Category: Sci/Tech

IDEF’11 EURASIAN MEETING

IDEF’11, the 10th International Defence Industry Fair, is held under the auspices and support of theMinistry of National Defence and under the management and responsibility of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation. The fair is organized by Tuyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc. between 10-13 May 2011, at the TÜYAP Fair, Convention and Congress Center Büyükçekmece, Istanbul. IDEF’11 is opened by President of Turkish Republic, Mr. Abdullah GÜL.

Total of 621 domestic and foreign companies and company representatives from 48 countries (including Turkey), some of which are the leaders of the defence industry, meeting at IDEF-2011. In addition to companies, 84 delegations are visiting the fair including 419 foreign delegation members from 70 countries. 27 Ministers, 10 Deputy Ministers, 4 Chiefs of Armed Forces, 7 Deputy Chiefs of Armed Forces, 1 Force Commander, 11 Undersecretaries.

Along with the Ministers of Defence, the Chiefs of Armed Forces, high-level civilian and military authorities and the executives of defence industry procurement agencies of allied countries get a chance to exchange views during their visit to IDEF’11. Both domestic and foreign industrial organizations have the opportunity to establish important business connections.

“100th Anniversary Activities” of the glorious Turkish Air Forces, which competes with the age, made IDEF’11 even more exciting and colorful.

The surface ships, which have been designed and produced at Turkish Shipbuilding Yards, will also be exhibited at the Büyükçekmece Cove.

May 13, 2011
IDEF 2011: New combat shotgun unveiled

Turkish firearms design company UTAS used the IDEF exhibition in Istanbul to unveil a new combat shotgun, which it claims addresses all the shortcomings of current products on the market.

The UTS-15, which features a magazine top-feed system and light-weight carbon fibre and polymer construction, weighs 3kg and is 71cm long and yet is capable of holding 15 rounds.

UTAS director of manufacturing and product development Ted Hatfield said the company had originally been approached by Smith & Wesson to develop a high-capacity, short, robust and yet simple to operate pump-action shotgun.

However, following the development of a prototype, the US firearms company pulled out of the project and UTAS decided to take it forward itself.

Designed for use by police and military forces during urban engagements, the shotgun features automatic alternating or selectable feed dual magazines, with quick loading ports, compressible magazine springs and shell counters. The company claims that the UTS-15 is the fastest loading shotgun ever designed.

Hatfield highlighted aspects of the design to Shephard, including a selector that allows each magazine to be selected, a collapsible follower that removes any pressure on the last round, and an action that loads the shell at the same speed regardless of how fast or slow the pumping action.

The shotgun also features a point-and-shoot spotlight and laser night sight as well as an integrated top-mounted picatenny rail for iron sights or optics.

Hatfield said the company was hoping to move into full production of the UTS-15 before the end of the month and was currently looking at tooling and manufacturing options in the US.

‘We have done hours of tests and fired thousands of rounds, and we are extremely happy with the design – the shotgun is capable, robust and simple to operate and maintain.’
Tony Skinner, Istanbul

Shephard

May 13, 2011
AFP: Turkey plans new ‘quake-proof’ cities near Istanbul

(AFP) – 22 hours ago

ISTANBUL — Turkey plans to build two new cities near Istanbul and relocate up to 1.5 million residents who are most at risk from a possible earthquake in the metropolis, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

“Do not forget that Istanbul is under a major threat of an earthquake … This project would strengthen Istanbul’s preparedness,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in his televised remarks.

“Around 1.5 million people will be moved to those cities. We want our people to contribute this project from their hearts, we want them to move voluntarily,” he added.

The locations for the two satellite cities had been chosen after safety studies, Erdogan said, adding that one of them would be built on the shores of the Black Sea on the European side of the city.

The second one would be on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait, Erdogan said, without giving any details.

The construction of the two cities would begin after June’s parliamentary election, the premier added.

Erdogan announced last month plans to build a water channel connecting the Black and Marmara seas as an alternative to the congested Bosphorus Strait. A third bridge would also be constructed over the Bosphorus, in northern Istanbul.

The announcements come as part of a series of election pledges by the prime minister ahead of elections on June 12 in which his Islamist-rooted party is seeking a third straight term in power.

Istanbul’s 13 million inhabitants live in constant fear of a major earthquake, which experts predict will hit Turkey’s largest metropolis in the near future with a magnitude of up to 7.2.

In 1999 an earthquake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, devastated Turkey’s most industrialised Marmara region, including some suburbs of Istanbul, and killed some 20,000 people.

via AFP: Turkey plans new ‘quake-proof’ cities near Istanbul.

May 12, 2011
Web to be watched 24/7 in Turkey to prevent more sex tape scandals

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish government has announced that it will monitor the Internet around the clock to prevent any further online releases of sex tapes featuring politicians ahead of the June 12 general election.

The Prime Ministry’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority, or BTK, made its announcement amid a furor over ongoing waves of tape scandals that have snared members of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

The BTK said its new 24-hour system would monitor the web continuously in order to prevent additional privacy-invading images from reaching the homes of Turkish people. By operating around the clock, the BTK aims to catch the illegal surveillance of politicians early on and immediately take the necessary legal steps to have access to such footage blocked.

The BTK’s administrative, technical and legal units will all be involved in the operation.

Sex tapes have already hit two of the country’s main opposition parties, forcing former Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal and various senior members of the MHP to resign.

via Web to be watched 24/7 in Turkey to prevent more sex tape scandals – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.

May 12, 2011
Ankara-İstanbul high-speed train to cross third bridge

Transportation Minister Mehmet Habib Soluk has announced that the Ankara-İstanbul high-speed train line will cross the third bridge to be built on İstanbul’s Bosporus.

Mehmet Habib Soluk (R) attended a program on a train with State Minister Cemiş Çiçek (C) in Ankara.

Mehmet Habib Soluk (R) attended a program on a train with State Minister Cemiş Çiçek (C) in Ankara.

Soluk told the Anatolia news agency that the line running north of Sakarya’s Lake Sapanca will split in İstanbul’s Sultanbeyli district, on the city’s Asian side. From there, one branch will connect to the Marmaray rail tunnel and the other will go over the third bridge planned for construction in the vicinity of Garipçe on the European side and Beykoz’s Poyrazköy district on the Asian side.

Recalling that the third bridge will be built as part of the North Marmara Highway Project, Soluk said it would include both a highway and a rail line. More details will be released after the project is awarded in a tender this summer, he noted.

“We will soon finalize the issue after discussing it with the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality,” he added.

Soluk also stated that the ongoing construction of the Eurasia Tunnel, an İstanbul strait under-seabed tunnel that would connect the Asian and European sides of İstanbul at the Harem and Sarayburnu districts of the city, will ease İstanbul’s traffic problems when it is completed in about three-and-a-half years.

Speaking about the uncompleted metro lines in the capital city of Ankara, Soluk said the construction has been undertaken by the Ministry of Transportation following an agreement signed by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and the ministry, adding that the metro construction projects are included in the state’s investment program under the authority of the Cabinet. “It is impossible to complete construction on all of these lines at the same time because of differences in progress and the lengths of the lines. We aim to finish the Ankara metros within two years. Construction may start in September,” Soluk said.

zaman

May 11, 2011
Facebook may have leaked personal information: Symantec

A Facebook page is displayed on a computer screen in Brussels April 21, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Thierry Roge

(Reuters) – Facebook users’ personal information could have been accidentally leaked to third parties, in particular advertisers, over the past few years, according to Symantec Corp’s official web blog.

Third-parties would have had access to personal information such as profiles, photographs and chat, and could have had the ability to post messages, Symantec’s web blog said.

“We estimate that as of April 2011, close to 100,000 applications were enabling this leakage,” the blog post said.

” … Over the years, hundreds of thousands of applications may have inadvertently leaked millions of access tokens to third parties,” posing a security threat, the blog said.

The third-parties may not have realized their ability to access the information, the blog post said.

Facebook was notified of this issue and has confirmed the leakage, the post said.

The blog also said Facebook, the world’s largest social networking website, has taken steps to resolve the issue.

Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

Facebook has more than 500 million users and is challenging Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for users’ time online and for advertising dollars.

(Reporting by Thyagaraju Adinarayan, editing by Bernard Orr)

www.reuters.com, 10 May 2011

May 11, 2011