A Black Hole Devouring a Star Is One Hell of an Amazing View [Astronomy]

Look at this star turned into a fire dragon by a single point of nothingness with the mass of three million suns—its body twisted and deformed as a black beast 2.7 billion light-years away devours it with infinite hunger. More »

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German court grants Motorola injunction against Windows 7 and Xbox 360 (updated: Microsoft comments)

Microsoft and Motorola continue to duke it out in courts across the world, and it looks like the Google-owned manufacturer has just chalked up a victory in Europe. Based on a pair of patents involved the H.264 video codec, the Mannheim regional court ruled on four lawsuits between the two companies, granting an injunction against the continued distribution of Windows 7, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and the Xbox 360 in Germany. Microsoft has already upped sticks from the country to reduce the effect of its current legal predicament. FOSS Patents reports that Motorola won't be able to immediately enforce the ruling. The company is still being investigated by the EU over possible antitrust violations related to licensing its patents -- something that could further complicate today's ruling.

Update: Microsoft's just got in touch to comment on the recent ruling -- it doesn't look like it's over just yet:

"This is one step in a long process, and we are confident that Motorola will eventually be held to its promise to make its standard essential patents available on fair and reasonable terms for the benefit of consumers who enjoy video on the web. Motorola is prohibited from acting on today's decision, and our business in Germany will continue as usual while we appeal this decision and pursue the fundamental issue of Motorola's broken promise. "

German court grants Motorola injunction against Windows 7 and Xbox 360 (updated: Microsoft comments) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 03:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jawbone Big Jambox Review: A Loudspeaker Grows Up [Reviews]

Too. Many. Wireless. Speakers. Still, among the best products to come out in the past two years is unquestionably the Jawbone Jambox, a portable Bluetooth speaker with great sound and telephony too. Now it goes to eleven. Meet Big Jambox. More »

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Report: No retreat on freedom of the press globally for 1st time in 8 years

NEW YORK, N.Y. - As decades-old authoritarian regimes crumbled or eased their grip in countries as widespread as Myanmar, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, freedom of the press gained precarious new footholds last year, according to a survey by a watchdog group released Tuesday.

Freedom House's annual survey of freedom of the press around the world found that for the first time in eight years, global media freedom showed no overall decline. The report came out just before Thursday's observance of the U.N.-declared World Press Freedom Day.

As usual, Western democracies ranked high in the Washington-based group's freedom of the press report.

But Freedom House marked down the United States slightly for heavy-handed police crackdowns on journalists covering various Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011.

In January, Reporters Without Borders dropped its ranking of the United States to 47th in the world in its annual Press Freedom Index, due to the Occupy media suppression, from 20th in the world a year before.

Italy rose slightly in Freedom House's rankings as media magnate Silvio Berlusconi resigned as premier. Freedom House ranked Italy as only "partly free" due to Berlusconi's far-reaching influence, a rare example in Western Europe of a nation not rated as having a "free press."

Britain also was marked down slightly for riot-related press restrictions, and legal "super-injunctions" that bar the media from reporting the very existence of an injunction against coverage of celebrities and wealthy individuals.

The Arab Spring unleashed the media in nations such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, according to the report by Karin Deutsch Karlekar and Jennifer Dunham.

"The newly opened media environments in countries like Tunisia and Libya, while still tenuous and far from perfect, are critical for the future of democratic development in the region and must be nurtured and protected," Freedom House's president David J. Kramer said.

China and authoritarian nations in Africa and the Middle East censored news of the Arab Spring, Freedom House reported. In Uganda, Angola and Djibouti, "the authorities cracked down, sometimes violently, on journalists covering the demonstrations."

China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela are cited in Freedom House's report for "detaining and jailing critics, closing media outlets, and bringing cases against journalists."

State control of television and radio is a key means of media control in many nations including Russia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, China and Vietnam, Freedom House said.

Several democracies degraded the environment for press freedom and were marked down in the report.

"Heightened harassment of journalists trying to cover protest movements contributed to a decline in Chile's status, from 'free' to 'partly free,'" Freedom House said.

Mexico, where dozens of media have been killed in the past decade amid a surge in drug gang violence, "continued to be one of world's most dangerous places for journalists," the report said. Mexico fell to the "not free" status in Freedom House's 2010 report.

"And following a sharp numerical slide in 2010, Hungary was downgraded to 'partly free' due to concerted efforts by the conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to seize control over the legal and regulatory framework for media,'" the report aid.

Of 197 countries surveyed on a wide variety of freedom of press issues, Freedom House found 66 nations rated "free," 72 "partly free" and 59 "not free."

Largely because of China, "which boasts the world's most sophisticated system of media repression," Freedom House found that 40.5 per cent of the world's peoples live in a "not free" media environment, while 45 per cent had a "partly free" press and just 14.5 live in counties with a "free press."

Freedom House listed eight nations as the "worst of the worst" for press freedom: Belarus, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Freedom House is a U.S.-based non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. It was founded in 1941, with first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and defeated Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie as its honorary chairpersons.

___

Online:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/freedom-press-2012-breakthroughs-and-pushback-middle-east

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Australia: QGC Invests in New Chinchilla HQ>> LNG World News

QGC Pty Limited has awarded a A$15.5 million contract to Queensland company J Hutchinson Pty Limited, trading as Hutchinson Builders, for a twostorey operations and production support centre in Chinchilla.

The new building will be on the corner of the Warrego Highway and Carmichael Street, near QGC?s temporary offices in Taylor Street.

It will accommodate up to 128 people in 2800 square metres of floor space.

Construction is scheduled to be completed by early 2013.

The project will employ up to 70 people, creating up to 50 new jobs across a range of trades, administration and health and safety.

QGC Managing Director Derek Fisher said QGC?s investment in the new building demonstrated the company?s long-term commitment to the area.

?Our operations will last decades and Chinchilla will be an important hub for our gas field operations,? Mr Fisher said.

Hutchinson Builders recently completed a A$7 million supply warehouse for QGC near Miles and in 2011 the company won a A$57 million contract through WorleyParsons to supply modular accommodation and facilities for QGC gas field developments.

LNG World News Staff, May 1, 2012

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Tomas Borge Martinez Dead: Last Living Founder Of Sandinista Movement Dies At 81

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