Friday, January 25, 2008

B2B Trade Area of Taipei Game Show, criticized by trade buyers last year, but accompanied with 2008 Taiwan Digital Content Forum, moved to the second floor at Taipei World Trade Center for world-wide participants with a better exchange atmosphere this year.

Not only local OBMs (Softstar Entertainment, Soft-World International Corp., International Games System Corp., …, etc.) but also companies from New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea showcased different specialists with multiple styles. Especially on South Korea, participated members from G? Trade Show (Game Show & Trade, All-Round, aka Gstar) showcased gaming industry of South Korea and the G? upcoming at this November with brochures.

In the 2-days Digital Content Forum, world-class experts not only shared industry experiences, members from Taiwan Gaming Industry Association also discussed and forecasted marketing models for gaming industry. With participations from governmental, industrial, and academical executives world-wide, this forum helps them gained precious experiences of digital content industry from several countries.

According to the Taipei Computer Association, the show and forum organizer, the digital content industry in Taiwan was apparently grown up recent years as Minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China Steve Ruey-long Chen said at Opening Ceremony yesterday. Without R&Ds from cyber-gaming, and basic conceptions from policies and copyright issues, this (digital content) industry will be fallen down in Taiwan. If this industry wanted to be grown up in sustainability, gaming OBMs in Taiwan should independently produce different and unique games and change market style to market brands and games to the world.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

The auction hammer came down Wednesday, in London, on Judy Garland’s blue gingham dress, worn in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz.” It sold for £140,000 (about US$262,157.40).

The identity of the buyer, who sealed the deal on the telephone, was not immediately revealed. Bonham auctioneers told reporters there was a pre-sale estimate of £35,000 (about US$65,529.47).

The dress, one of the most recognizable in the movie world, was made for the 17-year-old Garland who had a 27-inch (68-centimetre) waist. Her name is still on a tag on an inside hem. It was auctioned as part of a sale of rock and film memorabilia and was described as a “cherished memory for millions of fans worldwide.”

The story of the “Wizard of Oz,” which sealed Garland’s legend as a worldwide star, tells the story of a young Kansan, Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog Toto. They are whisked away from their rural Kansas home by a tornado to a magical realm called OZ.

In their travels, they meet other now-famous characters, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.

Although the film started with only modest success, it has since become a screen classic.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand wrote to retails banks warning them that there will be a shortage on 20 cent coins (NZ$0.20) leading up to Christmas. They have now announced that they have distributed 4.75 million new twenty cent coins in the past week alone “…close to the number issued in a typical year.”

Ten million new coins are expected to arrive in the next few days.

The Reserve Bank is wondering where all the new coins went, just five weeks after the new design was first introduced. Brian Lang, currency manager for the Reserve Bank, said: “The pattern of demand for new coins has been markedly different to that for the old coins.” He suggests that people are keeping them in jars, like the old design coins.

Some stores are already unable to give out twenty cent coins as they don’t have any according to the Newmarket Business Association.

Mr Lang said: “To put this into perspective, by 30 November, the Bank had issued almost as many 20c coins (49.6m) as 10c coins (53.0m). In the past issue of 20 cent coins would normally have been about half the amount of 10 cent coins.”

The head of Newmarket Business Association, Cameron Brewer, said: “…the Reserve Bank told us that they’d done a lot of work and that everything was going to be just fine. Well here we are just five weeks into the new coins and only days away from the Christmas rush, and the country’s running out of its own currency.”

Mr Lang said: “The Bank has sufficient supplies of 10c and 50c coins for several years’ normal issues.”

“…tens of millions of the old 20 cent pieces sit idle because they are no longer legal tender,” Mr Brewer said referring to the old ‘silver’ coins that were used before the introduction of new coins.

The Reserve Bank still doesn’t know why the pattern of demand of twenty cent coins has changed.

“… such a staggering miscalculation by the Reserve Bank should never have happened,” Mr Brewer said.

A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, July 8, 2013.

Monday, March 13, 2006

The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission approved today the plans by Nanjing Automobile Group to revive the MG Rover brand.

Nanjing Automobile are planning to annually produce 200,000 cars, 250,000 engines and 100,000 gearboxes on the assembly lines purchased from MG Rover.

The first MG produced in Pukou in Nanjing in the east of China will be the sedan version of MG-75, in the first half of 2007.

Friday, May 8, 2015

An 18-year-old Victorian teen accused of plotting a terrorist attack on Anzac Day applied for bail at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. It is alleged that Harun Causevic and his associate, Sedvdet Besim, also 18, planned to run down and behead a police officer before stealing his gun to harm others at Anzac Day services in Melbourne.

Federal prosecutor Andrew Doyle stated the allegations made against Mr Causevic at the start of the hearing. Mr Doyle said Mr Causevic and Mr Besim had planned to carry out a terror attack in Melbourne if they weren’t able to access passports to head overseas.

Denis Scott, an Australian Federal Police agent, told the court how Mr Causevic had allegedly called AFP and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation officers “dogs” during the process of trying to obtain a passport in March.

It was also revealed that Mr Besim had been speaking to a 14-year-old boy in the United Kingdom over the Internet. The boy had been portraying himself as an older man with experience in terrorism. Agent Scott told the court that these conversations were conducted through an online voice program, and that the two spoke about planning to carry out an attack on Anzac Day.

It was alleged that Mr Causevic was an accomplice in organising the terror plot in Melbourne. The court heard of a number of incidents where Mr Causevic’s extremist behaviours were put on show. In one instance he was involved in a car accident in which he allegedly told the driver involved that ISIS was “going to kill” Australia. It was also alleged that Mr Causevic had once spat on a police vehicle and waved an Islamic flag at officers.

During a search at Mr Causevic’s home police found weapons such as knives, a tactical vest and an Islamic flag. Agent Scott told the court that if bail was granted, Mr Causevic could put the safety of the public and police force in danger.

The defence argued that there was no evidence to show that Mr Causevic had been in contact with the boy Mr Besim had been speaking with in the UK. Evidence was given from some members of the Islamic Council of Victoria suggesting that Mr Causevic was capable of being guided away from extremist Islamic ideology if he is granted bail.

Magistrate Suzie Cameron is expected to make her decision on Mr Causevic’s bail application on Friday.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

The Saskatoon Health Region in Saskatchewan, Canada recently discovered a fax machine problem which had not relayed almost 1,500 X-rays, Computed tomography (CT) and Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, ultrasounds, and other medical imaging test results to doctors.

The fax machine is part of the automated Radiology Information System. An audit revealed that medical diagnostic tests involving results dating back a decade have been affected by the broken fax machine.

On May 6, a doctor called the health region officials seeking follow up on a patient’s report. Staff who delved into it, found that the report was not sent from the system.

Now, two weeks later, this same patient has still not been contacted by the health region.

“It has taken some time to work with the patient’s physician. That was important — to get more information and more detail because we want that patient’s physician to be involved in the discussion with the patient,” Dr. David Poulin, vice-president of medical affairs for The Saskatoon Health Region, said. “This is a system error and that’s just what it was — an error. This doesn’t reflect in any way on the quality of work regional staff have done and continue to do.”

An internal review revealed that, of 2.2 million diagnostic tests performed, at least 1,380 had not been sent out by the malfunctioning fax machine.

The health region will embark on contacting each of the 1,380 patients and their physicians to make sure that the results have been received and if any health care was compromised.

Patients can also contact the health region via a newly set up hotline to make enquiries.

“We think it would actually be good practice if physician offices could have a system to check whether they have received important reports,” said Poulin, “The common practice appears to be in many doctors’ offices, particularly family physician offices, that they don’t respond to the report until it arrives. So, they basically are waiting for the report to arrive in their office by fax and it’s at that point that they look at it and decide what action to take.”

City Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital and Royal University Hospital were the three city hospitals affected. Saskatoon has a population of roughly 233,923, and the hospitals also serve the surrounding rural areas.

Ironically the faulty fax machine was discovered the same week that provincial medical officials began to review approximately 70,000 radiology tests conducted in Yorkton. Officials there doubt the competence of the physician who first interpreted the radiology results.