Michael Jackson dies at 50 
Pop star Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles, aged 50.
Jun-26-09 4:01am 2009-06-25T14:01:45
UPDATED 3:23 PM: Legendary musician Michael Jackson has died, law enforcement sources have confirmed.
TMZ reports that someone at Jackson's Holmby Hills home called 911 at 12:21 pm. When paramedics arrived at his home, he was not breathing. The Los Angeles Times reports by the time he reached the UCLA Medical center, Jackson was in a coma. He was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon.Paramedics were called to the singer's home around midday local time on Thursday after he stopped breathing.
He was pronounced dead two hours later after arriving at hospital in full cardiac arrest, said Fred Corral of the LA County Coroner's office.
The star, who had a history of health problems, had been due to begin a series of comeback concerts in the UK on 13 July.
Concerns were raised last month when four of the concerts were postponed, but organisers insisted the dates had been moved due to the complexity of staging the show.
A spokeswoman for The Outside Organisation, which was organising the publicity for the shows, said she had no comment at this time.
Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini said: "I always doubted that he would have been able to go through that schedule, those concerts. It seemed to be too much of a demand on the unhealthy body of a 50 year old.
"I'm wondering that, as we find out details of his death, if perhaps the stress of preparing for those dates was a factor in his collapse.
"It was wishful thinking that at this stage of his life he could be MJ again."
Uri Gellar, a close friend of the star, told BBC News it was "very, very sad".
Hip hop star P Diddy wrote on Twitter: "Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat.
"He made the music come to life! He made me believe in magic. I will miss him!"
Speaking outside the UCLA medical centre in Los Angeles, civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton paid tribute to his friend.
"I knew him 35 years. When he had problems he would call me," he said.
"I feel like he was not treated fairly. I hope history will be more kind to him than some of the contemporary media." 
Musical icon
Paramedics were called to the singer's house in Bel Air at 1221 following an emergency phone call.
They performed CPR on Jackson and rushed him to the UCLA medical centre, where crowds have since gathered.
Jackson began his career as a child in family group The Jackson 5.
He then went on to achieve global fame as a solo artist with smash hits such as Billie Jean and Bad.
Thriller, released in 1982, is the biggest-selling album of all time, shifting 65m copies, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
He scored seven UK number ones as a solo artist and won a total of 13 Grammy awards.
Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, which awards the Grammys, also paid tribute: "Rarely has the world received a gift with the magnitude of artistry, talent and vision as Michael Jackson.
"He was a true musical icon whose identifiable voice, innovative dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and sheer star power carried him from childhood to worldwide acclaim."
"For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words," said Quincy Jones, who produced Thriller, Bad and Off The Wall.
"He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."
Family
The singer had been dogged by controversy and money trouble in recent years, becoming a virtual recluse.
He was arrested in 2003 on charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy, but was found not guilty following a five-month trial.
The star had three children, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II.
He is survived by his mother, Katherine, father, Joseph and eight siblings - including Janet, Randy, Jermaine and La Toya Jackson.
Jackson Family Attorney:
Jackson Was Surrounded By Enablers.
It is not yet known what caused Michael Jackson's death from cardiac arrest; an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow. But the Jackson family's attorney, Brian Oxman, called CNN to shed light on Michael's medical condition.
Oxman wanted people to know that Michael was not gravely ill, as had been rumored for months. The singer was, however, debilitated by a dependence on prescription medication. He told CNN in a shaking voice:
Michael has always been in very fine physical condition. The one thing which has bothered me so much is the discussion that one day he was going to be dead, and...I don't know if this is that day, I can only tell you that this is something that was not unexpected...the medications which Michael was under, this family has been trying for months and months and months to take care of Michael Jackson.
The people who have surrounded him have been enabling him. If you think the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it's nothing in comparison to what we have seen taking place in Michael Jackson's life. Oxman also confirmed that Jackson was struggling to get in shape for the 50 performances he had scheduled at London's O2 Arena.
MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009
Full name: Michael Joseph Jackson
Born: August 29, 1958, Gary, Indiana, US
Also known as: The King of Pop, Wacko Jacko
Biggest hits: I Want You Back, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Bad, Black or White, Earth Song
-BBC/zimbio-
The future of cars? 
THE Hoverpod could very well revolutionise air travel.
Australian company Entecho has come up with a prototype of a flying machine that resembles a flying saucer and uses fan technology to give it lift.
The CAV or compact air vehicle has vertical take-off and landing ability, and can be launched from anywhere and fly over any surface like water, sand or snow.
The vehicle can hover up to 1.5m above ground and can cruise at maximum speed of 120kmh.
The disc-shaped chassis carries a person or payload in the centre.
Air is drawn from the upper side of the aircraft, then forced downward through the rotors, which spin inside the shell of the aircraft.
The resulting pressure propels the aircraft off the ground.
Flexible skirt
At the bottom of the aircraft is a flexible skirt which can be pulled or released. This directs the flow of air and consequently, the direction of the aircraft. Steering is done using a joystick.
The huge blades which enable it to hover are hidden, making it safer as compared to helicopters, which have exposed blades.
The Hoverpod will also save space and operational cost as it does not need runways or airports. It can fit in a garage.
The Hoverpod can be used for recreational activities such as beach rides and for emergencies like marine rescue operations.
The Hoverpod is still in the development stage, but it is believed by the time it becomes a reality, the flying car should be able to deploy solar or even fuel cell technology to power its flight.
Rotor
The compact auto vehicle rotor is a cylindrical drum fan which rotates about the central vertical axis of the craft where the rider is.
Airflow
As the drum fan rotates, it pumps air radially through its blades. The air is drawn in and is then accelerated as it passes through the fan. It is then directed downward by the skirt, creating lift.
High pressure
High-pressure regions form as a result of the air being accelerated through the ducts by the rotating fan blades. These regions of high pressure produce powerful lifting forces.
Lift off
The vehicle is lifted as a result of all the forces joining together.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
-ASIAONE-
Medicine abuse: Aspirin to
'keep oily skin at bay' 
By Cheryl Lim
A "KITCHEN beauty remedy" used by some women here is giving doctors and dermatologists reason for concern.
Crush some aspirin tablets, mix them well in water until they form a paste, then apply the paste on the face.
That is how some women are tackling the problem of oily skin.
The problem is that there is no clinical proof that this will work, and the women run the risk of developing a bad allergic reaction.
Aesthetic doctor Calvin Chan of Calvin Chan Aesthetic and Laser Clinic sees about five patients a year who approach him with problems caused by such "home remedies".
He said: "The worst-case scenario is an allergic reaction but the odds of it happening are low."
Such reactions include "patchy redness, peeling, itching and red bumps".
Plastic surgeon J. J. Chua of JJ Chua Rejuvenative Cosmetic and Laser Surgery described the practice as "very primitive".
He said: "Commercialised products have a vehicle in which the ingredient is carried, that delivers a calculated and constant amount of the active ingredients."
Still, women here believe that the salicylic acid - a common ingredient in skincare products - in aspirin will help solve their problems with oily skin.
One of the remedy's fans is 55-year-old housewife Camy Teo, who heard of it from a friend. She said: "Initially, I was sceptical, as I always saw aspirin as medicine. But my skin looks clearer and feels smoother after using (the paste) just once."
But doctors do not recommend such remedies.
Dr Chua said that the danger involved in using the homemade paste is akin to that in experimenting with the unknown.
"If you want a perfumed shower cream, you buy one in the fragrance you like. You don't buy an unperfumed one and pour your perfume into it. These experiments... should not be done by yourself, it should be done by others, like skincare
-Asiaone-
Porsche sales down 15%
as crisis hits luxury cars
by AFP|22 June 2009 
Frankfurt, Germany: Sales at the German luxury sports-car maker Porsche have crashed in another sign of problems for high-end auto manufacturers, company data showed on Friday.
Sales fell by 15 percent in the first nine months of Porsche's fiscal year to 4.6 billion euros ($9.3 billion).
The result, which covered the period from August 1 to April 30, did not include sales at Volkswagen, the biggest European auto manufacturer, in which Porsche holds a stake of 51 percent.
Porsche said its operating profit was also less than in the same period a year earlier, but did not provide figures.
"A look at global unit sales makes clear that no region is being spared the sharp decline in automobile markets," a statement said.
Deliveries fell by 27.6 percent to 53,635 vehicles on a 12-month basis, as luxury cars in particular paid a price for weaker consumer sentiment.
Small car sales have resisted the slump in Germany and elsewhere better, owing in large part to car scrapping premiums offered by many governments.
At Porsche, sales of its iconic 911 model fared much better than that of the Cayenne sports utility vehicle, but were still off by 18.2 percent.
Looking ahead, the company declined to give a precise forecast but said sales were likely to fall below the level in its previous fiscal year.
Porsche ran up debt of nine billion euros trying to increase its stake in VW through the use of complex stock options.
The two groups have agreed to merge, but the talks have hit obstacles and Porsche is now seeking investment from the Gulf state of Qatar, which would be a major shift for its present owners, the Porsche and Piech families.
On Tuesday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told reporters that the results of talks with Porsche should be revealed within three weeks.
"We are still negotiating over the share to be acquired," he said. "We have not disclosed any details, nor has Porsche, because there is an agreement between the two parties not to divulge any information," he said.
German media reported this week that Qatar was ready to buy at least 25 percent of Porsche, which would allow it to pursue its takeover bid for VW.
Porsche has also asked for a German state credit of 1.75 billion euros after struggling to obtain loans from private banks as credit markets tightened up.
It is not expected to obtain the loan from the German state-owned KfW bank however.
-plushasia.com-
Hydrogen car to be 'open source' 
The manufacturer of a hydrogen car unveiled in London on Tuesday will make its designs available online so the cars can be built and improved locally.
The Riversimple car can go 80km/hr (50mph) and travels 322km (200mi) per re-fuelling, with an efficiency equivalent to 300 miles to the gallon.
The cars will be leased with fuel and repair costs included, at an estimated £200 ($315) per month.
The company hopes to have the vehicles in production by 2013.
Next year, it aims to release 10 prototypes in a UK city which has yet to be confirmed.
Riversimple has partnered with gas supply company BOC to install hydrogen stations for the cars in the city where the prototypes are launched.
'Open source' model
The car itself is an amalgam of high-efficiency approaches in automotive design.
Its four motors are powered by a fuel cell rated at just six kilowatts, in contrast to current designs that are all in excess of 85 kilowatts - required because the acceleration from a standing start requires a great deal of power.
Riversimple's solution is to power the car also from so-called "ultracapacitors", which store large amounts of electric charge and, crucially, can release that charge nearly instantly to provide the power needed to accelerate from rest.
The ultracapacitors are charged as the vehicle brakes to a halt, converting the energy of the moving car into stored energy.
Without a combustion engine, gearbox, or transmission, and with a shell made of carbon fibre composites, it weighs 350kg.
The company claims that it is closer to market than any of its start-up competitors, but what sets them apart is an unusual business model.
"Riversimple has effectively rethought the whole of what in the business school world we call the 'value chain' of the auto industry," said John Constable, chair of the Riversimple project.
The company asserts that in the leasing model, the vested interest for the manufacturer is in producing long-lasting, fuel-efficient, high-quality products, since it bears the cost of both hydrogen and repairs.
Its partnership with BOC is designed to resolve the chicken-and-egg question of who would build the infrastructure required to refuel hydrogen cars when there are none on the road. Meanwhile, would-be hydrogen car buyers are concerned about the dearth of re-fuelling stations.
"You can incrementally put in a template package of one re-fuellling point and 50 cars in different cities, and each city one by one can build an urban hydrogen infrastructure, and that incrementally builds a nationwide infrastructure," said Hugo Spowers, the former race car designer who conceived the Riversimple idea in 1999.
The company will distribute the engineering designs to the 40 Fires foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that will make the designs "open source".
The idea, they say, is to allow local manufacturing in small plants. This stands in contrast to the "economies of scale" that drive current plants to huge sizes and workforces.
In addition, designs can be adjusted for local markets, using locally sourced parts or materials.
The agreement will be such that if the designs are improved by a local manufacturer, those improvements will be sent back, so that what the company refers to as its "network of manufacturers" can contribute to the overall development of the product line.
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Goodbye desktops, hello notebooks 
By Adli Yashir,
a correspondent/ Internet coordinator with Berita Harian
THE last time I bought a desktop PC was way before my teenage daughter was born. Since then, notebooks have been my preferred choice simply because they allow me to bring my work home and give me the flexibility to work away from the office.
It seems I am not the only one.
According to research firm iSuppli.com, notebooks have become increasingly popular.
Notebook shipments exceeded desktop shipments for the first time in the third quarter of last year - some 38.6 million notebooks were shipped compared to 38.5 million desktops.
Recently, I was tasked to develop new media content for my newspaper.
So apart from writing stories, I would also be in charge of creating videos, flash animation and graphics content.
This new assignment called for new equipment.
Desktops are out of the question as I needed a PC that allows me to work at home, at the office and when I travel.
My five-year-old Dell business laptop barely had the computing muscle to edit photos, let alone videos.
Calls to several contacts in the industry provided me with this option - a desktop replacement notebook.
These rigs are portable computing machines that come close, in features and capabilities, to that of a full-sized desktop computer.
They are usually larger than standard notebooks, have more components and a wide range of ports and slots.
Naturally, these big boys do not come cheap.
The Toshiba Qosmio, for example, can set you back $4,199.
At the top of my checklist is to look for a notebook with a powerful processor, one that allows me to work with Adobe Photoshop or Premiere with e-mail and Microsoft Word running in the background.
Toshiba's Qosmio G50-AV871 is one potential candidate.
It has an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz processor.
You can bump the memory up to 9GB RAM.
The 17-inch Macbook Pro is also a worthy option.
The top-end machine sports a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with up to 8GB RAM.
Plus you get the cool iLife09 software bundle that lets you edit movies and videos.
Working with graphics and video content always require a bigger screen - it is better to see colour and video elements clearly.
I would put my money on a notebook with at least a 16-inch screen, which comes with a true 16.9 aspect ratio - great for viewing widescreen movies or editing high-definition videos.
A good desktop replacement notebook should also come with an equally powerful graphics card.
I would go for a machine that comes with a dedicated graphics card.
One example would be the Asus W90Vn.
This baby is rigged with an Nvidia GeForce 9800M GS with 1,024MB dedicated VRAM up to 2,047MB TurboCache.
What is equally important when working with video or graphics content is the amount of storage space.
When you deal with graphics and videos, it is always safe to have lots of hard disk space.
Here is why: A six-minute video captured using MOV format takes up 1.3GB of space.
My video documentary project about the Amanpulo Resort in the Philippines took up 13GB of hard disk space.
To wrap it all up, I would also look at the following good-to-have features in a desktop replacement notebook.
It is good to have lots of ports and slots - especially USBs - so that I can connect an external memory drive, a FireWire to capture videos and a high definition multimedia interface to transfer high-definition images to a larger screen.
A Blu-Ray DVD Combo drive should also come in handy.
I could watch high-definition movies on my days off.
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.
-asiaone-
Acer unveil new laptop PCs
Tue, Jun 02, 2009
AFP
TAIPEI, TAIWAN - The world's two leading makers of mini laptops Tuesday introduced their latest computers at the opening of Asia's leading information technology trade fair.
Asustek Computer added the latest netbook products to its slim 'Eee PC' family, which has boosted the company's global market share since 2007.
Acer, Asustek's rival, unveiled its first Aspire One netbook featuring the Android operating system. The company said it will provide users with faster connection to the Internet, further enhancing efficiency on-the-go.
Equipped with a 10-inch (25 cm) display, Asustek's Eee PC Seashell 1008HA touts a 18 mm profile and weighs only 1.1 kilogrammes (2.42 pounds), making it easy to carry. It is installed with a battery that lasts up to six hours.
"Getting thinner is the trend as users pursue mobile Internet," an Asustek official said. It will sell for around 430 US dollars.
The company also launched its U series, with one of the world's first notebooks powered by Intel's consumer ultra low voltage (CULV) processor, which allows its battery to operate for up to 12 hours.
The series will be priced a minimum of 30,800 Taiwan dollars ($1370).
With a market share of 4.2 percent, Asustek was eighth in the world PC vendor rankings, according to the Taiwan-based think tank Topology Research Institute. It moved up two notches last year with a share of 5.30 percent.
Acer's Android is a free, open source, and fully customisable mobile platform. Acer said Aspire One netbooks with Android will hit the market in the third quarter this year, declining to specify prices.
ASIAONE
Touchscreen PCs more hype than reality? 
A model poses with a Microsoft Multi-Touch-enabled computer installed with Windows 7 during the 2009 Computex exhibition in Taipei on Tuesday.
By Kelvin Soh
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Touchscreen technology is sweeping the consumer electronics market as technology brands hope to come up with the next iPhone, but these new toys could be little more than plenty of hype especially in the PC market.
Major phone and PC makers such as Nokia, Research in Motion Hewlett-Packard and Asustek have launched touchscreen-enabled products, aiming to ride the trend of what they expect to be the next big thing.
Microsoft's impending launch of its next-generation Windows 7 operating system is expected to give the budding technology a further boost, bringing a software that supports such capabilities into millions of home and office PCs.
But most consumers may not find touchscreen PCs very different from their usual laptop or desktop PCs, and the technology is unlikely to spread beyond mobile phones.
"I don't think it's going to be the next big thing by any means, but just more and more brands are going into it," said IDC analyst Jay Chou.
"The software's still in an embryonic stage, and until that changes, hopefully with Windows 7, it's still going to be a while more before we see things taking off."
Touchscreens, once only commonly found in supermarket checkout counters and airports and banks, jumped to the forefront of consumer technology thanks to Apple's popular iPhone, inspiring a whole list of knock-offs in the process.
PC brands' previous forays into touchscreens have fizzled, with products such as the tablet PC not living up to its initial hype when they were first launched more than a decade ago, with its popularity has dwindling.
The old-fashioned keyboard and mouse could still be the best way to use a PC, with user interaction habits notoriously hard to change, especially if there is a dearth of software support.
"I think it sounds like a lot of hype," said Gartner analyst Tracy Tsai. "It seems impractical to me for a person to use touchscreens on a computer, and when you're using a device so big, it really adds little value to the overall experience."
Touchscreen PCs have been around for a while now, but high costs and limited functionality have kept them to niche devices. These type of PCs make up less than 1 percent of all computers sold worldwide. While most analysts expect this figure to climb, few see it growing as quickly as some computer brands expect.
"The biggest question to me is how much value does a touchscreen add to your computer? Probably not very much, and if that's the case, why would I want to pay more money for such a computer," said iSuppli analyst Peter Lin.
Investors have been pumping money into companies that make touchscreens, with shares of component makers such as Wintek quadrupling this year while recently-listed Young Fast has more than doubled.
Research firm DRAMeXchange expects revenue at these companies that manufacture touchscreens to grow nearly 17 per cent annually to about T$49.79 billion (US$1.5 billion) in three years, betting that more PCs and other tech gadgets will be equipped with touchscreens.
IT'S ALL ABOUT COSTS
High cost associated with touchscreens could set back the technology a few more years until prices come down, with the cost of manufacturing a panel and its required chips jumping manifold on a PC when compared to a smaller smartphone.
Specialist manufacturer Wintek estimates it costs about US$10 to make a 3-inch touchscreen frequently used in smartphones, but said costs can increase exponentially when the size increases.
"It really depends on the specifics of what the client wants, but prices can change and will of course be different when there are specific requirements that a client wants," said James Chen, a Wintek spokesman.
Touchscreen chip designer Elan Microelectronics, which counts Dell and HTC among its clients, estimates that adding a touchscreen to a desktop computer would increase its price by more than 10 percent.
"We've got to wait for the cost to come down a little before the kind of growth we're seeing right now in mobile phones can spread to computers," Elan's Chairman I.H. Yeh told Reuters at during the PC trade show Computex.
"Right now, I think it's still an issue whether or not consumers are willing to fork out an extra 10 percent for a touchscreen on their computers."
And not all consumers are buying into the hype surrounding touchscreens, especially as the current lean times force many of them to pull back on their discretionary spending and focus on what they really need.
"It's more expensive, and the money can be put to better use somewhere else," said 44-year-old John Lai, as he looked at the rows of computers on display at a computer shop.
(Editing by Anshuman Daga)
ASIAONE
