Eideard

We had a post about the economics and politics of the Paris Show a little earlier, today. Here’s a peek at the tech.

SAFRAN Snecma’s LEAP engine selected by Airbus to power the A320neo
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

As expected, the Boeing vs. Airbus rivalry is again front and center at this year’s Paris Air Show.

The Associated Press writes Airbus “is trouncing Boeing in the race to be the world’s biggest planemaker,” buoyed by what the European jetmaker says is the largest-ever order for commercial passenger jets.

As for the order that Airbus is lauding as historic, that comes from Malaysia’s AirAsia, which officially signed off today on a deal for a whopping 200 of Airbus’ 320neo jets…

The record-setting AirAsia order comes only a day after Airbus received what was then the record order. AP writes Airbus set “the previous record … just Wednesday by (winning) another A320neo customer, (Indian) carrier IndiGo.”

The Financial Times notes “the deal makes AirAsia Airbus’s biggest customer for narrow-body jets, with a total of 375 orders for A320-series aircraft, including 89 already in service.”

Airbus’ next-generation A320 neo — neo stands for “new engine option” — “has proven to be the star of the aviation industry’s premier event,” AP writes…

Dow Jones Newswires details the numbers for the A320neo, writing Airbus “racked up 667 orders and commitments for the A320neo, a new, more fuel-efficient version of the Airbus A320, a favorite of low-cost airlines operating medium-haul routes. Offering airlines up to 15% fuel economy compared to a present-day A320 due to new engines and wing appendages, it will be delivered to Airbus customers starting in late 2015.”

Overall, Airbus has announced deals for 730 aircraft at the air show. The orders would be worth $72 billion at list prices, though customers typically negotiate prices that are substantial lower. Boeing deals announced at the show totaled 142 aircraft worth $22 billion at list prices.

When you get past the crowing by EADS and the whining and rationales by Boeing, one factor stands out. Airlines are quite reasonably spending their money on more economical aircraft. If you can spend less per mile you stand a better chance of being competitive.

Euro manufacturers like EADS have to compete in the real world – the one that recognizes every factor from climate change to peak oil as affecting their ability to do business. That’s a significant difference.

A suspected burglar was stabbed to death during a break-in at a house in Salford, police said on Thursday.

Greater Manchester Police said the victim was one of a gang of four men, some wearing balaclavas, who were believed to have been trying to break into the house in the Pendlebury area of the city just before midnight on Wednesday.

Officers were alerted to reports of a burglary and as police headed to the scene, they also received reports that a group of men had been seen carrying an injured man into a nearby road.

They discovered the 26-year-old with stab wounds there and he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. [He's been identified as John Bennell]

“The man who has died was one of the persons trying to get into the rear of the address — that’s what we believe at this stage,” Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan told reporters.

Police said two men, aged 59 and 27, and a 21-year-old woman had been arrested on suspicion of murder at the address.

The BBC said the arrested trio were the householder, his son and the son’s girlfriend [Who called the coppers while the invasion was in progress]…

On Tuesday, Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to protect homeowners who used force to defend their homes against criminals.

“The public have rightly been outraged by some prosecutions of homeowners defending their property from criminals,” he said.

“So we’ll put beyond doubt that homeowners and small shopkeepers who use reasonable force to defend themselves or their properties will not be prosecuted.”

I would hope that even in a nation self-destructive enough to put the Tories in power there would be public and political support for someone to defend home and family from violent crooks. If the incident is described correctly, this wasn’t some lout trying to pinch a free copy of the DAILY MAIL from a newsie. These thugs broke into the Flanagan home invasion style.

Although we have our own version of the Pacifist Left here in the States – those who would question any right of self-defense – there still are a number of cranky Old Lefties like me whose homes are as well-armed and defended as similar domiciles on the conservative side of town. Get yourself a licensed shotgun for varmint hunting. They work just fine at short range on larger beasts.

UPDATE: Mr. Flanagan finally released – free of charges.

Police in the United States and seven other countries seized computers and servers used to run a “scareware” scheme that has netted more than $72 million from victims tricked into buying fake anti-virus software.

Twenty-two computers and servers were seized in the United States and 25 others in France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom…

The suspects involved in the scheme, who were not identified, planted “scareware” on the computers of 960,000 victims. The scareware would pretend to find malicious software on a computer. The goal is to persuade the victim to voluntarily hand over credit card information, paying to resolve a nonexistent problem.

Latvian authorities seized at least five bank accounts believed to have been used by the leaders of the scam…

U.S. authorities also said…they disrupted a second scam, charging two Latvians with running a similar scareware scheme that led to $2 million in losses through an advertisement placed on a Minnesota newspaper’s website…

Law enforcement officials would not confirm whether the seizures were directly connected to a raid early on Tuesday morning at a web-hosting company in northern Virginia where they took servers, a move that disrupted more than 120 websites.

U.S. authorities have been more aggressive this year in trying to stem cybercrime and have been scrambling to investigate several hacking attempts on U.S. institutions and corporations.

I know there’s no patch for stupid; but, it seems possible – since there have already been a few examples in the field – for the FBI to place software on a few compromised machines and trace back control of botnets to criminal sources.

Grab and incarcerate the crooks – and throw away the key.

As AT&T tries to swallow up the American wing of the German telekom, many have wondered whether Apple would allow T-Mobile to carry the iPhone. Apple’s answer so far is a no*, but that hasn’t stopped T-Mobile customers from adopting iPhones. In huge numbers.

In a meeting with T-Mobile spokespeople today ahead of the NYC Pepcom event, I received word that there are actively over a million Apple iPhones currently on T-Mobile’s network.

When asked for a breakdown, the spokesman said the majority were pre-iPhone 4 but that a significant amount of people had “taken the scissors” to their T-Mobile SIM cards. T-Mobile doesn’t currently offer a Micro-SIM solution for Apple’s iPhone 4 so people who want to use the iPhone 4 must modify their SIMs into MicroSIMs. Those using iPhone 4s also won’t receive T-Mobile’s 3G or 4G data speeds because of the radio differences between the networks.

When asked to elaborate further on Micro-SIMs, the spokesman told me they are in the works but there was no time frame for release. Why not wait until the deal with AT&T is done to make MicroSIMs? Perhaps we’ll have a little surprise come September?

Cripes. I may finally have an excuse to get my wife an iPhone.

Who is the witness? Who complained?

The sensitive issue of women wearing the burka was thrust back into the spotlight this earlier this week when a magistrate dismissed a case against Carnita Matthews, 47, who had been accused of making a false complaint against the police.

Last year Miss Matthews was sentenced to six months’ jail for falsely claiming that a highway patrol officer had tried to remove her burka when he stopped her for a random breath test.

But during her appeal it emerged that, because the complainant was wearing a burka when she appeared at a Sydney police station to report the incident, officers could only see her eyes, and ultimately could not be sure that Miss Matthews was the woman who made the false claim.

Miss Matthews’s barrister, Phillip Boulten SC, told the court: “All we know is that a woman in a black burka came with a man in a brown suit with an envelope, and that’s it.”

Judge Clive Jeffreys allowed the argument, ruling that he was “not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that she made the complaint.” Following the decision, Mike Gallacher, the New South Wales police minister, said he would ask police to show how people wearing the burka – which covers the whole body except the eyes and hands – could be better identified.

One option, to be used when anyone refused to show their face because of religious reasons, was to provide a fingerprint, which could also be used on statutory declarations and other statements to ensure they were authentic, he said.

The full veil is banned in France and Belgium, but enforcing the bans has become difficult. Last week the first women to be summoned before a European court for illegally wearing the garments were refused entry, because they would not remove their face coverings.

The music goes round and round… And simple remedies still are the best.

 
I have a cat which, before adopted, was raised among dogs. She wags her tail like a dog. So… I get it.

 
Proper football in the Dominion has one rule similar to American football. You’re not allowed to wear jewelry. I guess the premise being that your bling might strike someone in the eye.

Old Hill Wanderers player Aaron Ecclestone was bewildered to be red-carded for having … well, a Prince Albert speared through his family jewels.

According to an opponent, after Ecclestone was struck in the groin by the ball he lowered his shorts to “check that it was still there”. At which point the referee spotted the piercing and sent him off for infringing laws that forbid players from wearing jewelry.

Bloody absurd.

Thanks, Fiver

 
The headline is just an amusing excuse to post this. This wasn’t a banner tournament for Vassily Ivanchuk, but it’s a delight to see him talk about his game. He says that he didn’t do any special preparation for this game, and that his opening move was inspired by the suggestion of “a girl” via Skype. Simple enough, right?

O.K., Eid likes me to post chess stuff once in a while, based on what I find interesting. This is what I find interesting today.

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Play over the moves to Ivanchuk-Nakamura here: Ivanchuk vs Nakamura
Read coverage of the tournament here: Magnus Carlsen wins Medias 2011

Kinshasha strings

Josephine Mpongo of the the Kimbanguiste Symphony Orchestra practises the cello in the group’s rehearsal space. Andrew McConnell’s picture won the best of show prize in the US National Press Photographers Association’s 2011 photojournalism contest.