Modern technology reunites books of oldest Bible

Modern technology reunites books of oldest Bible

Microsoft adds selected "tweets" to Bing

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Microsoft is integrating messages from prominent users of Twitter, the hot micro-blogging service, into the results generated by its new Internet search engine Bing.

Microsoft said that it did not plan to index all of Twitter and make it searchable, just "some of the more prominent and prolific Twitterers from a variety of spheres" such as former vice president Al Gore.

Twitter is seen by some technology analysts as the next frontier in the field of Web search because of the real-time nature of the messages from its users.

Twitter's real-time stream of messages of 140-character-or-less is not currently searchable on Google, the dominant Web search engine.

Twitter does provide a search feature of its own, however, and a number of outside developers have also developed applications that allow users to sift through the messages on the site.

Microsoft, in a blog post on Wednesday, said its efforts with Bing and Twitter were "an initial foray into integrating more real time data into our search results."

Lacey Chabert

Lacey Chabert

Computer failure may have caused D.C. train crash

WASHINGTON – Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, even though there is evidence that the operator tried to slow it down.

At the time of the crash, the train was also operating in automatic mode, meaning it was controlled primarily by computer. In that mode, the operator's main job is to open and close the doors and respond to emergencies.

Debbie Hersman, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was unclear if the emergency brake was actually engaged when Monday's crash occurred. But the mushroom-shaped button that activates it was found pushed down in the operator's compartment.

Hersman said it wasn't clear when the button was pressed or how it got that way. She also said there was evidence of braking on the train's rotors, indicating it was likely that the operator tried to slow down.

Can Wind Power Get Up to Speed?

Can Wind Power Get Up to Speed?

24,000 Toronto city workers walk off the job after talks fail

About 24,000 Toronto city workers walked off the job after their unions and city officials couldn't reach deals by the 12:01 a.m. Monday deadline, the unions said.

"It's clear to us we have no other recourse but to call a strike," Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE Local 79, which represents about 18,000 office workers and other inside staff, said at a news conference.

Dembinski said, "It's unfortunate that [at] this late stage we have not seen a collective agreement offer from the city that would be acceptable to Local 79 members. The city continues to table proposals that are far inferior to what other unionized City of Toronto employees received in negotiated settlements."

Mark Ferguson, president of Toronto Civic Employees Union CUPE Local 416, said 6,200 garbage collectors and other outside workers would also walk off the job.

The city tabled a proposal with Local 416 that "we considered complete garbage," Ferguson said.

2010 Subaru Legacy CVT Rated at 31 mpg

2010 Subaru Legacy CVT Rated at 31 mpg

US boosts Hawaii defense to counter NKorea threat

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States has deployed anti-missile defenses around Hawaii amid reports that North Korea may fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward the U.S. islands early next month, adding to already high tensions in the region.

A report in a Japanese newspaper said Pyongyang might test-fire its Taepodong-2 toward Hawaii around the U.S. holiday of Independence Day. North Korea test-fired a similar long-range missile on July 4 three years ago, but it failed seconds after liftoff.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the additional defenses around Hawaii consist of a ground-based mobile missile system and a radar system nearby. Together they could shoot an incoming missile in mid air.

"Without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say ... we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory," Gates told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Boeing, Airbus lift gloom at Paris Air Show

LE BOURGET, France (AFP) — Airbus announced its first big deal of the year and Boeing saw better times ahead, despite the dire climate for the aviation industry at the opening of the Paris Air Show on Monday.

"It feels to me that we may have reached the bottom," Scott Carson, head of commercial airline business at US jetmaker Boeing, told reporters at the show.

"There is no certainty. But it does feel to us that there are reasons to hope that the recovery will begin next year," he added.

Boeing's bitter European rival Airbus also sounded an upbeat tone, announcing an order from Qatar Airways for 24 medium-haul A320 airliners.

"Qatar Airways has signed a firm contract for 24 Airbus A320," it said.

Italian aerospace giant Finmeccanica's chief executive Pier Francesco Guarguaglini also said he saw "signs of recovery" in economic activity and added: "If the crisis does not last, the negative impact will be limited.

As auto sector reels, Quebec homes in on electric cars

The auto industry is struggling across North America, but focusing on the electric car market could be a boon for Quebec, the province's natural resource minister says.

Claude Béchard says he can foresee a day when the province might become involved in every aspect of producing electric cars — from production to powering.

"We're thinking about it, and I believe nothing is impossible," he told reporters Tuesday. "I think we're in the right place at the right time."

Unlike hybrid-electric vehicles that depend on gasoline power to charge the battery, pure electric cars have a range of about 50 kilometres without any need for alternative power.

A new partnership, unveiled Tuesday between the province's power utility and Ford Canada, is a clear step toward making them a reality.

Under the three-year pact, Hydro-Québec workers will help test new Ford Escape rechargeable vehicles that can be plugged into conventional electrical outlets.

Crews find vertical stabilizer in Air France crash

RECIFE, Brazil – Search crews recovered the vertical stabilizer from the tail section of an Air France airliner that went down in the Atlantic, Brazil's air force said Monday — a key find that could help locate the black boxes and determine why the jet crashed.

Eight more bodies also were found, bringing the total recovered to 24 since Air France Flight 447 disappeared with 228 people on board, according to Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz.

The discoveries of debris and the bodies are all helping searchers narrow their hunt for the jet's black boxes, perhaps investigators' best hope of learning what happened to the flight. The data and voice recorders are located in the fuselage near the tail section of the jet.

William Waldock, who teaches air crash investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, said that does not mean the black boxes will necessarily be located near where the debris was recovered, "but finding the tail narrows down the area even further."

New Sask. NDP leader Lingenfelter comments on nuclear power issue

REGINA — The new leader of the Saskatchewan NDP says he does not believe the issue of nuclear power has divided the party.

Dwain Lingenfelter, who won the leadership Saturday, says every NDP leader in the province has supported the development of Saskatchewan's uranium industry in some way. Lingenfelter says most recently there was support to study the idea of building a nuclear reactor. He says he too supports that idea, but also believes the party must review its energy policy and consider alternatives.

The comments come after party members passed a resolution stating that an NDP government would not pursue the building of a nuclear reactor, but would look at other energy sources.

Lingenfelter has noted that a couple of hundred people supported the resolution at a convention in Regina, but not all of the party's 13,000 members were in attendance.

Toronto unions start clock ticking on strike threat

The City of Toronto's two main unions are increasing the pressure in negotiations for a new contract, with a strike of inside and outside workers now possible in less than three weeks.

Representatives of CUPE Locals 416 and 79 have decided to tell the province that they're unable to reach agreement with the city on a new contract.

That starts a clock ticking — meaning the city could face a strike within 17 days.

At a news conference on Thursday, the unions said they have been in negotiations since early in the year, but without progress.

Mark Ferguson, president of Local 416, said it's "time for the city to get serious."

Ferguson said the city has tabled more than 100 pages of concessions it wants the union to make.

According to the union, the city wants to "take away seniority, job security" and other gains made in previous contract settlements.

Recovery strategy fails to protect birds, court told

An iconic species that symbolizes the sweeping sagebrush landscape of the central prairies is the focus of a lawsuit brought against the federal Environment Minister this week.

Several environmental groups seek to strike down as fatally flawed an endangered-species-recovery strategy for the greater sage grouse, a species in such precipitous decline it may soon disappear from Canada.

Keith Ferguson, a lawyer for Ecojustice Canada, told the Federal Court in Vancouver Tuesday the federal Environment Minister “erred in law, acted unreasonably and/or acted without jurisdiction” in approving a recovery strategy that failed to identify critical habitat.

The environmental groups represented by Ecojustice contend the strategy is worthless without critical habitat identified.

eBay cutting 700 jobs in Vancouver

VANCOUVER — Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said Tuesday that it will close its Vancouver office, where about 700 customer service agents work, as part of a consolidation of its operations.

The company said it plans to increase the number of workers at its Salt Lake City officer, where it currently employs more than 900 customer service agents, and at other offices around the globe.

“While it is a difficult decision to close our Vancouver facility, we believe that consolidating our North America customer service operations will help accelerate our efforts to continually exceed buyer and seller expectations,” said Chad O'Meara, vice-president of customer service for eBay Marketplaces.

The company plans to close the Vancouver operation by Sept. 30.