Quo Vadis

Saturday, September 07, 2013

PM Tony Abbott

SYDNEY/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott was headed for a landslide victory on Saturday as voters punished Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labor government for six years of turbulent rule and for failing to maximize a now fading mining boom.
Abbott, a former boxer, Rhodes scholar and trainee priest, promised to restore political stability, cut taxes and crack down on asylum seekers arriving by boat.
But it was frustration with Labor's leadership turmoil that cost the government.
Labor dumped Rudd in 2010, for Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard, only to reinstate him as leader in June 2013 in a desperate bid to stay in power.
"This was an election that was lost by the government more than one that was won by the opposition," former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke told Sky News, as voting closed in the New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmanian states.
A exit poll for the Nine television network found support for Abbott's Liberal-National Party coalition at 54.5 percent, compared to 45.5 percent for Labor.
That would give Abbott a majority of more than 40 seats in the 150-seat parliament, ending the country's first minority government since World War Two. Labor had relied upon independent and Greens support for the past three years.
Officials from Abbott's Liberal Party were confident of victory after a grueling five week campaign.
"It's been a long   campaign, but right now we are quietly confident that people have voted to turn things around and get the economy back on track," Liberal Party national director and Abbott's campaign director Brian Loughnane told Reuters.
The election has been pitched as a choice on who is best to lead the A$1.5 trillion ($1.4 trillion) economy as it adjusts to an end to a prolonged mining investment boom, fuelled by China's demand for its abundant natural resources.
ANGRY VOTERS
Abbott, a fitness fanatic often photographed in his   swimming costume at his local beach, voted early at a Sydney surf club on Saturday, accompanied by his wife and daughters.
"I sort of wish I was out there on the waves. It's a nice wave for an elderly long boarder this morning," quipped Abbott, 55, wearing a suit and tie.
Rudd's vote in his hometown of Brisbane in sub-tropical Queensland was disrupted by protests against tough new laws on asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat, a hot button issue particularly in Labor's blue-collar suburban heartland.
Abbott has   built up a strong opinion poll lead on the back of promises to rein in government spending, scrap an unpopular tax on carbon emissions, and stop the flow of refugee boats arriving in Australia's northwest.
His campaign has had support from media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his Australian newspapers, which have urged voters to reject Rudd's Labor government. Australia's other major newspaper group Fairfax also called for a change of government.
"They (voters) wanted stability. What Tony Abbott did was put up a unified team. It was the accumulative effect of six years (of Labor disunity) that played into the idea it was time for change," said Labor candidate Peter   Beattie.
Rudd had painted Abbott's planned spending cuts as dangerous European-style austerity and said his government was best placed to manage an economy that is slowing but remains the envy of much of the developed world.
A record 1,717 candidates are contesting the election, including colorful mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer, and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
While the exit polls point to an easy Abbott victory, much of the interest remains in the results   in the upper house Senate, where the Greens, independents and fringe parties might hold the balance of power and frustrate Abbott's legislative agenda.
($1 = 1.0876 Australian dollars)
(Additional reporting by Michael Sin and Thuy Ong in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry)

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Disorder: Indonesia’s Mental Health Facilities by Andrea Star Reese - LightBox

http://lightbox.time.com/2013/09/03/disorder-indonesias-mental-health-facilities-by-andrea-star-reese/?iid=lb-late3

KompasOtomotif — Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) dan Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM) secara resmi meluncurkan Agya dan Ayla pada Senin (9/9/2013). Dengan begitu, para pemesan bisa bernapas lega karena mobil yang sudah dinantikan hampir setahun akhirnya muncul juga.

Kendati demikian, seperti diberitakan sebelumnya, akan ada perubahan harga menyusul keputusan peraturan pemerintah (PP) perihal mobil murah ramah lingkungan (LCGC). Untuk memastikannya, KompasOtomotif coba menghubungi beberapa dealer Toyota dan Daihatsu untuk menanyakan banderol terbaru.

Beberapa wiraniaga Auto2000 menyebutkan harga Rp 90 juta-Rp 120 juta. Artinya, harga lebih mahal dari yang pernah ditawarkan saat IIMS 2012 lalu yakni Rp 85 juta-Rp 120 juta. Variannya tetap E, G, dan TRD yang tersedia dalam pilihan transmisi manual dan otomatis.

Adapun harga Ayla mengalami peningkatan Rp 1 juta atau Rp 76 juta-Rp 95 juta. Varian yang disediakan adalah D, D+, M, dan X.

Untuk pembelian minggu ini, unit diperkirakan akan diterima paling cepat pada bulan Oktober. Uang tanda jadi pun tetap, yakni Agya Rp 5 juta, dan Ayla Rp 2 juta.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

15 September...Happy birthday Google!

Happy birthday Google! Search engine celebrates 15 years since its humble beginnings in a Silicon Valley garage

September marks the 15th anniversary of when Google began

Search engine now makes more than 13 billion searches a month

Google is the number one search engine in the world

Its Android mobile operating system is now the most popular

September marks 15 years since graduates Larry Page and Sergey Brin set up a small web crawler from a garage in Silicon Valley, which went onto become the world's biggest search engine.

The site was originally called BackRub, but was changed in 1997 to Google - a misspelling of the word googol which is a term for the number one followed by one hundred zeros.

There is a little confusion around when Google's official birthday is, but reports claim papers to incorporate the company were filed on September 4 1998. The company became incorporated three days later and the domain was registered on September 15.

Google, however, now officially celebrates the event with a Google Doodle on September 27.

It is thought this date was changed as an attempt to gain media coverage several years ago, at a time when Yahoo was gaining ground on Google.

The site is now the world's number one search engine and its name has become so synonymous with searching, it is now used as a verb in its own right.

Despite its humble beginnings in a rented garage that belonged to Susan Wojcicki - Brin's now sister-in-law - the company now has more than 70 offices in more than 40 global locations, including London, with their headquarters - known as the Googleplex - in Mountain View, California.

Its size and reputation grew rapidly in the first few years, with three billion web documents on Google's index by December 2001.

Innovations subsequently launched by Google that have become part of everyday life include Google Maps, Google Streetview and Google Earth, each showing how far the company now spans across the globe.

Its Android operating system is also the most popular mobile software in the world and it has teamed up with manufacturers including Asus and LG to launch a number of best-selling devices such as the Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 7 tablet.

Google also bought Motorola in 2011 and a new Moto X handset is expected towards the end of this year.

Looking to the future, Google Glass is one of the internet giant's latest products, aiming to offer voice-activated hands-free connectivity through a wearable device.

Plus, Google has designed a range of self-driving cars that use sensors and mapping technology to travel around cities without a driver.

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Industry experts have praised Google for its success, however, some have questioned how long it can stay at the top.

Joseph Lampel, professor of strategy at Cass Business School, City University London, said Google had to continue to innovate to make sure they stay ahead of the curve to survive the next 15 years.

Professor Lampel said: 'I am not surprised they have survived this far but if you're asking if they will survive until they are 25 or 30, that's another question.'

He said there was increasing competition from search engines from emerging markets, especially those in Asia, and added: 'Google might not be able to maintain their level of dominance, if the industry opens up to competitors.

'The question also arises of the very function of Google. The search engine business will shift in the next decade into new technology and new devices.'

Professor Lampel attributed Google's success to its speed in adding services to their search engine and their push into hardware with products like Google Glass.

'All in all, they have done very well, and they have had an enormous influence, without question,' he said.

Colin Cieszynski, senior market analyst at CMC Markets, said: 'It's really incredible when you think about whatGoogle has done over this period of time.

September 1998 - Google Inc. is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin

July 2000 - Google becomes world's largest search engine and by December has 1 billion indexes

July 2001 - Images search is launched

February 2003 - Google buys blogging platform Blogger

March 2004 - Gmail launches

October 2004 - Google launches Desktop Search and by reaches 8 billion indexes by December

June 2005 - A busy month for Google as it launches Google Earth, Maps, Talk and Video

July 2005 - Android is bought by Google

October 2006 - Google buys video site YouTube

September 2008 - Search index reaches 1 trillion and the Chrome browser is unveiled

July 2009 - Google launches its Chrome OS for netbooks

July 2010 - The first Nexus smartphone handset - the Nexus One - is launched

August 2011 - Plans are announced for Google to buy Motorola Mobility

March 2012 – Google launches the Play store with TV and movie rentals as well as apps

June 2012 - First Google tablet, made by Asus, launches called Nexus 7 and Google Glass is unveiled

June 2013 – Google buys mapping and navigation company Waze to boost its mapping software and self-driving car capability

June 2013 – Google balloons fitted with internet transmitters launched

'They've taken a lead in the second wave of success of the internet, becoming the premier company. It's like there was a shake-up, and they're the ones who ended up on top.

'Yahoo has struggled along, but lots of others have fallen by the wayside. They have continued to innovate. The question is, how long do you manage to stay on top of everyone else?

'But this anniversary is incredible for them - they're still on top. To dominate for so long is amazing.'

Despite the milestone date being reached, Google may not be marking the event until later in the month - having put out last year's Google Doodle to celebrate their 14th anniversary on September 27.

A Google spokeswoman would not be drawn on whether users could expect any birthday surprises during September.

Last year, a Google Doodle showed a birthday cake with 14 candles, which had slices removed until the name of the search engine emerged.

The first Google Doodle, which is when the Google logo is altered on the site's homepage in celebration of a particular event, was in 1998 to mark the Burning Man festival.

In May 2012, Google unveiled its first interactive Google Doodle to celerate the 30th anniversary of the arcade game Pac-Man, in association with Namco.

Searchers play Pac-Man within their browser by clicking the 'Insert Coin' button.

When players pressed this button a second time, a second player would join the game as Ms. Pac-Man.

The game was so popular, Google made it a permanent site after the Doodle had been removed.

Later the same year, Google unveiled its first animated Google Doodle to mark John Lennon's 70th birthday with a short clip of his song 'Imagine'.

A similar Doodle was launched, using a clip of Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now' song, to mark Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday in September 2011.

GOOGLE ANNOUNCES ITS ANDROID 4.4 KITKAT OPERATING SYSTEM

Google has teamed up with Nestle to launch the next version of its Android operating system, called Android 4.4 KitKat.

It follows the release of other sweet-themed software names including such as Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Android Jelly Bean.

There had been speculation that the latest version would be named Android Key Lime Pie because each release begins with the letter of the alphabet that follows the previous.

To mark the announcement, the KitKat homepage has been redesigned as a parody of Google software releases.

The release of Android KitKat will be marked with a competition to win prizes including 1,000 Google Nexus 7 tablets through more than 50 million specially-branded KitKat bars.

Consumers can take part by buying special packs of KitKat four-finger and KitKat Chunky multipacks available in Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco.