Meyer Minute

Michelle Obama said that although it was painful for her husband to move away from his minister, Jeremiah Wright, it's now time to move on, according to CNN. In a CNN interview on Wednesday, Obama said she was pleased with how her husband handled the situation and now could get back to the issues.

On Tuesday, Barack Obama said he was "outraged" at his former minister's statements, and that didn't seem like the person met 20 years ago.

The controversy began earlier this year when sermons by Wright spread on the Internet. The statements included portions which seemed to imply the United States brought the September 11th attacks upon itself. He also said Obama was only separating himself from Wright as a political move.

Michelle Obama said she now hopes that since her husband has confronted these issues in several speeches, the country will be able to move on to more important things. "With all due respect, we're moving forward," she said. "Barack was so clear, and he's been so open about this issue, and he speaks for me as well."

She also said that the recent controversy could help bring the country to a better place, by unifying the nation.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pope Benedict XVI expressed his concern for sexual abuse victims, Thursday, and asked that all Catholics to help heal any wounds, according to CNN.

The pope celebrated mass at Washington's ball park Thursday, and during a 20 minute homily focused on repentance, unity and reconciliation among the 70 million Catholics in the United States. The statements come after Benedict spoke about abuse victims on his first day in the U.S. No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention," he said.

Before mass began, he drove around Nationals Stadium in the "popemobile" giving the crowd a chance to see him up close. Aside from the popemobile, there were several other security measures taken. Every person in the park had to go through metal detectors before entering. Nearby bridges and roads were closed, and there were multiple security services working, including the secret service, normally reserved for presidents.

The gathering was one of the largest for a pope visiting, including fourteen Roman Catholic cardinals, 250 bishops, 1,300 priests, four choirs totaling 570 singers, and as many as 46,000 worshippers.

Benedict has a couple more days scheduled in the United States, and will travel to New York on Friday and address the U.N. General Assembly. He's celebrating Mass on Sunday morning at Yankee Stadium, before heading back to Vatican City.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The FCC approved a new nationwide emergency text messaging system Wednesday, according to CNN. Cell phone users will get text messages of certain emergencies said FCC spokesman Robert Kenny.

The plan calls for the FCC to create a federal agency that will both create the messages and pass them on to cell phone companies. Participating cell phone companies will then relay those messages onto its users. After the agency is created, participating cell phone companies will have 10 months to comply with the new requirements.

The new system will alert participators in the event of three types of emergencies.

1. A disaster that could jeopardize the health and safety of Americans, such as a terrorist attack. In these types of disasters the president would usual put the country on national alert.

2. Imminent threats, like a hurricane or tornado.

3. Child abductions or amber alerts.

So far, four major cell phone carriers have opted to join the plan. Mobile, Verizon, Sprint Nextel and AT&T all said they would join the program. Individual users of those companies will most likely have an option to unsubscribe from the service as well.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to CNN, technology problems are forcing the government to count all of the estimated 300 million U.S. residents using pencil and paper for the 2010 census. The original plan was to use handheld computers which would have saved both time and money. Those computers have experienced significant schedule and performance issues, according to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

Changing to pencil and paper will add an estimated $3 billion to the cost of the census, making the overall cost around $14 billion. The Census Bureau awarded a contract to a private company to build over 500,000 of the handheld computers, costing more than $600 million. "As I have said before, the situation today is unacceptable, and we have been taking steps to address the issues," Gutierrez said.

The computers won't go completely unused though. Door-to-door workers will still be able to use the computers, which are the size of a large cell phone, for residents who returned their census forms. About two thirds of residents are expected to return their forms.

Other problems include user confusion over the devices, which showed during a test census that used the computers in North Carolina last year. The computers also had trouble transmitting the large amounts of data required of them.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comcast Corp. announced Thursday it changed its stance on file-sharing and would treat all Internet traffic equally, according to CNN. Comcast, who is a cable and phone as well as Internet provider, was under investigation for blocking its users who did excessive file-sharing.

Comcast had been defending its position since October, when the Associated Press was able to confirm initial reports of their file-sharing practices, especially to the Federal Communications Commission who had a hearing on the issue. They also claim they only hampered user's connections who did excessive file-sharing and not completely blocking their connection.

Some consumers have been attacking Comcast for their actions, saying that by secretly blocking certain users they were becoming gatekeepers of the Internet. Internet users may be familiar with "Net Neutrality," a stance which believes the internet should have no gatekeepers.

Comcast originally said that their actions were necessary to keep traffic from overwhelming their cable lines, which neighborhoods often share bandwidth. "This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today's emerging Internet trends," Tony Werner, Comcast's chief technology officer, said.

Comcast has also been open about its views on illegal file-sharing and the Bit Torrent protocol. Bit Torrent allows Internet users to anonymously download things like videos or music from other users. Bit Torrent is responsible for the majority of illegal file-sharing today but can also be used to share legal content.

Posted by meyer980 at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Teenagers all over the country love the game Guitar Hero and Chris Chike is no different, except that he happens to be the "world's best." Guinness declared Chike, 16, the record holder for highest score on a song in Guitar Hero, according to the Star Tribune.

Chike is from Rochester but went to New York City for a Guinness competition, where he scored 870,647 points playing Expert difficulty on the song "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce. "It's like out of this world," Chike said after finishing the song. The song was on the most recent version, "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," which stars former lead guitarist of the Guns N' Roses, Slash

Guitar Hero is a game meant to simulate playing a real guitar by pressing buttons that match what's shown on the screen and strumming along. Kai Huang, co-founder of the creators of Guitar Hero, said, "We congratulate Chris on a fantastic accomplishment that is worthy of a Guinness World Record."

Afterwards Chike said he was happy with the score, but had done even better at home in the past.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gary Gygax, an original co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, died Tuesday at the age of 69, according to CNN. Gygax had been suffering from health problems for several years said his wife, Gail Gygax.

Gygax and Dave Arneson created the famous game in 1974, using fantasy related adventures as the theme. It became a hit among teenagers, and was also turned into different books, movies, and video games. The game also spawned multiple sequels, and was eventually bought by Wizards of the Coast, a fantasy game publisher, in 1997.

His failing health didn't stop Gygax from enjoying his creation and hosted weekly games of D&D as recently as January his wife said. "It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A skit that many enjoyed on Saturday Night Live is now making larger news after Hillary Clinton made a reference to it during the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday, according to CNN. James Downey, the SNL writer who created the now famous skit, said he found out Tuesday night when someone called to tell him.

Clinton cited the skit to complain about the way questions were handled in the debates between her and Obama. "In the last several debates I seem to get the first question all the time," she said. "I don't mind. I'll be happy to field it. I just find it curious. If anybody saw 'Saturday Night Live,' maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow."

The skit, about a fictional debate between Clinton and Obama, featured clearly lovesick with Obama reporters, who asked Obama questions like, "Are you mad at me?" before completely ignoring Clinton.

Downey is an original SNL writer, who also worked for David Letterman. He also wrote the popular Bush-Gore debates for SNL but says that Obama is one of the most dazzling political personalities in his lifetime.

Clinton's campaign says her comment has merit, and that she has been the first person questioned in six of the past 10 Democratic debates, putting her at a disadvantage. Downrey believes that mentioning the skit may have put her at a disadvantage though, making her look whiny.

The skit is now so popular that SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels has ordered another skit on the campaign.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A man who killed and then dismembered his wife in Michigan received a 50 year sentence behind bars on Thursday, according to CNN. Stephen Grant, 38, strangled his wife, Tara, and cut up her body in a machine shop. As many as 30 extra years could be added to his sentence.

Grant had called police on February 14, 2007 saying he hadn't seen his wife in 5 days after an argument. Hours later he told reporters he didn't have anything to do with her disappearance. After police got a search warrant for his house he fled the city. They found Tara's torso in a container stored in the garage. Police found Grant days later hiding in a forest 200 miles north of his home.

At trial, the jury listened to a 3 hour confession he gave police. Testimony was also given by Grant's nanny, who said she had sex with Grant the night before the murder. The jury could not agree if Grant's actions were premeditated or not, so he received a second degree murder charge instead of first. The judge called Grant's actions "demonic, manipulative, barbaric and dishonest," at court.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. officials are considering whether or not to shoot down a failed spy satellite that may crash back into Earth as soon as March, according to CNN. Pentagon officials said there aren't really many choices in the matter and one way or another the satellite will come down.

The Pentagon didn't give specifics on how they would shoot the satellite down, or what their other options were, but two senior Pentagon officials said the satellite could be shot down by missiles from a Navy ship. The goal would be to blow the satellite up before it reaches Earth's atmosphere.

The satellite is top secret and no exact details were releases on its size or purpose. Experts have said that it probably weighs between three or four tons.

NASA officials are worried that if they decide to shoot the satellite down there could be similar problems to when China destroyed a satellite in January, 2007. That explosion caused 150,000 pieces of debris floating above Earth, many big enough to cause potential damage to existing satellites. NASA called it the worst satellite breakup in history.

Posted by meyer980 at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After more than two months delay the space shuttle Atlantis took off Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida reports CNN. Atlantis was delayed twice in December because of fuel gage problems and multiple storms during January forced them to wait, but a break in the weather this week gave NASA an opening.

The major part of the space mission is to deliver a gift for the international space station, a $2 billion science lab named Columbus. Columbus was developed and made over 23 years by the European Space Agency and is their primary contribution to the space station. Once it arrives Columbus will connect with Destiny, the U.S. science lab, and beginning in March a Japanese lab named Kibo should begin to be sent up.

Atlantis will also be dropping off a new resident to the space station, French Air Force Gen. Leopold Eyharts, who will be trading places with a NASA astronaut, Daniel Tani. Eyharts will help get Columbus working while Tani gets to come home after a 4 month stay at the space station.

NASA hopes to use Atlantis for 6 missions this year and having this take off as early as possible is crucial to their success. NASA's plan is to finish the space station by 2010, at which point they'll be able to retire the shuttles. Past problems have lead some critics to say the shuttles should be discontinued earlier but NASA Administrator Michael Griffin thinks their plan is possible, saying, "We're coming back, and I think we are back, from some pretty severe technical problems that led to the loss of Columbia."

Posted by meyer980 at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On February 18, 2009 all television signals will become digital instead of analog and this is causing some concern for consumers. According to CNN the biggest problem is that customers are becoming confused about what they have to do once the transition is made. According to a Nielson Co. survey, 58% of people believe all televisions will need a digital tuner or new TV to work. The truth is that for those receiving their television over cable or satellite there isn't much to be done. It will be up to the service provider to do all the hard work of changing from analog to digital. But for those still using an antenna to pull a signal some things will have to change. Those people will need a converter box to change the signal for them, something that the government is helping with via coupons for up to two sets. The same Nielson survey found 12% of people still use over-the-air antennas for viewing.

The confusion has lead the FCC to call for more advertisements to try and educate people about the changeover. "The FCC would like to see at least four 30-second public-service ads a day about the digital transition..." reports CNET News. This has made some broadcasters upset because it would require them to give up airtime they could otherwise use for regular advertisements. The FCC is also urging broadcasters to show the ads during popular viewing times to reach as many people as possible.

Posted by meyer980 at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)