Residents and business owners in the beach communities of Cape Cod and nearby islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard hung plywood over their shop windows on Friday and rued the arrival of Hurricane Earl, which appeared set to spoil their holiday weekend.

But the vacation haven for many of America’s rich and famous, from presidents to musicians to hedge fund managers, looked like it would be spared a direct hit from the storm.

President Barack Obama and his family visited Martha’s Vineyard in August, where they endured several days of chilly rain but missed the hurricane threat.

Boat owners scrambled to pull their small craft from the water while authorities recommended that residents and vacationers who planned to stay put for the hurricane, which weakened to a Category 1 storm on Friday, had enough food and water to last three days.

In Chatham, the part of the mainland Cape expected to take the worst hit from Earl, many businesses had covered their windows and planned to close early before the storm, which was expected to bring wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour according to the National Weather Service.

“I am happy it got downgraded but it’s better to be prepared,” said Taylor Evangelista, 28, manager of the Soft as a Grape gift shop, which had boarded up its windows and hung a sign that read “Customers Welcome, Earl Go Away.”

The storm was hurting business heading into the weekend when the United States celebrates Labor Day, typically considered the end of the summer vacation period.

“This is the last big weekend,” Evangelista said, adding that she hoped people would return on Saturday, after the storm had passed.

Business owners in nearby Hyannis, close to the Kennedy family’s famous waterfront compound in Hyannis Port, cited similar worries.

“I’m concerned about my windows,” Betsy Young, 48, said outside her Soho Arts Company shop.

She said this weekend was usually the last busy weekend of the year for area retailers. “I’m going to lose Friday and probably most of Saturday,” preparing for and the cleaning up after the storm, she said.

LIGHTER BLOW

Still, area residents said they were glad to hear the storm had been downgraded from its peak Category 4 strength it had on the 5-point Saffir-Simpson scale when it first approached North Carolina a day earlier.

“I was here for Hurricane Bob. That was pretty serious, this one is supposed to be a lot smaller,” said Tom Huckman, 46, of Harwich, referring to the 1991 storm that hit Cape Cod with 125 mile per hour winds and left sailboats scattered on local streets.

Some vacationers were hoping to salvage their holiday weekends after Earl passed.

“I was toying with the idea of taking my boat out (of the water), but I decided to ride it out. It’s not going to be that long a storm,” said Scott Briley, 44, of North Andover, Massachusetts.

On Nantucket, which was expected to feel the worst of the storm, authorities had closed beaches and planned to open emergency shelters on Friday.

U.S. Senator John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz, are among the notables who own houses on Nantucket where the population swells fivefold, to about 50,000, in summer.

As Earl approached, residents and visitors outside low-lying areas were advised to ride out the storm in place if possible and to gather supplies of food and water.

The company that runs ferries between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and the mainland said it expected to suspend service by afternoon. The regional airline Cape Air canceled many of its flights to the Cape and the island.

The American Red Cross prepared for the worst by opening emergency shelters at several locations on the Cape.

In Hyannis, the First Baptist Church was scrambling to cover its new stained-glass windows with plywood.

“They just redid these, it must have cost them a couple hundred thousand dollars,” said Norman MacLean, 65, who was hanging the plywood sheeting. “They want them to last longer than the old ones, and they lasted 100 years.”
[Reuters]

YouGov poll commissioned by his campaign suggests David Miliband is seen as the strongest candidate in the Labour leadership contest to serve as prime minister

David Miliband is seen overwhelmingly as the most effective alternative to David Cameron and the strongest candidate in the Labour leadership contest to serve as prime minister, according to an opinion poll among voters commissioned by his campaign.

Amid signs of a tight race between the Miliband brothers, Ed today receives a boost when the Blackadder actor and veteran activist Tony Robinson endorses him as the most “radical” candidate.

Robinson, a highly respected figure in the Labour party who topped the poll for elections to the National Executive Committee on three consecutive occasions, said: “Of all of the candidates, from the beginning of the hustings, Ed has clearly defined himself away from same old same old. He is the one who, from the beginning, was prepared to distance himself from Iraq, from ID cards, student loans. These are big things that matter to people.”

David Miliband is voters’ choice for Labour leader, says pollYouGov poll commissioned by his campaign suggests David Miliband is seen as the strongest candidate in the Labour leadership contest to serve as prime minister
Tweet this (4)Nicholas Watt Chief political correspondent The Guardian, Friday 3 September 2010 Article history
The poll of 2,907 people also found that David Miliband enjoys a strong lead among voters who abandoned Labour, a key battle in the leadership campaign. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

David Miliband is seen overwhelmingly as the most effective alternative to David Cameron and the strongest candidate in the Labour leadership contest to serve as prime minister, according to an opinion poll among voters commissioned by his campaign.

Amid signs of a tight race between the Miliband brothers, Ed today receives a boost when the Blackadder actor and veteran activist Tony Robinson endorses him as the most “radical” candidate.

Robinson, a highly respected figure in the Labour party who topped the poll for elections to the National Executive Committee on three consecutive occasions, said: “Of all of the candidates, from the beginning of the hustings, Ed has clearly defined himself away from same old same old. He is the one who, from the beginning, was prepared to distance himself from Iraq, from ID cards, student loans. These are big things that matter to people.”

But David Miliband took heart from a new YouGov poll which showed he was most likely to woo voters who rejected the party at the general election. The poll was commissioned by his campaign.

It found 47% of respondents who had a view believe the shadow foreign secretary is the most effective alternative to Cameron — a 28 point lead over his nearest rival, his brother Ed, who scored 19%. Ed Balls trailed on 13%, with Diane Abbott and Andy Burnham on 11% and 10% respectively.

These numbers exclude those who said they do not know or said none of the above. If these are included, David Miliband is supported by 20%, with his younger brother on 8%.

The poll follows the disclosure that Cameron sees David Miliband as the greatest threat to the Tories, and will be welcomed by the shadow foreign secretary who is trying to portray himself as the candidate best placed to return Labour to power.

The poll of 2,907 people, conducted between 25-27 August, also found that David Miliband enjoys a strong lead among voters who abandoned Labour – a key battle in the leadership campaign. He has a 25% lead over his brother among these voters on who would be the best alternative to Cameron, and a 27% lead as the candidate most likely to persuade people to vote Labour.

Most of those questioned (42%) see David Miliband as the best leader of the party, well ahead of his brother on 19%. These figures exclude the don’t knows and those who rejected all five candidates.

Ed Miliband welcomed the strong endorsement from Robinson. The actor said: “There has been a lot of chatter about how it would be a terrible thing to choose a candidate who is in any way radical. The idea being that it would frighten the election so much that it would cast us into years of opposition. I think people who make that allegation have got very short memories. Tony Blair was extraordinarily radical. He was the person that got rid of Clause IV.”

Robinson added that Ed Miliband would end the “unadulterated misery” of being a Labour member in recent years. “You have not felt there was any possibility of having any kind of say in policy. It was just dumped on you.”

The actor said: “I was annoyed by the timing of Tony Blair’s and Peter Mandelson’s books. Mandelson was saying that if you have any new ideas, if you want to put clear water between yourself and what has happened over the last 13 years, you are going to make yourself unelectable. That is cheap and lazy rhetoric. It is what the silly kids do in the playground at school.”
[The Guardian]

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Sporadic gunfire could be heard in Mozambique’s capital Thursday, the morning after at least four people died in clashes between police and rioters angered by high prices.

Pedro Cossa, a spokesman for the police ministry, told The Associated Press Thursday two of his officers were beaten by mobs the day before. He said the death toll was four, including two protesters shot by police, and 26 people were injured.

Mozambique state TV, citing hospital reports, said seven people were killed, including two children caught in the violence as they went home from school.

The protesters, most of them young men, had rioted Wednesday over the rising cost of food, fuel and water. They threw stones and looted shops in Maputo, the capital. Cell phone messages late Wednesday and early Thursday called for more protests Thursday and Friday.

Early Thursday, gunshots could be heard in some Maputo neighborhoods. People were staying home, both out of fear of renewed violence and because, with debris from the rioting making roads impassible, buses and taxi vans were not running.

Mozambican police had declared Wednesday’s marches illegal, saying no group sought permission for them. For days, word of the protests had been spread, in some cases by cell phone message, in this former Portuguese colony in southeast Africa.

In an address on state radio and television late Wednesday, President Armando Guebuza called on Mozambicans not to protest Thursday. He said his government would try to meet demands to bring down prices, but that would not be easy. He said Mozambique produced only 30 percent of the wheat it needed, and imported the rest.

Mozambicans have seen the price of a loaf of bread rise by 25 percent, from four to five meticais (from about 11 cents to about 13 U.S. cents) in the past year. Fuel and water costs also have risen.

In 2008 in Mozambique, after a week of clashes between police and rioters that killed at least four people and seriously injured more than 100, the government cut fuel prices.

Rising prices around the world have raised concerns about a return to the political instability of 2008, when Egypt, Haiti, Kenya and Somalia were among the countries that saw rioting over the cost of living. At the time, high oil prices and growing demand for biofuels pushed world food stocks to their lowest levels since 1982.

The U.N. said Wednesday that international food prices have risen to their highest in two years, shooting up 5 percent between July and August.

The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization forecast this year’s wheat crop at 648 million tons, down 5 percent from 2009, reflecting a cut in drought-hit Russia’s harvest estimate from 48 million tons to 43 million tons.

Critics say bad government decisions are making shortages worse and accuse producers of colluding to push up prices.
[The Associated Press]

BANGKOK, Sep. 2, 2010 (PRNewswire-Asia) — To celebrate the launch of PlayStation Move in Thailand, Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong Limited (SCEH) today announced that there will be new models for PlayStation 3 (PS3) with higher storage capacity 160GB and 320GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The new PlayStation 3 (PS3) system will become available in stores from September 15, 2010 in Thailand at a very attractive suggested retail price (SRP) of THB14,990 and THB15,590 respectively.

(Photo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2010/09/01/20100901569605.html )

The 160GB PS3 system will come with 2 body colours, “Charcoal Black” (CECH-2506A) and “Classic White” (CECH-2506ALW), for users to choose to match with their home style. The 320GB PS3 system will be in the most popular colour Charcoal Black (CECH-2506B). The new PS3 continues to offer all of the features and functions of the current models, with expanded storage hard disk drive to accommodate more games, personal photos and music, as well as entertainment content and services downloadable from PlayStation Store for users to have greater enjoyment.

With the PlayStation 3 160GB and 320GB models, SCEH continues to expand the PS3 platform and create new boundaries for computer entertainment.

Product name PlayStation 3

Hard disk drive*1 160GB 320GB
CECH-2506A
(Charcoal Black)/
Product code CECH-2506ALW CECH-2506B
(Classic White) (Charcoal Black)

Recommended retail
price THB14,990 THB15,590

Release Date September 15, 2010 (Wed)

Included — PlayStation 3 system x 1
– Wireless Controller (DUALSHOCK 3) x 1
– AC power cord x 1
– AV cable x 1
– USB cable x 1

*1 Hard disk capacity calculated using base 10 mathematics (1 GB =
1,000,000,000 bytes). System software versions 1.10 and later calculate
capacity using binary mathematics (1 GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes), which
will display lower capacity and free space. A portion of hard disk
capacity is reserved for system administration, which varies depending
upon system software version, and is not available for use.

For the location & address of the Retail Outlets, please visit: http://asia.playstation.com/th/en/support/p/partnerShop

SOURCE Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong Limited
[istockAnalyst.com (press release)]

APPLE’S DEAR LEADER Steve Jobs is going to bow to rational common sense and issue another version of the Iphone 4 that is not so broken.

After months of fobbing off demands that Apple needs to fix its latest smartphone, which has a design feature of dropping calls when you use it in the wrong hand, a rumour has tipped up that Steve Jobs is going to release one that actually works.

So far Jobs has denied that it is problem. Certainly not for him, as the phone has been selling very well. But there is some evidence that people have been staying away from the Iphone 4 and are buying Android phones that are more reliable and don’t lock you into a mobile network supplier.

Now an executive with the Mexican mobile carrier Telcel has claimed that after September 30, Apple will release a revised Iphone 4 that does not exhibit the same signal attenuation flaw.

Telcel’s director of value added services, Marco Quatorze was announcing the launch of the Iphone 4 in Mexico when he warned local hacks that initial units will exhibit the same antenna problems as those released so far in the US.

He said Apple will be providing free cases, or rubber bands as the rest of the world knows them, to all Iphone 4 buyers who request one from its website.

However Quatorze said that after September 30 Apple will begin supplying revised Iphone 4 devices that “do not have the reception malfunction.” Of course if you bought the early model you are stuck with it and its rubber band fix.

If this is true, Steve Jobs will be shafting his best customers – those idiots who rushed out and bought an Iphone 4 knowing they were broken.

MacRumors insists that it is unusual for a carrier executive to have such advance knowledge of Apple’s plans, or to be allowed to share it if he did. Quatorze appears to have done a deal with Apple that will allow early buyers to upgrade to the revised hardware without having to extend the usual two-year contract.

Apple is of course refusing to comment. Its fanbois have been plaguing websites that report Antennagate and insisting that the problem doesn’t exist and that reporters who warn people against buying the broken gear are biased, work for Microsoft, are just jealous that they can’t own a broken phone like them, and need to get a girlfriend. So the problem must be really bad. µ
[Inquirer]

Even almost five years after its release, the Xbox 360 is still going through hardware evolution. While we saw the console itself get an overhaul with the Xbox 360 S console, today we learn about a new controller tweak that should make the d-pad better.

While most Xbox 360 games don’t rely on the digital d-pad that much, those who play fighting games know how imprecise the Xbox 360 controller can be. Microsoft is aiming to fix that this fall with a new, tweaked controller that’ll be showing up on November 9.

The d-pad can be switched between the current, smoothed form to a more discrete plus-sign like the classic Nintendo design through a 90-degree twist. Check out Major Nelson demonstrating it.

The only downer is that this will not be the default controller and won’t be purchasable on its own. Instead, it’ll be part of a bundle with the play and charge kit for $64.99.
[Tom's Guide]

Directional pad turns into raised “plus sign” buttons with the twist of a wrist.

circular directional pad into the more traditional “plus sign” configuration that’s favored by many gamers.
Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb unveiled the new wireless device in a video posted on his blog Tuesday.

“You’re probably saying, ‘Yeah, Yeah, we’ve seen wireless controllers before,’” Hryb said.

“But here’s where it gets interesting. We’ve heard from the community that many of you are not big fans of the d-pad, so the engineers went back into the laboratory and came up with this ingenious solution,” said Hryb, who goes by the name “Major Nelson” on Xbox Live.

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When users twist the d-pad, it pops up into a raised plus sign. Many users prefer the plus sign, particularly for sports games like hockey and football, as they feel it gives them more precise control over in-game characters.

The new control pad will be available Nov.9 in the U.S. and next February in Europe, and it’s only available as part of the Xbox Play & Charge package—which provides tools that lets users recharge their wireless controllers on the fly. List price is $64.99, Hryb said.

The transforming controller is Microsoft’s latest efforts to boost revenues from its Xbox franchise.

Earlier in the week, Hryb said the company plans to increase fees for its Xbox Live online gaming network.

Effective Nov. 1, the price for a one-month Gold subscription increases from $7.99 to $9.99, a three-month Gold subscription will rise from $19.99 to $24.99, and a one-year Gold membership will jump from $49.99 to $59.99.

Microsoft offers basic Xbox Live access for free, but players need a Gold membership to access advanced services like multiplayer support and Netflix streaming videos. Microsoft officials said the rate increases are justified by the growing amount of content—from games to TV shows and movies—available over Xbox Live.
[InformationWeek]

News Analysis: Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be discussing Apple’s future in the music industry on Sept. 1. But what exactly does Jobs plan to talk about that day?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking the stage on Sept. 1 to unveil several new products. Based on what the industry has heard so far, Jobs will be discussing music. Exactly what that entails, and how that will impact current products is unknown. And as expected, Apple isn’t willing to talk about it.

But that doesn’t mean that speculation about what Steve Jobs will talk about should stop. In fact, it’s arguably the best time to discuss what he will be unveiling at his event on Sept. 1. No doubt iPods will take center stage. But look for several other new products and solutions from Apple hat just might appeal to consumers more than their predecessors.

Here’s what Apple likely will announce at this press event.

1. A new iPod Touch

There is little debating that Apple will announce a new iPod Touch on Sept. 1. Currently, the iPod Touch is the best music player on the market. But with the iPhone 4 now captivating audiences, Apple will need to update its iPod Touch to make it more appealing. Expect an iPhone 4-like design, a front-facing camera, and the possibility of 3G networking in the next iPod Touch.

2. The iTV

Although Apple has been ignoring the set-top box market for years, the company must now focus its efforts there. Hardware vendors are preparing to release Google TV-based set-top boxes later this year that will extend what a person can do in the living room. When that happens, the Apple TV will be the also-ran in the market. The onus is now on Apple to respond with the rumored iTV. And it will likely do that at its next event.

3. iPhone sales

Just because Apple will be spending most of its time talking about iPods, it doesn’t mean that Steve Jobs won’t also discuss the success of the iPhone 4. Recent sales figures have shown that Android OS is now beating iOS in the mobile market. And the chances of that changing as more Android-based devices hit store shelves seem slim. But Steve Jobs doesn’t like to hear that. And he will undoubtedly discuss the iPhone 4’s strong sales to counter all the attention Android is enjoying.

4. iTunes

Whether or not iTunes will get a full-fledged streaming option is unknown. But if anything is certain, it’s that Steve Jobs will announce some kind of update to his company’s music service. Exactly what that update will be has been discussed about by just about everyone in the tech space. But no one has the answer. Chances are the update will be more iterative than groundbreaking.
[eWeek]

Come on, Hurricane Earl, take your best shot.

Brush up against us; make high clouds over Washington. We don’t much like weather around these parts. And if you so much as send a band of tropical rain our way, we’ll go grocery shopping on you.

We mean business, Earl.

Ever heard of Storm Tracker, Live Super Doppler, MaxTrack and Doppler 2 Radar Loop? That’s how we know it’s weather. And we’ll be ready.

Ever heard of Pepco? Forget everything you heard, then. Especially what Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery) said at a hearing Monday on the utility’s most recent screw-ups: “I have relatives in Mumbai who cannot believe how often we lose power.”

That is so unfair. Mumbai uses thermal, gas and hydro power to make electricity. Pepco uses what — hamsters on a treadmill?

And don’t pay attention to what Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said, either: “Some similar issues were raised in 2003 after Hurricane Isabel. There were a number of recommendations then, some of which were enacted and some of which were not.”

The issues were first raised during Hurricane Floyd in 1999 — and, boy, were they addressed.

“We are now spending more money on information technology, like smart relays,” a Pepco spokesman said in the aftermath of Floyd, which, having been downgraded to a mere tropical storm, delivered a “glancing blow” that still managed to leave tens of thousands without power. “Customers have told us they wanted to make reporting power outages more convenient.”

See, customers told them. And now — a little more than a decade later, that’s all — Pepco is saying: We hear you. Must have been those downed telephone lines. But it’s all good now.

Pepco recently announced that it had developed a “six-point reliability enhancement plan,” complete with “new initiatives” and “new activities” that will significantly reduce those annoying power outages.

“This is not just Pepco’s plan, it’s the community’s plan,” said Thomas H. Graham, Pepco’s regional president. “Pepco realizes that reliability enhancement is a critical issue for our customers.”
[Washington Post]