London will be a guinea pig for future smart city technology after Intel pledged to spend a slice of £25m ($40m) on a new lab in the capital. The chipmaker will also plough millions into research centres dotted around Blighty.
Intel will set up the unwieldily monikered Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities in the capital in partnership with Imperial College and University College London, it announced yesterday at an event at 10 Downing Street.
The company will spend the £25m over the next five years on all five of its Collaborative Research Institutes, but wouldn't give the breakdown of exactly how much London would be getting. ICL and UCL will also chip in some dosh, but again no figures were bandied about.
At the same event, Chipzilla said it will open a string of research centres around the UK, investing around £45m in an Intel Labs Europe UK R&D network: this will employ 350 researchers in labs including the one in London and others in Brighton, Swindon and Aylesbury to start with, and five more to be decided on by the end of the year.
"It is investments like this that will help us put the UK on the path we need to take to create new jobs, new growth and new prosperity in every corner of our country," Chancellor George Osborne said at the launch.
"We are determined to make the UK the best place to do business in the world and a great place for technology companies to invest and build new business. It is encouraging to see major tech partners like Intel investing in this country as a result of the policies that the Government has put in place," he self-congratulated.
Intel will use the London lab to suss out smart city technology and it will also team up with Shoreditch's Tech City entrepreneurs to use their "social media expertise" to "identify and analyse emerging trends with cities".
"Using London as a testbed, researchers will explore technologies to make cities more aware by harnessing real-time user and city infrastructure data," the company said in a statement, describing similar Skynet-like smart city research elsewhere.
"For example, a sensor network could be used to monitor traffic flows and predict the effects of extreme weather conditions on water supplies, resulting in the delivery of near real-time information to citizens through citywide displays and mobile applications."
Rattner: City under pre-planned stress
Intel CTO Justin Rattner also said that the London Olympic games would give the firm a great opportunity to look at a city under pressure and figure out where the weak points are.
"London is, as everyone knows, the host city to the 2012 summer Olympic Games, and we plan to use the event to understand the experiences of a city under pre-planned stress. What systems worked or didn’t work and why? How were the daily lives of the citizens, workers, and businesses of London affected?" he wondered out loud.
As well as giving Intel the opportunity to see it mess up, London is also a good choice for the research institute as the fifth largest city in the world.
"It has the largest GDP in Europe, and with over 300 languages and 200 ethnic communities, its diversity is a microcosm of the planet itself, offering an exciting test bed to create and define sustainable cities," Rattner enthused. ®
Source: www.theregister.co.uk
Aldi workers schedule vote to join labor union - Minneapolis City Pages (blog)
A dozen workers at a St. Paul Aldi store have formally filed for an election to join UFCW Local 1189, according to union organizer Curtis Neff.
The workers, at 2005 Suburban Avenue, are scheduled to vote on joining the union June 29, Neff says. UFCW 1189 has had a contentious relationship with the supermarket chain. In 2009, the union protested Aldi for not signing a "labor-peace agreement" agreeing not to interfere with workers' efforts to unionize.
Neff says the workers decided to "make changes together" by calling the election and cites "working conditions, safety, high turnover, respect, and accountability issues" as concerns of the employees.
We left a message with Bradford Livingston, the attorney representing Aldi's, but haven't heard back. We'll update this post if we do, and keep you updated on the election as events unfold.
Source: blogs.citypages.com
Essex Police/Fire: School bus fuel leak brings response - Gloucester Daily Times
ESSEX — Firefighters and police responded to Main Street at 3 p.m. Wednesday after a school bus driver reported the vehicle was leaking fuel.
The bus driver let the students off on the sidewalk in front of The White Elephant shop until police and firefighters arrived. A school district mechanic found that the fuel was leaking because the tank cap was missing. The mechanic improvised a cap , the children reboarded the bus, which continued its route.
Police responded to a report of gunshots fired around County Road on Wednesday at 11:18 p.m.
Police searched the area, found no one, and heard no gunshots.
Officers had a car towed for revoked registration after finding it in the lot behind the police station Thursday at 12:30 a.m.
Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.
Source: www.gloucestertimes.com
London Mayor's office: Boris Johnson announces new communications chief - eGov Monitor
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has appointed a senior BBC journalist as his new communications chief. Johnson has said that he is delighted that Walden has taken to position. The post was vacant after Guto Harri, also a former BBC employee, left the position to work for News International.
Boris Johnson has thrown his full support behind Walden, announcing that he will add drive, originality and flair to the position. He went further, adding, I believe Will has exactly the right skills to help us engage with Londoners. He has enormous experience of politics and a great track record at the BBC. I am thrilled to welcome him on board.
Walden has had a long career in journalism, starting in local papers and eventually spending 12 years working at the BBC. He has welcomed the challenge presented by the post, being pleased to join the Mayors office at such a critical time. He said, A diamond jubilee and an Olympic Games represent among the very best that London has to offer.
Johnsons use of another BBC journalists was a small surprise after his scathing comments against the corporation in his column for the Telegraph. He wrote, the prevailing view of Beeb newsrooms is, with honourable exceptions, statist, corporatist, defeatist, anti-business, Europhile and, above all, overwhelmingly biased to the left.
Source: www.egovmonitor.com
London 2012 Olympics: Usain Bolt fails to fire in season opener - Daily Telegraph
Bolt said he had not managed to generate his crucial "drive" phase of his race from 50m. "When I was warming up, I did some starts and I was flying," he said. "I ran out and didn't get going, couldn't generate speed up in middle of race so I had to work hard to get some speed up."
Bolt added: "I'll go back, look at the replay, talk to my coach and he can explain what I need to do and then I can go to Rome and improve on my time."
As introductions were made on the stadium big screen, reggae music booming, Bolt danced, played air guitar and generally goofed around for the benefit of a capacity 20,000-strong crowd at the Vitkovice City Stadium.
When the screams and whistles died down, Bolt, wearing luminous green spikes and loose blue singlet over grey camouflage shorts, settled in his blocks after crossing himself and looking skywards.
South African Simon Magakwe false-started to ruin the suspense, with the crowd on their feet all around the stadium in anticipation. Bolt raised his fingers to his lips as the cameras zoomed in close up.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Essex drops below national average for GCSE results - chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk
Essex drops below national average for GCSE results
3:38pm Friday 25th May 2012 in News By Ryan McCarthy
ESSEX has fallen behind the national average for GCSE results.
The county has had a higher percentage of students achieving five A* to C grades since 2006/7.
However the introduction of international GCSEs has seen the national average rise to 58.9 per cent - for 2010/11.
Essex has a rate of 58.2 per cent.
Essex County Council, in a committee report, put the fall below the national average down to the high number of GCSEs taken in independent schools.
Source: www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk
London 2012 Olympics: Saudi Arabia Refuse to Lift Ban on Female Athletes - ibtimes.co.uk
Like us on Facebook
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only countries that have never fielded women on their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have announced plans to take female athletes to London, the Saudis have yet to do so.
According to Rogge, discussions with the Saudis are continuing.
He ruled out the possibility of Saudi woman competing in London under the Olympic flag, rather than as members of the Saudi team.
The IOC has come under pressure from human rights groups for not imposing sanctions against Saudi Arabia for not sending female athletes.
Human Rights Watch Middle East director Sarah Leah Witson said: "Saudi Arabia is the last holdout denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports.
"The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the games and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate."
Although Saudi Arabia may not have women who meet Olympic qualifying standards, the IOC is prepared to offer them special conditions or look for other solutions.
As recently as the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, 26 national teams did not include women.
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:
To contact the editor, e-mail:
Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk
London Welsh plight reaches parliament - espnscrum.com
London Welsh's quest to overturn a Rugby Football Union decision to deny them promotion to the Aviva Premiership should they win the Championship final has been raised in the House of Commons.
Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, urged the RFU to re-think their decision by tabling an Early Day Motion yesterday with the aim of attracting enough support to trigger a debate in parliament. The Rugby Football Union announced on Wednesday - a matter of hours before London Welsh's play-off final first leg against Cornish Pirates - that the Exiles had failed to meet the minimum standards criteria for the Premiership and therefore would not be promoted should they claim the Championship title.
London Welsh look set to appeal this decision and Thomas has moved to bring the matter to the attention of parliament - although it is highly unlikely that it will be debated. His motion read: "This House condemns the decision of the Rugby Football Union to reject the possibility of London Welsh gaining promotion to and playing in the Premiership in 2012-13.
"[It] notes the huge contribution London Welsh has made to both league and international rugby throughout its history; further notes the determination of the board of London Welsh to continue to develop both the performance and commercial sides of the club; and urges the Rugby Football Union to reconsider its decision."
Thomas also queried the RFU's decision to find fault with the club's proposed groundshare at Oxford United FC's Kassam Stadium when four other teams in the Premiership already operate under similar circumstances.
Thomas attracted support from Denis MacShane, MP for Rotherham, who recalled the plight of Rotherham when they were refused entry to the Premiership on similar grounds in 2002. He also heavily criticised the RFU, saying: "Frankly the men in blazers and those bright pink and orange corduroy trousers who control the RFU will not give any consideration to the passion of London Welsh, its players and its supporters.
"We experienced that in Rotherham when we got into the premier league and were then booted out. We had a wonderful ground and people could get right down to the touchline to watch the rugby. It is much better than sitting up in a big stadium, but those gentlemen of a particular class are the worst administrators of any of our major games. I wish my Hon. friend well, but he ain't going to get going until they change their corduroy trousers."
In addition, David Mowat, MP for Warrington South, raised the question of the Newcastle Falcons who look set to benefit if the RFU rules that Welsh have not passed the MSC for the Premiership. He claimed that their relegation would see the game have a strong dominance in the south of England, to which Thomas responded: "I certainly hope that when Newcastle takes its place in the Championship, as I hope it will, it continues to benefit from the RFU's support and largesse so that it can have a genuine chance of winning a place back in the Premiership.
"Nevertheless, we have to allow proper promotion and relegation to take place. I do not think London Welsh has been properly treated thus far."
Source: www.espnscrum.com
Comment now! Register or sign in below.
Or