Virtual Museum Brings Indonesia’s Heritage Closer to Home

Another world: A man (above) looks at ancient statues through Occulus Rift glasses. The virtual reality glasses contain digital representations of statues of Hinamari (left) and an elephant and rider (right). (JP/Hans David Tampubolon)

Anantarupa Studios introduced last week the nation’s first virtual reality museum, aiming bring to Indonesians parts of Indonesia’s ancient heritage that have been scattered to museums throughout the world.

The museum, which uses Oculus Rift virtual reality technology recently purchased by Facebook, will open to the public until May 18 during the Museum Week event at the Senayan City mall in Senayan, South Jakarta.

After the event ends, the collection will have a permanent home at Gallery Indonesia in the Grand Indonesia shopping center in Sudirman, Central Jakarta, starting mid-June.

The museum currently features 10 ancient statues from the era of the Majapahit, an ancient archipelagic empire which ruled parts of present day Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor Leste.

The original pieces are located in various museums all over the world.

The virtual Adityawarman statue on display at the exhibition, for example, was modeled after the original, which currently resides at the Tropen Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

There are also models of a Dwarapala statue from the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the US; and a Sri Rajadevi Maharajasa statue from the Victoria and Albert Museum in England.

Anantarupa uses the Oculus Rift 3D goggles as a medium to take visitors into the realm of virtual reality.

The goggles use a seven-inch LCD display, visible via dual lenses that are positioned over the eyes. This provides stereoscopic 3D vision for users, who can freely move their heads from side to side, making the experience as close to real life as possible.

Using the goggles, users can start their visit by looking at the Majapahit sun emblem at the center of the display. After it finishes spinning, users can access see the historical details of each statue, such as the year it was made or the philosophy behind its creation - all simply by glancing at the statue.

To provide an immersive experience, the virtual museum also provides audio commentary to explain the historical background of each statue when a user looks at it.

There are, however, still some real life elements missing.

For example, the goggles cannot detect when users move their heads forward to look at the statue up close. Nor could users look at the statues from all angles.

Anantarupa managing director Diana Paskarina attributed some of the glitches to the accelerated digitization process, which took one month, as opposed to the three months that are typically required.

“We were invited to participate in the Museum Week event, so we decided to complete the 3D modeling sooner than our original schedule, which was to be the end of this year,” Diana said.

Gaining direct access to the statues was also tough.

“The most challenging part of creating the virtual museum was the research, because we often could not visit the museums that were located abroad to see how the statues look in real life,” Diana said.

To cope with the challenge of digitizing remote statues, Diana said that they relied on the Internet for photographs to make 3D models. “Sometimes, we can only see the front and the side parts of the statues. Therefore, as you can see, some statues are incomplete, especially in the back.”

Diana said users could expect more and better visualizations in the future.

“We plan to add 58 statues in total from the Majapahit era,” she said, adding that she hoped the project would emphasize museums as windows to the past and attract sponsors to finance expansion.

“We’re using Oculus technology to lure more people to become interested in museums,” Diana said. “By using virtual reality and technological interactivity, we hope people can see museums from a different perspective and eventually lure them to visit museums in real life as well.” The  Jakarta Post

BlackBerry Fights Back With Budget Indonesian Smartphone

A man silhouetted against a video screen displaying the the Blackberry logo as he poses with a Blackberry Q10 in the central Bosnian town of Zenica in this September 21, 2013 file photo illustration. (Reuters Photo)

Jakarta. BlackBerry on Tuesday launched a new budget handset in Indonesia, one of its last bastions, a major step in the ailing smartphone maker’s fight back against titans Samsung and Apple.

The Z3, designed with Indonesia in mind but expected to be introduced in other emerging markets later, is the first new BlackBerry phone since chief executive John Chen took the helm of the crisis-hit company in November.

The handset is also the first to be produced from the Canadian firm’s partnership with Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, which makes gadgets for Apple, and is a key test of whether the new strategy will work.

BlackBerry believes the Indonesian model — whose full name is the Z3 “Jakarta Edition” — will be a hit in
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, where the company maintains a loyal following despite losing ground in recent years, thanks in part to the popularity of its BBM messaging service.

Like many other global companies, BlackBerry is also targeting Indonesia due to its huge population of 250 million and its rapidly emerging middle class, who increasingly have cash to spend on gadgets following years of sustained economic growth.

“From conception to delivery, the BlackBerry Z3, Jakarta Edition, was designed specifically with our
Indonesian customers in mind,” Chen said during a visit to the Indonesian capital to launch the phone.

The phone will be available in shops from Thursday and will cost 2,199,000 rupiah ($190), BlackBerry said in a statement.

But analysts think it is already too late for a comeback by the company that pioneered the modern smartphone culture but has been unable to keep up with competition from Apple’s iPhone and handsets using the Google Android operating system.

Recent years have been dismal for BlackBerry, and it has suffered heavy losses and slashed thousands of jobs.

The company even put itself up for sale last year but abandoned hopes of finding a buyer several months later, and ousted chief executive Thorsten Heins.

Since Chen took over, there have been small signs of improvement. The company reported a loss of $423 million in the three months to March 1, which was not as bad as had been feared.

As part of its turnaround strategy, the smartphone maker announced the tie-up with Foxconn in December.

It involves transferring manufacturing and inventory management to the Taiwanese company, while allowing BlackBerry to focus on software and services.

The Z3 has a 13 centimeter touchscreen, without the physical keyboard of the older devices.

The Jakarta Edition’s BBM messaging service comes loaded with pictures of local cartoon characters for users to send to one another.

There is also a limited edition with the inscription “Jakarta” on the back.

BlackBerry’s most recent phones have not fared well in Indonesia but the company believes the Z3 will be popular, in particular due to its lower price.

Retailers say that online pre-orders, which began on April 28, have been healthy.

BlackBerry has refused to say which emerging markets it might take the phone to next, but analysts speculated it would likely be others in Southeast Asia.

But even the picture in Indonesia, one of the company’s healthiest markets, is increasingly dire and the Z3 may be too little too late, analysts warn.

“The launch of this device is really BlackBerry’s final stand in the Indonesian market,” Sudev Bangah from telecoms consultancy IDC told AFP.

IDC says BlackBerry’s market share peaked in Indonesia in 2011 at about 43 percent and remained healthy in 2012, only to suffer a collapse in 2013 when it slumped to around five percent in the final quarter, in the face of stiff competition from Samsung in particular.

Agence France-Presse

BlackBerry Steps Up Fightback With Indonesian Phone

A file photo dated 13 December 2011 showing an Indonesian salesgirl serving a customer as a poster of various kind of BlackBerry is seen on the background at a shopping mall in Jakarta, Indonesia. (EPA/Mast Irham)

Jakarta. BlackBerry will this week launch a new budget handset in Indonesia, one of its last bastions, a major step in the ailing smartphone maker’s fightback against titans Samsung and Apple.

The Z3, which is designed for Indonesia but will likely be introduced in other emerging markets later, is the first new BlackBerry phone since chief executive John Chen took the helm of the crisis-hit company in November.

The handset is also the first to be produced from the Canadian firm’s partnership with Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, which makes gadgets for Apple, and is a key test of whether the new strategy will work.

The company believes the device will be a hit in Indonesia, where many have remained loyal to BlackBerry, with a spokesman saying that “this product will deliver something that? should resonate with consumers”.

But analysts believe it may already be too late for a comeback by the company that pioneered modern smartphone culture but has been unable to keep up with competition from Apple’s iPhone and handsets using the Google Android operating system.

Recent years have been dismal for BlackBerry, and it has suffered heavy losses and slashed thousands of jobs.

The company even put itself up for sale last year but abandoned hopes of finding a buyer several months later, and ousted chief executive Thorsten Heins.

Since Chen took over, there have been small signs of improvement. The company reported a loss of $423 million in the three months to March 1, which was not as bad as had been feared.

As part of its turnaround strategy, the smartphone maker announced the tie-up with Foxconn in December, which involves transferring to the Taiwan company manufacturing and inventory management, while allowing BlackBerry to focus on software and services.

BlackBerry has chosen to launch its first new phone from the partnership in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy with legions of social media-mad young consumers, where its devices remain popular but it has nevertheless lost ground in recent years.

Low retail price
The phone has a 13 centimeter touchscreen, like most of BlackBerry’s newest handsets which do not have the physical keyboards of the older devices.

It is designed specifically with Indonesian consumers in mind. The BBM messaging service — wildly popular in Indonesia — comes loaded with pictures of local cartoon characters for users to send to one another.

There is also a limited edition with “Jakarta” engraved on it.

BlackBerry believes the low price — it will retail for around $200 — will be a particular selling point.
Previous phones released on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system in Indonesia were more expensive, such as the Z10 which sold for around $700, and received only a lukewarm response.

Online pre-orders, which began on April 28, have been healthy, according to retailers.
“The response is positive and hundreds of units were sold in less than a week after the pre-order started,” said an employee at vendor Global Teleshop, who declined to be identified.

The phone will be launched on Tuesday in Jakarta and will go on sale in the following days.
BlackBerry has refused to say which emerging markets it might take the phone to next, but analysts speculated it would likely be others in Southeast Asia.

But even the picture in Indonesia, one of the company’s healthiest markets, is increasingly dire and the Z3 may be too little too late, analysts warn.

“The launch of this device is really BlackBerry’s final stand in the Indonesian market,” Sudev Bangah from telecoms consultancy IDC told AFP.

IDC says BlackBerry’s market share peaked in Indonesia in 2011 at about 43 percent and remained healthy in 2012 only to suffer a collapse in 2013, when it fell to around 13 percent.

And Bangah said it was unlikely the new device would be BlackBerry’s savior in Indonesia.
“Do we expect a mass exodus to this device? Hardly likely,” he said, adding IDC expected BlackBerry’s market share to fall to around 10 percent this year.
Agence France-Presse

Planet With Four Suns Discovered

The new planet - a gas giant - is about six times the size of Earth

An international team of amateur and professional astronomers announced the discovery of a planet with four suns -- the first reported case of such a phenomenon.

The planet, located about 5,000 light years from Earth, has been dubbed PH1 in honor of Planet Hunters, a program led by Yale University in the United States which enlists volunteers to look for signs of new planets.

PH1 is orbiting two suns, and in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars. Only six planets are known to orbit two stars, researchers say, and none of those are orbited by other distant stars.

"Circumbinary planets are the extremes of planet formation," said Yale's Meg Schwamb, lead author of a paper presented Monday at the annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Nevada.

"The discovery of these systems is forcing us to go back to the drawing board to understand how such planets can assemble and evolve in these dynamically challenging environments."

US citizen scientists and Planet Hunters participants Kian Jek and Robert Gagliano were the first to identify PH1. Their observations were then confirmed by a team of US and British researchers working in Hawaii.

PH1 is a gas giant with a radius about 6.2 times that of Earth, making it a bit bigger than Neptune. It orbits a pair of eclipsing stars that are 1.5 and 0.41 times the mass of the Sun roughly every 138 days.

The two other stars are orbiting the planetary system at a distance that is roughly 1,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun.

The Planethunters.org website was created in 2010 to encourage amateur astronomers to identify planets outside our solar system, using data from the US space agency NASA's Kepler space telescope.

Kepler, launched in March 2009, is NASA's first mission in search of Earth-like planets orbiting stars similar to our Sun.

The discovery of PH1 was made available online Monday at the site arxiv.org and has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal for publication.

"It still continues to astonish me how we can detect, let alone glean so much information, about another planet thousands of light-years away just by studying the light from its parent star," Jek said. AFP

24-Mile Skydive a Boon for YouTube, Social Media

skydiver 10 15 12

Felix Baumgartner’s 24-mile (38.6-kilometer) skydive from the stratosphere was a boon for social networks as millions of users shared in the wonder of the moment from their computers, tablets and phones.

Here’s a look at how the world, through the Internet, watched the jump.

YouTube:

As Baumgartner ascended in the balloon, so did the number of viewers watching YouTube’s live stream of the event. Its popularity grew as the moment of the jump drew closer, as people kept sharing links with each other on Twitter and Facebook and websites embedded the stream.

Nearly 7.3 million viewers were watching as Baumgartner sat on the edge of the capsule, moments before the jump.

In the United States, the opportunity to watch the jump on TV was limited to the Discovery Channel, though more than 40 television networks in 50 total countries carried the live feed, organizers said. It was streamed by more than 130 digital outlets.

Facebook:

After Baumgartner landed, sponsor Red Bull posted a picture of the daredevil on his knees to Facebook. In less than 40 minutes, the picture was shared more than 29,000 times and generated nearly 216,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments. Immediately after the jump, Red Bull solicited questions for Baumgartner through Facebook and Twitter, promising to answer three at a post-jump news conference.

Twitter:

During the jump and the moments after Baumgartner safely landed, half the worldwide trending topics on Twitter had something to do with the jump — pushing past tweets about Justin Bieber and seven National Football League games being played at the same time. Celebrities of all kinds weighed in, including athletes, actors and high-profile corporate executives.

“It’s pretty amazing that I can watch, live on my computer, a man riding a balloon to the edge of space so he can jump out of it. #TheFuture,” tweeted Wil Wheaton, who acted in the iconic science-fiction series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

“Felix Baumgartner is a boss,” tweeted Jozy Altidore, a soccer player for the US men’s national team.

Reddit:

Two threads related to the jump made the front page of Reddit. Users quickly upvoted a request for Baumgartner to participate in an “Ask Me Anything” on the site, where users pepper someone on the site with questions about anything they want. President Barack Obama held court as the subject of a similar thread in August.

Nearly 29,000 users weighed in on a separate thread about the jump itself, voting it up and down and robustly commenting.

Agence France-Presse

SpaceX Capsule Links Up With Space Station: NASA

Technicians attach the Dragon capsule to a Falcon 9 rocket on October 5

A capsule on a first privately-run resupply mission successfully linked up Wednesday with the International Space Station, the US space agency NASA said.

A robot arm operated by two of the six astronauts aboard the space station snatched the Dragon capsule at 1056 GMT, more than thirty minutes ahead of schedule, it said.

The docking will be completed after the ISS crew first inspects the capsule's condition with the help of cameras, a task that was expected to take another two hours, a NASA television announcer said.

SpaceX, the private company owned by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, launched the Dragon Sunday evening atop a Falcon 9 rocket from an air base in Cape Canaveral, Florida near the Kennedy Space Center.

The mission was the first of a dozen ISS supply runs that NASA has contracted out to SpaceX under a four-year, $1.6 billion contract, fulfilling a role once carried out by NASA's now retired shuttle fleet.

The capsule is loaded with 882 pounds (400 kilograms) of equipment and material for scientific experiments that will be conducted by an ISS crew commanded by American astronaut Sunit Williams.

The cargo also includes food, clothing and other necessities for the international crew, which besides Williams includes three Russians, a Japanese and another American astronaut.

Dragon is currently the only spacecraft capable of ferrying cargo from the space station back to Earth, and on its return voyage scheduled for October 28 will carry back 1,240 pounds (562 kilograms) of equipment and material.

It is supposed to land by parachute off the coast of southern California.

SpaceX Craft On Way To ISS In First Supply Run

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket attached to the cargo-only capsule called Dragon, lifts off from the launch pad, on October 7, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket is bringing cargo to the International Space Station that consists of clothing and equipment.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off, launching the cargo-laden Dragon capsule into Earth’s orbit on its way to the International Space Station for NASA’s first privately-run supply mission.

The engine fires traced a bright trail across the night sky over NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the site of many launches into space after the on-time lift off at at 8:35 pm (0035 GMT) on Sunday.

Dragon, carrying around 1,000 pounds (455 kilograms) of supplies, is set to reach the ISS on Wednesday, where it will spend about two weeks. This is the first of 12 planned missions in the US firm’s $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

“Everything worked well, the weather stayed good — that was the one concern,” said aerospace consultant Jeff Foust, editor of The Space Review.

“I think this is the first time the Falcon 9 has launched on the very first attempt,” he added, recalling that one launch attempt for a previous mission in May had to abort just as it was meant to take off.

“Clearly they’re getting a more mature system there that is working very well,” Foust told AFP from Cape Canaveral, where he observed the launch.

SpaceX’s May mission, a nearly flawless test flight to the orbiting outpost, was a nine-day trip to deliver cargo to the $100 billion orbiting station — the first time a commercial outfit had sent its own capsule there and back.

Although the equipment and software are largely the same this time around, SpaceX said the launch is hardly routine.

“Every time we fly, we learn something,” SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said in a Saturday news conference.

SpaceX, owned by billionaire Paypal co-founder Elon Musk, is one of several private companies working with the US space agency to send flights to and from the ISS. NASA has been relying on Russian spacecraft for the last year, after retiring its fleet of shuttles.

The mission is the next step in American efforts to commercialize the space industry, in hopes of reducing costs and spreading them among a wider group than governments alone.

SpaceX says it has 50 launches planned — both NASA missions and commercial flights — representing about $4 billion in contracts.

Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth — splashing down off the coast of southern California — on October 28, carrying about 734 pounds of scientific tests and results.

So far, SpaceX has only sent unmanned flights into orbit, but the company aims to send a manned flight within the next three or four years. It is under a separate contract with NASA to refine the capsule so that it can carry a crew. AFP

Japan team offers fertility hope with stem cell eggs

Handout. A team at Kyoto University harvested stem cells from mice and altered a number of genes to create cells very similar to the primordial germ cells that generate sperm in men and oocytes -- or eggs -- in women.

Hopes of a cure for infertility in humans were raised Friday after Japanese stem cell researchers announced they had created viable eggs using normal cells from adult mice.

The breakthrough raises the possibility that women who are unable to produce eggs naturally could have them created in a test tube from their own cells and then planted back into their body.

A team at Kyoto University harvested stem cells from mice and altered a number of genes to create cells very similar to the primordial germ cells that generate sperm in men and oocytes -- or eggs -- in women.

They then nurtured these with cells that would become ovaries and transplanted the mixture into living mice, where the cells matured into fully-grown oocytes.

They extracted the matured oocytes, fertilised them in vitro -- in a test tube -- and implanted them into surrogate mother mice.

The resulting mice pups were born healthy and were even able to reproduce once they matured.

Writing in the US journal Science, which published the findings, research leader professor Michinori Saito said the work provided a promising basis for hope in reproductive medicine.

"Our system serves as a robust foundation to investigate and further reconstitute female germline development in vitro, not only in mice, but also in other mammals, including humans," he said.

Saito cautioned that this was not a ready-made cure for people with fertility problems, adding that a lot of work remained.

"This achievement is expected to help us understand further the egg-producing mechanism and contribute to clarifying the causes of infertility," he told reporters.

"We intend to continue this research with monkeys and humans," he said.

Stem cells -- infant cells that develop into the specialised tissues of the body -- have sparked great excitement because they offer the chance of rebuilding organs damaged by disease or accident.

Until fairly recently, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from embryos, a process that is controversial because it necessitates the destruction of the embryo.

Religious conservatives, amongst others, have objected to research on human embryonic stem cells because they hold that the destruction of a foetus is wrong.

But pioneering work done in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka, also at Kyoto University, succeeded in generating "induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells", from skin tissue.

Like embryonic stemcells, iPS cells are also capable of developing into any cell in the body, but crucially their base material is readily available.

The findings on egg development published this week come just a year after scientists in Kyoto successfully coaxed sperm cells from mouse stem cells.

In that work, researchers took mice that were unable to produce normal sperm and injected them with the stem cell-derived primordial germ cells, or PGCs.

These PGCs "produced normal-looking sperm, which were then used to successfully fertilize eggs", the study said last year. AFP

Improving The World, One Map At A Time

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, an app lets users find real estate using very specific parameters

After last year’s record floods ravaged Thailand, developer and entrepreneur Vachara Aemavat had an idea for helping people find higher ground. He built a tool, using Google Maps elevation data, that lets people in the Asian nation look up their homes’ locations and see how high above sea level they are. They can share the information on social media to ask for help or offer others a dry place to take shelter.

Aemavat’s story is one of six being featured as part of a new push by Google called More Than A Map. It promotes Google Maps Application Programming Interface products, which allow outside developers to tap into Google’s rich map data and tools for their own products and sites. It comes at a time when many are bemoaning the loss of Google Maps on Apple’s new mobile operating system.

Bangkok, where Aemavat is the co-founder of a company called Computerlogy, was the second stop on one industrious Google employee’s eight-day trip around the world. Carlos Cuesta, the Google Maps API product marketing manager, turned a round-trip business trip to Australia, where part of the Google Maps team is located, into a dash around the globe to visit international developers using the service.

Cuesta dropped in on each country for about a day and caught up on sleep on the planes. He visited

Bangkok, Thailand; Nairobi, Kenya; Hamburg, Germany; and Sao Paulo, Brazil with a backpack filled with recording equipment. He spent a day with each developer or company, checking out their diverse work spaces (living rooms, offices, on computers powered by generators) and gathering information on how they use the maps APIs.

“It’s important for us to see how what we’re creating affects the rest of the world,” said Cuesta. “Making sure we’re making products that are internationalized.”

What’s impressive about many of the developers Cuesta met with is how they’re using maps to solve local problems. Upande Limited uses maps and Google Earth to share a variety of important information about the country, including which local politicians have paid or not paid taxes, wildlife migration patterns, weather, and water quality. It sells those maps to governments, U.N. organizations and companies.

For the water quality project, developers are working with an Android app that counts the number of bacteria colonies based on a photograph of water. The results are uploaded to a database and cataloged, the results shared with the government so that it can take action.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Cuesta dropped in on a company called Epungo, which has a site that maps real estate in the sprawling and often chaotically laid-out city. Working out of one of their apartments, the co-founders created interactive maps that allow users to set very specific parameters for the type of real estate they’re looking for, and check out the neighborhood up close using Google’s Street View.

The More Than a Map project, while an interesting counterpoint to the recent Apple Maps app flap, was actually started back in July as a way to promote the Google Maps API. At that time, the service was working hard to keep developers from defecting to less-expensive alternatives.
 
There is a free version of the Google Maps API. But under certain circumstances, such as if a company plans to charge for its final product, it has to use Google Maps API for Business, which starts at $10,000. The final price tag can be steep for many start-ups, especially if they have a lot of traffic.

Back in March, a pair of well-known Google Maps clients left, following a price hike for the APIs. Location check-in service Foursquare switched to MapBox, which is powered by OpenStreetMaps. After realizing it would be out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year with the Google Maps API, StreetEasy also moved away from Google and built its own maps using a combination of other services and tools.

Competition is cropping up all over, and not just from Apple or open-source services. There are also maps APIs from Microsoft Bing, Nokia, Amazon and MapQuest.

Google’s slick new site is a sales pitch, showing off features like customized map styles, Street View, elevation information and data visualization. But the stories of developers creating important, problem-solving apps and websites are an even better pitch for the ability of smart programmers, entrepreneurs and maps to make a difference around the world. CNN

Explore The Ocean With Google Maps

Google offers virtual dives in world’s coral reefs. (Screen grabbed from Google Maps).

San Francisco. Google late Tuesday began letting users of its online mapping service take virtual scuba dives to explore precious living reefs being surveyed by scientists.

The first underwater panoramic images were added to Google Maps with the help of Catlin Seaview Survey scientific expedition, which hoped that the up-close view of underwater wonders would inspire people to protect them.

“This is a critical decade for coral reefs,” Catlin project director Richard Vevers told AFP while providing a preview of the Google reef mapping project.

“We need to be recording them as fast as we can and involving people to halt the decline, which is alarming at the moment.”

A small team of Catlin divers used a special camera to capture panoramic imagery woven together at Google Maps and in a special Street View online gallery to let people swim along without getting wet.

“With these vibrant and stunning photos you don’t have to be a scuba diver or even know how to swim to explore and experience six of the ocean’s most incredible living coral reefs,” said Google Maps and Earth vice president Brian McClendon.

“Now, anyone can become the next virtual Jacques Cousteau and dive with sea turtles, fish and manta rays in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii.”

The underwater locations include the Great Barrier Reef, the Molokini Crater, and the Apo Island marine reserve.

“We’ve published images in seven continents, down the Amazon and in the Arctic,” said Google Oceans Program manager Jenifer Austin Foulkes.

A channel at the Google+ social network devoted to the Catlin expedition, which has the potential to discover new species of marine creatures during a “deep reef” phase, has attracted about 1.4 million followers.

Undersea imagery could be seen online at maps.google.com/ocean.

“This is a project that can engage people,” Vevers said.

“We need to bridge the gap between scientific understanding and public awareness… We need people to be able to experience the ocean.” AFP

Sydney, iPhone 5 - The wait is over

The first customers to purchase their new iPhone 5s exit an Apple flagship store on George street in Sydney, Australia.

For the most devoted Apple aficionados, it's been a long week. But as Thursday night became Friday morning around the world, some of those diehards who spent hours waiting in line were greeted with open doors at Apple stores and other retailers selling the new iPhone 5.

Announced September 12, the iPhone 5 features a bigger screen, lighter and slimmer frame, faster processor and, for the first time, 4G LTE wireless connections. If a handful of tech writers were unimpressed with the specs, that didn't translate into lack of consumer interest.

Apple took 2 million pre-orders for the phone in the first 24 hours they were available last week, and some analysts think it could sell more than 10 million by Monday.

That first-day total was double the number of iPhone 4S pre-orders the company took last year, and an initial Friday shipping date was quickly pushed back. People who pre-order the phone now, or did so in the past few days, could be waiting more than three weeks for their phones to ship.

For those who opted to get personal, the doors at Apple retail stores open at 8 a.m. local time Friday in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK. The phone will roll out to 22 more countries on September 28.

Gallery: The world's hottest smartphones

Despite morning rainfall in Tokyo, hundreds of eager customers lined up outside an Apple store in the city's Ginza shopping district. Store employees handed out umbrellas to waiting customers, some of whom came sporting face paint to celebrate the occasion.

"It's almost like a festival, people just camping in the center of Ginza, just drinking and playing and talking to each other," said Taiyo Nakashima, a 34-year-old web designer. "It's not really just buying the phone, it's just enjoying the party, really."

In Sydney, Australia, customers camped out in tents and folding chairs. Cheers erupted when the store's doors opened.

Todd Foot told CNN affiliate Network Ten that he waited for more than 70 hours to get Australia's first iPhone for sale and review it online.

In Hong Kong, the situation was calmer. To avoid chaotic crowds, like those seen in Beijing in January, the Apple store in central Hong Kong was only selling the new iPhones to customers who had reserved a device online.

The busy store still had extra security and measures to control crowds in place. The most popular single smartphone since the existence of such a device, the iPhone has sold more than 244 million units around the world since then-CEO Steve Jobs unveiled it six years ago.

In a sign of the continued reverence for Jobs around the world, the Madame Tussauds in Hong Kong is set to unveil a wax figure of his likeness next week.

According to research firm IDC, the iPhone and its iOS operating system make up 16.9% of the worldwide smartphone market, coming in behind the cluster of phones running the Android operating system, which account for 68.1% of the world's smartphones.

The iPhone 5 is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the current version, the iPhone 4S. It has a 4-inch screen, measured diagonally, compared with a 3.5-inch screen on previous versions of the phone. It is the same width as the iPhone 4S but taller, and the iPhone 5 is made entirely of glass and aluminum. CNN

U.S. Agrees to Sell 8 AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicopters To Indonesia

The AH-64 Apache is The Army’s heavy division/corps attack helicopter. The AH-64D Longbow remanufacture effort incorporates a millimeter wave fire control radar (FCR), radar frequency interferometer (RFI), fire-and-forget radar-guided Hellfire missile and cockpit management and digitization enhancements. (U.S. Army)

WASHINGTON — The United States is to sell eight Apache helicopters to Indonesia in a sign of strengthening ties aimed at boosting regional security, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sept. 20. After talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Clinton said the U.S. administration had “informed Congress of the potential sale of eight AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters to the Indonesian government.”

“This agreement will strengthen our comprehensive partnership and help enhance security across the region,” she told reporters, after they met for their third U.S.-Indonesia joint commission.

The administration of President Barack Obama is making a key policy pivot to boost ties in the Asia-Pacific region, as it seeks to try to fend off China’s influence, and Clinton visited Jakarta earlier this month. The top U.S. diplomat did not give a figure for how much the sale of the Boeing-made Apaches to the Indonesian military was worth, but the Jakarta Post has reported that the deal has been in the works for some time.

Hailing their growing ties, Clinton said trade between the two nations topped $26 billion last year, while “investments in transportation, energy, and infrastructure are creating jobs and supporting economic growth.”

The United States was also spending some $600 million over the next five years to fund “clean energy development, child health and nutrition programs, and efforts to help make Indonesia’s government more transparent and open,” Clinton said.

Indonesia and the United States had built a “strong foundation,” she said. Alluding to tensions in the South China Seas, Clinton added: “One of our most important concerns is promoting peace and stability in the Asia Pacific.”

Jakarta and Washington had a “comprehensive partnership,” Natalegawa agreed, adding he wanted “to reinforce and recall and reaffirm the fact that the importance of Indonesia-U.S. relations extends beyond the bilateral.

“Our two countries now have worked very closely in a very productive and very mutually beneficial way, not only bilaterally, but increasingly within the regional setting as well.” defensenews

A little-known ‘songket’

Intricate: Songket fabrics can take days, weeks or months to create. (Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra)

Salbiah arranges threads on her loom. Her 70-year-old hands send the shuttle back and forth, and the precious Batu Bara songket develops slowly, as the weft creeps up the warp.

The woman has been weaving Batu Bara songket since she was a child. Even today, she still weaves beautiful songket every day, though her speed lessens year by year. Salbiah is among the oldest weavers in Padang Genting village in Batu Bara regency, North Sumatra.

But weaving is not just a task for old women. Housewives and young girls can also be seen making songket along a row of houses on Jl. Besar Kampung Panjang.

Weaving has always been a special skill of the women in Padang Genting. Almost all the women in the village can weave, from teenagers to the elderly. It is an extra source of income for women, something they can do alongside taking care of the household.

Skilled: A woman weaves Batu Bara songket in Padang Genting village in North Sumatra. (Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra )

Although traditional weaving has been important in Batu Bara for hundreds of years, surprisingly few people are aware of the existence of songket, or at least where it comes from.

“It’s hard to expect people even in North Sumatra to know much about Batu Bara. Many locals are probably not even aware of it. But who doesn’t know about ulos?” said Azhar, a weaver and dealer in the fabric.

Azhar reckons people know a lot more about ulos (a traditional piece of Batak cloth worn thrown over the shoulder) than Batu Bara. When people talk about traditional textiles from Medan or North Sumatra, they almost invariably mention ulos, though Batu Bara songket is much more fine and delicate, and harder to come by.

Fadlin, a lecturer at the cultural sciences school of the University of North Sumatra, wrote a thesis on Batu Bara weaving for his Master’s degree at the University of Malaya. He became interested in the subject in 2005, when there was a popular movement in Malaysia interested in all aspects of Indonesian weaving. As an Indonesian, he was asked to do research on Batu Bara and spent the next four years completely wrapped up, perhaps both literally and figuratively, in songket.

Historically, Batu Bara songket was the “power suit” for the king of Malaya and his court. The colors of the cloth were associated with the level of the bearer in the social hierarchy. Yellow was the highest degree and only used by the king.

Since 1946 when the Malayan Union was established and the Malaysian monarchy effectively disappeared and since Indonesian independence, great social changes have overtaken both countries. There is no restriction in the use of Batu Bara songket anymore. Anyone can wear whatever color they prefer.

The cloth is still mainly worn by ethnic Malays, but Bataks are also beginning to wear it, especially on special occasions, notably weddings, when it is often combined with traditional Batak cloth.

Preserved: Traditional fabrics line the shelves of a store in North Sumatra. (Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra)

Nobody knows when Batu Bara cloth originated, but the first literary reference to the fabric is found in John Anderson’s Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra from 1823.

Salbiah has a very old piece of songket with a rare pattern called sejubilang. It is a kind of sampler of woven motifs embroidered on fabric and is hundreds of years old.

She does not know for sure how old it is, but the sejubilang cloth was obtained from her grandmother and has been handed down from generation to generation. It is the one and only sejubilang in Batu Bara.

But weaving skills are not confined to older people: the young still learn the skill from their parents. Nuridho is the youngest weaver in the village. At 14 years old, she can weave as well as an adult and is able to complete a 2 square meter piece of cloth in just six days.

Because she is still in school, Nuridho usually weaves from 2 to 6 p.m., but begins at 10 a.m. on holidays. She makes Rp 100,000 (US$10.50) a month from her work and uses the money to pay for school because her parents cannot afford to.

Looking at the skills of the young weavers in the village, Azhar believes that Batu Bara songket will survive. “What we need is better promotion and more publicity,” he said.

Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra

Amazing, Apple Gets Record 2 Million Orders in 24 Hours for iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 on display after its introduction during Apple Inc.'s iPhone media event in San Francisco, California.
Image by: BECK DIEFENBACH / REUTERS

Apple received more than two million orders for its new iPhone 5 in just 24 hours, the company said, pushing back many deliveries into October because of unprecedented demand.

"iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, on Monday.

Apple unveiled the new version of its iconic smartphone last Wednesday and opened up pre-orders on Friday. The company said the hot item would be available in 100 countries around the world by year's end.

The first customers in the United States and several other countries are expected to get the device September 21, but Apple said some would have to wait.

"Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers on September 21, many are scheduled to be delivered in October," an Apple statement said.

Apple's US website said orders placed would be shipped in two to three weeks.

The iPhone 5 will be available from the Apple Online Store and its retail outlets, and for US customers through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Best Buy, RadioShack, Target and Walmart stores and other resellers.

AT&T said in a statement it set a sales record with iPhone 5 over the weekend, making it the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever offered, but gave no specific numbers.

The carrier said it will be selling the iPhone 5 in AT&T retail stores on Friday.

In New York, a handful of people were already camped outside the Apple store on Fifth Avenue awaiting the new smartphone, but all were sponsored by companies or apps seeking publicity.

First in line was a man identifying himself as Sagitarius Catharsis, equipped with a chair, small table and blanket, who said he was promoting a local chat service called App Vibe.

Also in the queue was Keenen Thompson, 22, who said he works in "fashion" and was sponsored by Gazelle, a company which buys old phones and old computers in trade-ins.

"We already waited 18 days for iPhone 4S last year," he told AFP. "We decided to do it again. There's no fun in ordering it on Internet. Here people pass by and talk."

Joshua Chinchilla, 23, an account manager for the mobile banking app Refundo, said he and a colleague plan to be among the first to get the new iPhone early Friday.

He said his company is providing chairs, and sweaters and that "tomorrow there will be thunderstorms, hopefully we'll get umbrellas too."

Some analysts say Apple could sell 10 million in the opening days and 50 million before the end of 2012.

Apple shares extended their rally Monday, gaining 1.2 percent to end at a new record $699.80, giving the world's most valuable firm a market worth of $654 billion. In after-hours trading, shares edged above $700.

Many analysts remained bullish on Apple because of the iPhone and other products, including a rumored new mini-iPad expected to be launched later this year.

"Bolstered by the iPhone 5, we believe Apple's industry-leading software ecosystem and integrated hardware expertise will lead to a strong multi-year product cycle," said Michael Walkley at Canaccord Genuity.

"We reiterate our buy rating and $797 price target."

Ben Reitzes at Barclays commented: "The pace of this iPhone 5 roll-out is the fastest in the iPhone's history and points to a big December quarter."

Reitzes said the only thing holding Apple back is the possibility of "significant production constraints," but added this would push "a significant amount of units into the December and March quarters."

The thinner, lighter, more powerful iPhone has been among the most keenly anticipated products in the tech world.

Made of glass and aluminum, it features a new design to nestle in one's palm to naturally align with thumbs and works on the faster mobile Internet networks known as LTE.

The US Federal Trade Commission warned meanwhile that scammers were already seeking to cash in on iPhone mania, with emails offering a chance to get one.

"Don't reply, and don't click on links provided in the message," the FTC said. "Links can install malware on your computer and take you to spoof sites that look real but whose purpose is to steal your information."

AFP

Bill Moggridge, Father of Laptop PC, Dies on Saturday at The Age of 69 Due to Cancer

Bill Moggridge Father of Laptop PC

Bill Moggridge passed away on Saturday at the age of 69 due to cancer, and while you may not known his name, you likely know the Briton's iconic work. It's likely you're on it right now. No, not the World Wide Web (that's another Briton, Tim Berners-Lee). Bill Moggridge is the father of the laptop PC.

The laptop you use at work or possibly the one you're surfing on right now wouldn't look like it does without Moggridge's work in the 1980s. He's credited with the design of the first clamshell laptop PC, the 11-pound GRiD Compass 1100 in 1982. Moggridge was also one of the founders of the IDEO design group, responsible for the first Apple mouse and the design of the Palm V PDA.

The GRiD Compass 1100 is famous for going up in the space shuttle during missions in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as providing some of the first portable PCs for the U.S. Armed Forces. GRiD Systems continued on with other designs like the GriDCase. GRiD patented the clamshell laptop design (with built-in display, keyboard, CPU, and storage), but unlike today's litigious companies, it never enforced the patent. That's one reason why you can go into a store and buy laptops made by the hundreds of manufacturers that have come and gone in the last 30 years.

After GRiD Systems, Moggridge established his own eponymous design firm as well as ID Two, both of which were merged into the still current IDEO design group in Palo Alto, California. IDEO is responsible for a plethora of designs you may see everyday, like the tap handle for Sam Adams Boston Lager, the Elmo Calls app for the iPhone, and several chair and workspace designs for Steelcase.

Moggridge left IDEO two years ago to serve as the director of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, one of two Smithsonian museums in New York.

Apple, World Watches for ‘iPhone 5’ Unveiling Wednesday

 

San Francisco. Apple becomes the focus of the technology universe Wednesday as the world awaits a new iPhone with a big, beautiful touchscreen and connectivity to blazingly fast telecom networks.

Apple has been tight-lipped about what is in store at its media event in San Francisco, but hinted at a keenly anticipated “iPhone 5” in invitations that bore the cryptic message “It’s almost here.”

Leaks and rumors portray the new iPhone as having a larger touchscreen than its predecessor and say that it will be available by the end of the month.

“They need to come out with a bigger screen since the market is clearly moving in that direction and they need to give the iPhone LTE 4G connectivity,” said NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker.

“Both of those are features people want and Apple is clearly ready to make them part of the iPhone.”

Telecom providers have been rolling out fourth-generation, or 4G, networks boasting top speeds for Internet-linked wireless devices.

Demand for what is being referred to as “iPhone 5” is likely to be hot, with analysts convinced many people have put off purchases to wait for Apple’s latest.

Canaccord Genuity brokerage told investors to expect record iPhone sales after a new model launches, and Piper Jaffray predicted that as many as 10 million could be bought during the week after launch.

“Pent-up demand for the iPhone 5 is such that Apple will sell every one they can make” in the coming weeks, said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

Enderle said he expected the iPhone 5 to dominate until next year, when “fan demand” could give way to device-neutral shoppers saving money by opting for Android--powered rivals from firms like Samsung.

“Samsung has gone beyond copying iPhone to improving on it,” Enderle said.

Smartphones powered by Google’s Android software continued to dominate with 52.2 percent of the US market, but Apple’s iOS was the second most popular smartphone platform with 33.4 percent, comScore reported.

Samsung mobile phones remained the most popular in the United States with 25.6 percent of the market, but third-place Apple gained ground to claim 16.3 percent as of the end of July, according to comScore.

Google and Microsoft introduced new champions in the fiercely competitive smartphone arena a week ahead of the Apple event.

Microsoft and Nokia boosted their smartphone arsenal with two new Lumia handsets powered by Windows 8 software.

Motorola Mobility added three powerful Android smartphones to its Droid family, the first major product news from the company since it was bought by Internet giant Google a year ago in a $12.5 billion deal.

While unlikely to dull iPhone 5 frenzy, challengers “set bars” for smartphone battery life, screen quality, and wireless recharging, according to analysts.

“(Microsoft and Google) platforms are really out-innovating Apple but that might not matter to consumers,” said Gartner Research vice president of mobile computing Ken Delaney.

“The consumer goes into a store with a heavy bias to buy an Apple product and you have to do a lot to unseat them from that love affair.”

Apple usually uses its September media events to show off improvements to its iPod line, the stars of which are “Touch” models that are essentially iPhones without mobile phone features.

A separate media event is expected in October to unveil a new, smaller version of its wildly popular iPad tablet.

It remained a mystery whether the Cupertino, California-based company would confirm reports that it is in talks to license music for an online radio service.

Some analysts thought Apple might bring in a celebrity to infuse the Wednesday media event with magical energy that has been missing in the absence of company co--founder Steve Jobs, who died last year.

“You might have a celebrity on stage to re-create that old Steve Jobs excitement,” Enderle said. “Hopefully, it won’t be Clint Eastwood talking to a chair where Steve used to sit.”

Apple shares climbed to a new high on Friday, eclipsing $680 for the first time and giving it a market value of $637.5 billion, extending its lead as the world’s most valuable company.

Agence France-Presse

After ESEMKA Now Student of SMK Successfully Create Chopper

 

Surabaya – Don’t underestimate the secondary vocational students. After last Esemka exist with cars, there is now a student of SMK PGRI II Ponorogo successfully mix MOGE (big motorcycle like Harley Davidson) chopper valued at IDR 20 million.

Four students sitting in class XII during the 2.5 months of struggling to mix big motorcycle debut work. With imported machines Honda Mini N-350 in 1974, the team successfully modify automobile engine 350 cc to 500 cc.
 

Detik Photo

A unique, they unite function between the starter and the dynamo amperes. This probably resulted moge chopper sound effects smoother than moge brands that have been circulating in the market.
 

When viewed, this chopper wearing size 21 cm for Front wheel and 16 cm for behind wheel. Bottom part and disc assembly is believed created the students selves.

Other than, the engine consists of 2 cylinders. They use 24 mm carburator, smaller than the existing moge. The motorcycle engine is fuel efficient, each one liter of gasoline can be used to travel up to 25 kilometers.

Aji Susilo, Arris Dita, Dwi Purnomo and Dedek Revelation Prasetyo (CMS Nursing Pamardi Siwi II Ngramber, Ngawi) is claimed not yet have plans to mass-produce moge chopper. Because, there are still some points that need more research and modified.

WASHINGTON : Neil Armstrong, First Man On The Moon, Dead At 82

WASHINGTON // The first man to set foot on the moon, renowned US astronaut Neil Armstrong, has died, his family announced yesterday, prompting glowing tributes to his achievements and notably humble character.

Mr Armstrong, who inspired a generation to reach for the stars, underwent cardiac bypass surgery earlier this month after doctors found blockages in his coronary arteries, but he died following subsequent complications. He was 82.

Praising Mr Armstrong as a “reluctant American hero,” his heartbroken relatives expressed hope his legacy would encourage young people to “work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.”

Mr Armstrong and fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin landed on the moon’s desolate surface on July 20, 1969.

His first words upon stepping on the lunar surface have since been etched in history: “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The estimated 500 million people who watched the grainy black and white broadcast breathed a sigh of relief when Mr Armstrong told mission control the module had landed safely, saying: “Houston, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed.”

But the lunar pioneer, who was decorated by 17 countries and received a slew of US honors, was never comfortable with his worldwide fame, shying away from the limelight.

Mr Armstrong even stopped signing memorabilia after learning his autographs were being sold at exorbitant prices.

John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, recalled Armstrong’s legendary humility.
“He didn’t feel that he should be out huckstering himself,” the former Ohio senator told CNN. “He was a humble person, and that’s the way he remained after his lunar flight, as well as before.”

A “deeply saddened” President Barack Obama yesterday hailed Mr Armstrong as “the greatest of American heroes -- not just of his time, but of all time.”

His “legacy will endure -- sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step,” said President Obama, who was just under eight years old at the time of the historic Apollo 11 mission.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner remembered Armstrong as a “true hero.”
“Ohio has lost one of her proudest sons. Humanity has gained a legend,” Mr Boehner said.

Mr Aldrin said he had hoped that he, Armstrong and Michael Collins, the third astronaut on the mission, would have met up in 2019 for celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. But the occasion will not come to pass.

“Whenever I look at the moon, it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago when I realized that even though we were farther away from Earth than two humans had ever been, we were not alone,” Mr Aldrin said.

Mr Collins, in a statement released by a NASA spokesman, said of Mr Armstrong: “He was the best, and I will miss him terribly.”

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the astronaut’s death “marks the end of an amazing era in human progress.”

“His example of service, accomplishment and modesty... will never die.”
Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930, Mr Armstrong had an early fascination with aircraft and worked at a nearby airport when he was a teenager.

He took flying lessons at the age of 15 and received his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday.
A US Navy aviator, he flew 78 missions in the Korean War.

Mr Armstrong joined NASA’s predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, in 1955.

As a research pilot at NASA’s Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, he flew on many pioneering high-speed aircraft, eventually flying over 200 different models, including helicopters, gliders, jets and rockets.

He reached astronaut status in 1962, and was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, during which he performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.

After retiring from NASA in 1971, Mr Armstrong taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati for nearly a decade and served on the boards of several companies, including Lear Jet, United Airlines and Marathon Oil.

He also worked as deputy associate administrator for aeronautics at NASA headquarters, coordinating and managing the space agency’s aeronautics research and technology tasks.

His family said they had a simple request to people in memory of Armstrong’s life.

“Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink,” it said.

Agence France-Presse