Category: Sci/Tech

Turkey university begins country’s first Kurdish course

A Turkish university has begun teaching the country’s first ever degree course in the Kurdish language.

A rally of Turkey's main Kurdish political party, the BDP Kurdish groups have campaigned for years for more rights

About 20 students have signed up to study Kurdish at Artuklu University in south-eastern city of Mardin.

The government in Ankara started easing restrictions on the use of Kurdish in 2009 as part of its efforts to join the European Union.

Kurds make up around a fifth of Turkey’s population and have for years been pressing for greater rights.

The new undergraduate course will last four years and will cover both Kurdish language and literature.

The head of the new programme at Artuklu University, Professor Kadri Yildirim, told the Hurriyet newspaper: “This city is the centre of upper Mesopotamia and Kurdish culture is a major part of this.

“As other universities start opening Kurdish language classes and once Kurdish is used in the primary education system, this department will become more popular.”

Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party announced a series of initiatives to improve the rights of Kurds three years ago, but has since been criticised for dragging its feet.

Violence by Kurdish separatists has continued and Turkish nationalists have objected to attempts to reach out to the Kurds.

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost during three decades of fighting between Kurdish rebels and the security forces.

via BBC News – Turkey university begins country’s first Kurdish course.

October 18, 2011
Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car

Iran Khodro Co. (IKCO) has announced that the Group of Eight Developing Countries (D8) has chosen the company to design the platform for their joint car.

The D8 industry ministers attended a summit in Istanbul from October 4-6, 2011 and appointed IKCO to design the D8 joint car with the cooperation of Turkey and Indonesia, read a statement released by IKCO on Sunday.

D8 members include Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

D8 members also agreed to promote research and development activities in the fields of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology, hybrid technology, plug-in cars, new materials and nano-technology.

“Improving the quality, level of technology and also the capacity if supply chain was another issue settled by the D8 vehicle working group,” the statement continued.

IKCO was founded in 1962 and is currently regarded as the biggest automaker in the Middle East.

The company won an award from Tehran’s Third International Nanotechnology Festival in 2010, as the leading company in nano-related auto industry.

HMV/HGH

via PressTV – Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car.

October 17, 2011
PositiveID Corporation Receives VeriChip Order for Use With Israeli Military
PRESS RELEASE

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Oct 11, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) — PositiveID Corporation (“PositiveID” or “Company”) PSID -2.94% , a developer of medical technologies for diabetes management, clinical diagnostics and bio-threat detection, announced today that it has received an order for its VeriChip(TM) microchip to be used for disaster preparedness and emergency management in Israel by an integration partner.

The VeriChip radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004 for patient identification. The VeriChip can also be used to assist in the management of emergency situations and disaster recovery in conjunction with a customized camera capable of receiving both RFID scanned data and GPS data wirelessly, and a Web-enabled database for gathering and storing information and images captured during emergency response operations.

The Company’s integration partner intends to provide the microchips to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the State of Israel’s military force.

Marc Poulshock, PositiveID’s Vice President of Business Development, said, “We believe there are many important applications for the VeriChip and our associated intellectual property including next-generation identification and bio-sensing capabilities. Our partner is looking to help healthcare organizations, militaries including the IDF, and governments with their disaster preparedness and emergency response needs.”

About PositiveID Corporation

PositiveID Corporation develops unique medical devices and molecular diagnostic systems, focused primarily on diabetes management, rapid medical testing and airborne bio-threat detection. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, MicroFluidic Systems, is focused on the development of microfluidic systems for automated preparation of and performance of biological assays. For more information on PositiveID, please visit www.PositiveIDCorp.com .

The PositiveID Corporation logo is available at

Statements about PositiveID’s future expectations, including the likelihood that the VeriChip will be used for disaster preparedness and emergency management in Israel by an integration partner; the likelihood that the VeriChip can also be used to assist in the management of emergency situations and disaster recovery in conjunction with a customized camera capable of receiving both RFID scanned data and GPS data wirelessly, and a Web-enabled database for gathering and storing information and images captured during emergency response operations; the likelihood that the Company’s integration partner intends to provide the microchips to the IDF; the likelihood that the Company’s partner is looking to help healthcare organizations, militaries including the IDF, and governments with their disaster preparedness and emergency response needs; and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and PositiveID’s actual results could differ materially from expected results. These risks and uncertainties include the Company’s ability to successfully deliver the VeriChip to its integration partner and the ability of the integration partner to provide the VeriChip to the IDF; as well as certain other risks. Additional information about these and other factors that could affect the Company’s business is set forth in the Company’s various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in the Company’s 10-K filed on March 25, 2011, and 10-Qs filed on May 13, 2011, and August 15, 2011, under the caption “Risk Factors.” The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this statement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com

SOURCE: PositiveID Corporation
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        CONTACT: Allison Tomek
        561-805-8000
        atomek@positiveidcorp.com
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www.marketwatch.com, Oct. 11, 2011
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October 16, 2011
London 2012 Olympics opens Technology Operations Centre

The IT powering the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has passed a major milestone with the formal opening of the Technology Operations Centre (TOC) at the Games’ headquarters in Canary Wharf.

The TOC will provide central monitoring and control for all the IT systems and telecoms supporting the Games, with 450 staff from the London Organising Committee’s IT team and key partners working around the clock, with up to 180 workers overseeing operations at any time.

The TOC is the “key control centre to make sure everything is going as we wish,” according to London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton.

The centre has been tested during the London Prepares series of sporting event designed to make sure all the venues and supporting technology are working as planned. During 79 days of competition so far, testing covered the set-up and take-down of 180 servers, 1,160 PCs and laptops, 190 network and security devices and more than 400 printers and copiers.

“Basically, things are performing as expected. We are where we need to be,” said London 2012 CIO Gerry Pennell.

A total of 200,000 hours of testing will be completed by summer 2012, with two “technical rehearsals” coming up in March and May to simulate “hundreds of scenarios,” said Pennell, including challenges such as cyber security and physical attacks on IT equipment.

During the Games, the TOC will oversee critical applications such as the Commentator Information System and the organisers’ intranet, as well as monitoring 900 servers, 1,000 network and security devices and 9,500 PCs. In total over 5,000 technology staff – including 2,500 volunteers – will be involved in the Olympics IT.

“The TOC is the decision-making centre for technology during the Games,” said Michele Hyron, chief integrator for London 2012 at Atos, worldwide IT partners for the Olympics. Other IT suppliers involved include BT, Cisco, Acer and Samsung.

Deighton added, Technology often goes unnoticed and yet is absolutely critical to our success in 2012. The Games cannot happen without technology.”

One of the new challenges for the London 2012 Games will be the amount of data generated from the results systems – 30% more than in the Beijing Olympics – providing real-time information to fans, commentators and broadcasters around the world.

“There are a number of familiar things from previous Games, but a number have moved along,” said Pennell, including “significantly enhanced” access to information from the public.

In anticipation of huge demand from event visitors using mobile devices, Pennell is working with BT and mobile network operators to ensure sufficient network capacity, including plans for an open Wi-Fi service for the Olympic Park in Stratford.

“We have worked very closely with BT and the mobile network operators to make sure there is enough infrastructure to provide a good level of [mobile] service during the Games,” said Pennell.

“But there will always be moments in any sporting event when demand is so huge that not everybody can get access.”

The IT team is also working on mobile apps for delivering event results and spectator information for fans at venues.

Computer Weekly

October 12, 2011
BlackBerry services collapse again

BlackBerry users have been cut off from online services again today, after RIM, the Canadian firm behind the smartphone brand, said it had fixed the problems that caused an outage on Monday that lasted up to 20 hours.

Users have once again taken to Twitter to vent their frustration, with many pledging to switch to an iPhone or Android device.

A spokesman for RIM declined to comment on the latest technical failure, which struck at around 1PM.

It followed a statement by the firm on its official Twitter account this morning that said “BlackBerry services have been restored”.

Once again users across Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been affected. All three regions are served by a RIM data centre in Slough, Berkshire.

A spokesman for the mobile network O2 said its BlackBerry users were unable to access the internet, or sent emails or BBM instant messages.

The Bahraini network Batelco confirmed the renewed problems via Twitter.

“Bahrain is experiencing service difficulties with Blackberry,” it said.

“RIM is currently working on solving the issue. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Bob Collymore, of the Kenyan network Safaricom, said: “RIM has advised us that the BlackBerry service in EMEA is down again.

“They are working to fix it but not sure when solution will be found.”

The latest crash appeared to be the last straw for many users.

Rob Flello, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, said: “Blackberry stopped working again – looks like I will be trading it in for an iPhone!!”

RIM has also been criticised for its public response to the failures. It only acknowledged the yesterday’s crash after users had been without services for several hours and it has made no statement on the cause.

The Telegraph

October 11, 2011
$Turkey’s first female math professor laid to rest$

Turkey’s first female math professor laid to rest

ISTANBUL

$Prof. Selma Soysal has achieved worldwide fame with her doctorate thesis.$
Prof. Selma Soysal has achieved worldwide fame with her doctorate thesis.

Dr. Selma Soysal, Turkey’s first female math professor, was laid to rest in an Istanbul cemetery yesterday following a commemoration ceremony held in her honor at Istanbul Technical University’s (İTÜ) Taşkışla campus.

“As far as I am concerned, work that is conducted in İTÜ in the field of mathematics also bears Selma’s contributions. As a woman of science and a modern Turkish woman, Selma has represented our country abroad with pride. I learned about what a human being, a teacher, an academic [and] a university ought to be like by watching her,” Professor Mümtaz Soysal, a legal expert, politician and Dr. Soysal’s brother, told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Selma Soysal was born in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak in 1924. She entered Istanbul University’s Math and Astronomy Department in 1941 and was taught by world-renowned mathematician Cahit Arf. Her doctorate thesis titled “Infinite Dimensional Hilbert Space” achieved worldwide fame.

She also attended specialty programs at universities in Paris and London, at Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She trained thousands of scientists throughout her 47-year career at İTÜ.

Soysal’s funeral was held at Şişli Mosque yesterday, after which her body was buried in the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.

İTÜ’s Deputy Rector Derin Ural also expressed the deep grief felt by the university in its loss, while retired İTÜ faculty member Professor Hande Suher said Soysal’s mentorship qualities were exceptional.

The ceremony was attended by a host of academics and university administrators from İTÜ, as well as Soysal’s family, students and acquaintances.

via Turkey’s first female math professor laid to rest – Hurriyet Daily News.

October 11, 2011