-LETTER FORMAT (JAN, FEB, ...)
IA COUNTER THAT INCREMENTS FOR EACH STATEMENT YOU ISSUE
S SEMICOLON'SINGLE QUOTE"DOUBLE QUOTE.PP ` FOLLOWED BY
ANY OTHER LETTER JUST BECOMES THAT LETTER.
IF YOU SPECIFY THE PROMPT COMMAND WITH NO ARGUMENT, MYSQL
RESETS THE PROMPT TO THE DEFAULT OF MYSQL>.
YOU CAN SET THE PROMPT IN SEVERAL WAYS:
O USE AN ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE
YOU CAN SET THE MYSQL_PS1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE TO A
PROMPT STRING. FOR EXAMPLE:
SHELL> EXPORT MYSQL_PS1="(@H) [D]> "
O USE AN OPTION FILE
YOU CAN SET THE PROMPT OPTION IN THE [MYSQL] GROUP OF
ANY MYSQL OPTION FILE, SUCH AS /ETC/MY.CNF OR THE FILE
IN YOUR HOME DIRECTORY. FOR EXAMPLE:
[MYSQL]
PROMPT=(\U@\H) [\D]>\_
IN THIS EXAMPLE, NOTE THAT THE BACKSLASHES ARE DOUBLED.
IF YOU SET THE PROMPT USING THE PROMPT OPTION IN AN
OPTION FILE, IT IS ADVISABLE TO DOUBLE THE BACKSLASHES
WHEN USING THE SPECIAL PROMPT OPTIONS. THERE IS SOME
OVERLAP IN THE SET OF ALLOWABLE PROMPT OPTIONS AND THE
SET OF SPECIAL ESCAPE SEQUENCES THAT ARE RECOGNIZED IN
OPTION FILES. (THESE SEQUENCES ARE LISTED IN
SECTION 3.2, "USING OPTION FILES".) THE OVERLAP MAY
CAUSE YOU PROBLEMS IF YOU USE SINGLE BACKSLASHES. FOR
EXAMPLE, S IS INTERPRETED AS A SPACE RATHER THAN AS
THE CURRENT SECONDS VALUE. THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE SHOWS
HOW TO DEFINE A PROMPT WITHIN AN OPTION FILE TO INCLUDE
THE CURRENT TIME IN HH:MM:SS> FORMAT:
[MYSQL]
PROMPT="\R:\M:\S> "
O USE A COMMAND-LINE OPTION
YOU CAN SET THE --PROMPT OPTION ON THE COMMAND LINE TO
MYSQL. FOR EXAMPLE:
SHELL> MYSQL --PROMPT="(@H) [D]> "
(USER) [DATABASE]>
O INTERACTIVELY
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR PROMPT INTERACTIVELY BY USING THE
PROMPT (OR R) COMMAND. FOR EXAMPLE:
MYSQL> PROMPT (@H) [D]>_
PROMPT SET TO '(@H) [D]>_'
(USER) [DATABASE]>
(USER) [DATABASE]> PROMPT
RETURNING TO DEFAULT PROMPT OF MYSQL>
MYSQL>
EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE
THE MYSQL CLIENT TYPICALLY IS USED INTERACTIVELY, LIKE
THIS:
SHELL> MYSQL DB_NAME
HOWEVER, IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO PUT YOUR SQL STATEMENTS IN
A FILE AND THEN TELL MYSQL TO READ ITS INPUT FROM THAT
FILE. TO DO SO, CREATE A TEXT FILE TEXT_FILE THAT CONTAINS
THE STATEMENTS YOU WISH TO EXECUTE. THEN INVOKE MYSQL AS
SHOWN HERE:
SHELL> MYSQL DB_NAME < TEXT_FILE
YOU CAN ALSO START YOUR TEXT FILE WITH A USE DB_NAME
STATEMENT. IN THIS CASE, IT IS UNNECESSARY TO SPECIFY THE
DATABASE NAME ON THE COMMAND LINE:
SHELL> MYSQL < TEXT_FILE
IF YOU ARE RUNNING MYSQL, YOU CAN EXECUTE AN SQL SCRIPT
FILE USING THE SOURCE OR . COMMAND:
MYSQL> SOURCE FILENAME
MYSQL> . FILENAME
SOMETIMES YOU MAY WANT YOUR SCRIPT TO DISPLAY PROGRESS
INFORMATION TO THE USER; FOR THIS YOU CAN INSERT SOME
LINES LIKE
SELECT '' AS ' ';
WHICH OUTPUTS .
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BATCH MODE, SEE SECTION 5,
"USING MYSQL IN BATCH MODE".
FBMYSQLFR TIPS
THIS SECTION DESCRIBES SOME TECHNIQUES THAT CAN HELP YOU
USE MYSQL MORE EFFECTIVELY.
DISPLAYING QUERY RESULTS VERTICALLY
SOME QUERY RESULTS ARE MUCH MORE READABLE WHEN DISPLAYED
VERTICALLY, INSTEAD OF IN THE USUAL HORIZONTAL TABLE
FORMAT. QUERIES CAN BE DISPLAYED VERTICALLY BY TERMINATING
THE QUERY WITH G INSTEAD OF A SEMICOLON. FOR EXAMPLE,
LONGER TEXT VALUES THAT INCLUDE NEWLINES OFTEN ARE MUCH
EASIER TO READ WITH VERTICAL OUTPUT:
MYSQL> SELECT * FROM MAILS WHERE LENGTH(TXT) < 300 LIMIT 300,1G
*************************** 1. ROW ***************************
MSG_NRO: 3068
DATE: 2000-03-01 23:29:50
TIME_ZONE: +0200
MAIL_FROM: MONTY
REPLY: MONTY.SPAM.COM
MAIL_TO: "THIMBLE SMITH"
SBJ: UTF-8
TXT: >>>>> "THIMBLE" == THIMBLE SMITH WRITES:
THIMBLE> HI. I THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. IS ANYONE FAMILIAR
THIMBLE> WITH UTF-8 OR UNICODE? OTHERWISE, I'LL PUT THIS ON MY
THIMBLE> TODO LIST AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
YES, PLEASE DO THAT.
REGARDS,
MONTY
FILE: INBOX-JANI-1
HASH: 190402944
1 ROW IN SET (0.09 SEC)
USING THE --SAFE-UPDATES OPTION
FOR BEGINNERS, A USEFUL STARTUP OPTION IS --SAFE-UPDATES
(OR --I-AM-A-DUMMY, WHICH HAS THE SAME EFFECT). IT IS
HELPFUL FOR CASES WHEN YOU MIGHT HAVE ISSUED A DELETE FROM
TBL_NAME STATEMENT BUT FORGOTTEN THE WHERE CLAUSE.
NORMALLY, SUCH A STATEMENT DELETES ALL ROWS FROM THE
TABLE. WITH --SAFE-UPDATES, YOU CAN DELETE ROWS ONLY BY
SPECIFYING THE KEY VALUES THAT IDENTIFY THEM. THIS HELPS
PREVENT ACCIDENTS.
WHEN YOU USE THE --SAFE-UPDATES OPTION, MYSQL ISSUES THE
FOLLOWING STATEMENT WHEN IT CONNECTS TO THE MYSQL SERVER:
SET SQL_SAFE_UPDATES=1,SQL_SELECT_LIMIT=1000, SQL_MAX_JOIN_SIZE=1000000;
SEE SECTION 5.3, "SET SYNTAX".
THE SET STATEMENT HAS THE FOLLOWING EFFECTS:
O YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EXECUTE AN UPDATE OR DELETE
STATEMENT UNLESS YOU SPECIFY A KEY CONSTRAINT IN THE
WHERE CLAUSE OR PROVIDE A LIMIT CLAUSE (OR BOTH). FOR
EXAMPLE:
UPDATE TBL_NAME SET NOT_KEY_COLUMN=VAL WHERE KEY_COLUMN=VAL;
UPDATE TBL_NAME SET NOT_KEY_COLUMN=VAL LIMIT 1;
O ALL LARGE SELECT RESULTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY LIMITED TO
1,000 ROWS UNLESS THE STATEMENT INCLUDES A LIMIT
CLAUSE.
O MULTIPLE-TABLE SELECT STATEMENTS THAT PROBABLY NEED TO
EXAMINE MORE THAN 1,000,000 ROW COMBINATIONS ARE
ABORTED.
TO SPECIFY LIMITS OTHER THAN 1,000 AND 1,000,000, YOU CAN
OVERRIDE THE DEFAULTS BY USING --SELECT_LIMIT AND
--MAX_JOIN_SIZE OPTIONS:
SHELL> MYSQL --SAFE-UPDATES --SELECT_LIMIT=500 --MAX_JOIN_SIZE=10000
DISABLING MYSQL AUTO-RECONNECT
IF THE MYSQL CLIENT LOSES ITS CONNECTION TO THE SERVER
WHILE SENDING A QUERY, IT IMMEDIATELY AND AUTOMATICALLY
TRIES TO RECONNECT ONCE TO THE SERVER AND SEND THE QUERY
AGAIN. HOWEVER, EVEN IF MYSQL SUCCEEDS IN RECONNECTING,
YOUR FIRST CONNECTION HAS ENDED AND ALL YOUR PREVIOUS
SESSION OBJECTS AND SETTINGS ARE LOST: TEMPORARY TABLES,
THE AUTOCOMMIT MODE, AND USER AND SESSION VARIABLES. THIS
BEHAVIOR MAY BE DANGEROUS FOR YOU, AS IN THE FOLLOWING
EXAMPLE WHERE THE SERVER WAS SHUT DOWN AND RESTARTED
WITHOUT YOU KNOWING IT:
MYSQL> SET =1;
QUERY OK, 0 ROWS AFFECTED (0.05 SEC)
MYSQL> INSERT INTO T VALUES();
ERROR 2006: MYSQL SERVER HAS GONE AWAY
NO CONNECTION. TRYING TO RECONNECT...
CONNECTION ID: 1
CURRENT DATABASE: TEST
QUERY OK, 1 ROW AFFECTED (1.30 SEC)
MYSQL> SELECT * FROM T;
+------+
| A |
+------+
| NULL |
+------+
1 ROW IN SET (0.05 SEC)
THE USER VARIABLE HAS BEEN LOST WITH THE CONNECTION,
AND AFTER THE RECONNECTION IT IS UNDEFINED. IF IT IS
IMPORTANT TO HAVE MYSQL TERMINATE WITH AN ERROR IF THE
CONNECTION HAS BEEN LOST, YOU CAN START THE MYSQL CLIENT
WITH THE --SKIP-RECONNECT OPTION.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO THE MYSQL REFERENCE
MANUAL, WHICH MAY ALREADY BE INSTALLED LOCALLY AND WHICH
IS ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE AT HTTP://DEV.MYSQL.COM/DOC/.
AUTHOR
MYSQL AB (HTTP://WWW.MYSQL.COM/). THIS SOFTWARE COMES
WITH NO WARRANTY.
2008 scandalz.net
Speak roughly to your little boy,
And beat him when he sneezes:
He only does it to annoy
Because he knows it teases.
Wow! wow! wow!
I speak severely to my boy,
And beat him when he sneezes:
For he can thoroughly enjoy
The pepper when he pleases!
Wow! wow! wow!
-- Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland"
Murray sez, "I recently launched a podcast at the UK-based harmonica website 
http://sxsw.com/qrcodes (via @antonymd @KatMeyer @artsdigitalera); wd be gr8 if #ala10 followed!
Nikon tonight had its second round of camera news in as many weeks with two new lenses for both its DX- and FX-mount DSLRs. The 24mm f1.4G ED provides an even wider angle than many of Nikon's other primes and has an extremely wide aperture that both takes in a large amount of light and focuses quickly. It lacks image stabilization but uses Nikon's extra-low dispersion optics to minimize chromatic effects....
Nikon has announced the worlds first image stabilized ultra-wide angle zoom for full frame cameras. The AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR lens includes a Silent Wave autofocus motor and VR II technology, which Nikon claims gives up to four stops benefit against camera shake when hand-holding. Other goodies include Nano Crystal coating to combat flare, a magnesium alloy barrel, and weather sealing.
Nikon has released the AF-S Nikkor 24mm F/1.4G ED wide aperture prime lens for full-frame DSLRs. It features an anti-reflective Nano Crystal coating and both ED and aspherical lens elements to help minimize distortion and chromatic aberration. The lens comes in a weather-resistant body and includes a Silent Wave Motor for quieter autofocus operation.
Bunkspeed has announced that its upcoming SHOT software will integrate Iray rendering technology developed by Mental Images. The new system will allow the software to process renders using a combination of CPU and GPU resources, including NVIDIA's CUDA-equipped graphics cards. Offloading the rendering tasks to various components is said to significantly reduce processing times....
A possibly last-minute slip hints that Apple may be close to updating the MacBook Pro line. One Best Buy employee notes that all MacBook Pro models have been deleted from the company's inventory system, preventing them from ordering new models. The systems can still be found but are listed as "deleted."...
ZoomMediaPlus has introduced the ZoomIt memory card reader for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new dock-connecting accessory works with the companyís ZoomIt application that provides access to content stored on SD cards. Support is offered for all file types recognized by iPhone OS 3.0, ranging from photos and videos to PowerPoint documents. The accessory allows users to upload all stored media for use at a later time, or share files with other users via e-mail, Facebook or Flickr....
Google tonight confirmed talk of a significant product update by sending an invitation to a special event on Tuesday at the company's Mountain View, California campus. The company is short on details but promises "some new product innovations" at the gathering....
In October 2009, after 2.5 years of using Twitter every day, I wrote a 
