Consumer Reports joins lawsuit against DOT over backup cameras

Consumer Reports' Consumers Union has joined in a lawsuit filed by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Kids and Cars, Greg Gulbransen, M.D., and Susan Auriemma against the US Department of Transportation, over the department's failure to implement a rule mandating backup cameras in new cars and trucks.

As part of 2008's Cameraon Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, the DOT was ordered, by law, to come up with rear-visibility standards for new vehicles. In 2010, the DOT proposed mandating backup cameras, but since that proposal, the effort has stalled, with the original 2011 deadline pushed back multiple times. The current due date for a ruling is now 2015. Greg Gulbransen, one of the plaintiffs, who ran over and killed his two-year-old son, Cameron, told Consumer Reports, "It's mindboggling that two more children like Cameron are killed every week, yet the administration is content to postpone doing anything about it. This isn't some technical abstraction, it's about actual people being injured and killed."

The suit seeks to force the DOT to issue an immediate ruling that can be implemented before the 2015 deadline, which according to Consumers Union, would prevent up to 95 to 112 deaths per year.

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Attorney files official complaint against East Texas district judge

SMITH COUNTY, TX (KLTV) -

An official grievance has been filed against a Smith County judge who ordered deputies to arrest a Tyler attorney at his dying aunt's bedside.  

In July, longtime defense attorney Clifton Roberson was considering taking action against Smith County 114th District Court Judge Christi Kennedy. Roberson says he was brought to the courthouse in handcuffs when he went to see his aunt in the hospital instead of going to a hearing. Roberson's attorney says the complaint was filed with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct last week.

The complaint and any results from the commission's investigation could remain confidential, unless the review board takes public action against the judge.

Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.

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ETX family files lawsuit against jail following inmate death

GREGG COUNTY, TX (KLTV) -

An East Texas family is taking the Gregg County Jail to court after their loved one died in the jail's custody earlier this year.

51-year-old Bobby Madewell Junior died in the Gregg County Jail on March 21st. Medical examiners say he died of an apparent seizure.

Madewell's family filed a lawsuit against the jail on August 6th, in the Marshall Federal Court.

The lawsuit claims Madewell was not given the right medication while in custody.

Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.

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Russian Duma warns U.S. against Syria strike

By Steve Gutterman

MOSCOW | Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:55am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian parliament on Wednesday urged the United States not to strike Syria, warning that military action could be a "crime against the Syrian people" but stopping short of threatening countermeasures.

Air strikes would "lead to new civilian deaths, further destruction of vital infrastructure and, in the end, an irreversible humanitarian catastrophe," the State Duma, the lower chamber, said in a declaration adopted by unanimous vote.

The non-binding declaration by the Duma, dominated by the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party, echoed the vociferous opposition to U.S. military action of President Vladimir Putin and his government.

"Those who are prepared to give an order for such an attack should understand that such actions could be qualified as a very crude violation of international law and as a crime against the Syrian people," it said.

It warned that a strike could "place nuclear and chemical security in the region under threat", a reference to Syria's chemical weapons stocks and a small reactor that contains radioactive uranium.

Russia has been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most powerful backer during the civil conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people since 2011, delivering arms and - with China - blocking three U.N. resolutions meant to pressure Assad.

The Duma expressed support for Russia's proposal to place Syria's chemical arsenal under international control, which Putin said on Tuesday would only succeed if the United States and its allies abandoned plans for possible military action.

The vote followed debate in which lawmakers proposed Russia consider taking action to punish the United States if it does strike - such as withdrawing from the New START nuclear arms control pact, increasing weapons sales to Syrian ally Iran or curtailing cooperation with the United States on Afghanistan.

No such measures ended up in the declaration, but lawmakers said they could be included in a second statement that could be put to a vote if the United States strikes Syria.

The Duma criticized the U.S. Congress for allegedly refusing to see Russian lawmakers who offered to travel to Washington for talks on Syria, saying it "could place interaction on key issues on the Russian-American agenda in question".

(Editing by Andrew Roche)

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Rat Invaders: Islands Fighting Back Against Killer Rodents

South Georgia Island, a lonely British Antarctic territory in the far South Atlantic, has a rat problem.

Since the furry stowaways landed here aboard sealing and whaling ships in the 19th century, they've been wreaking ecological havoc on the island and its ground-nesting seabirds by preying on the birds and their eggs.

Enter an international team of wildlife biologists, who have recently completed the second phase of history's largest rat-eradication program on the remote island.

Braving appalling weather in the run-up to the Antarctic winter, the group's helicopter pilots logged hundreds of hours in perilous flying conditions to spread nearly 200 tons of rat poison over 224 square miles (580 square kilometers) of South Georgia's coastline.

The ultimate goal: To rid this once supreme seabird habitat of its millions of rats once and for all. South Georgia was probably the richest seabird-breeding area in the world when British Captain James Cook visited it in 1775, according to Tony Martin of the University of Dundee, who leads the rat-eradication campaign on behalf of the South Georgia Heritage Trust. (See more pictures of South Georgia.)

Now the island has less than one percent of its original seabird population, he said. "And that is down to rats. This is a human-induced problem, and it is down to humans to do something about it."

And they are. This recent bait drop follows a successful trial two years ago, which cleared 10 percent of South Georgia of the invasive rodents. Next year, Martin said, the group plans to return and finish the job, hopefully rendering South Georgia rat-free by 2015.

"This is ten times bigger than anything that has ever been attempted anywhere else," Martin said.

Oh, Rats: Getting Rid of Rodents

South Georgia's ambitious rat-eradication campaign may be the world's biggest at the moment, but it's far from the only one. (Watch a video of rats at night.)

Many of the world's most biologically important island ecosystems have been invaded by rats. Many seabirds nest, breed, and raise their young on islands because they've been historically safe from predators—until rats came along.

What's more, while islands may represent only 5 percent of the world's land mass, they account for half of all the world's endangered species.

As of last count 435 islands around the world have been cleared of rats, according to Island Conservation, an organization that works to remove invasive species on islands. It's a number that is growing quickly, and so is the success rate.

The projects try their best not to hurt the species they're supposed to protect.

For one, the rat poison, brodifacoum, is not water soluble, so it can't leach into the groundwater or poison waterways.

Some seabird scavengers could eat stricken rats and become ill, though the rat carcasses are hard to find: The poison makes the rats photophobic, or shy of light, so the rodents usually retreat to their burrows before dying.

It's possible that a few duck or other birds may ingest the poisonous pellets, but since rats eat thousands and possibly millions of chicks a year overall, poison is still the better strategy, experts say.

"This is a war that is being won island by island," said Brad Keitt, the group's director of conservation. (Also see "Giant Killer Mice Decimating Rare Seabirds.")

Even so, "each island, of course, brings with it its own challenges," said veteran helicopter pilot Peter Garden, a New Zealander who worked on rat-eradication projects in Campbell Island, South Georgia, the Seychelles, the South Pacific, Alaska, and the Caribbean.

"South Georgia was especially tough," he said. "Its remote location in the South Atlantic made it a huge logistical challenge, and ... it receives some ferocious weather.

"The fact that it is also the largest breeding area in the South Atlantic for seabirds means that there are always lots of large birds sharing the airspace, and this creates quite a hazard for us. We are operating around 150 feet [46 meters] above the ground, where a lot of bird activity occurs."

Here are some islands that are aggressively ridding their homes of rats.

New Zealand

New Zealanders lead the field when it comes to getting rid of rats, according to Martin.

"They began focusing on rat eradication on their own islands back in the 1980s in order to try to preserve their native wildlife. Over the years they've had a lot of successes, developed a huge amount of expertise, and in the 1990s began perfecting the science of using helicopters to make aerial bait drops over large areas." (Also see "Drug-filled Mice Airdropped Over Guam to Kill Snakes.")

New Zealand's successful campaign to remove nearly a quarter of a million brown rats from Campbell Island—a 44-square-mile (114-square-kilometer) sub-Antarctic island—was the world's largest rat-eradication project when it was completed in 2001. Twelve years later the island is rat-free and the once critically endangered Campbell Island teal—a duck that fell victim to the rats—has bounced back. (See seabird pictures.)

Sophisticated poison-dispersal techniques using GPS guidance and specially designed spreader buckets slung under the helicopters were developed for the Campbell Island operation, and went on to pave the way for the much larger one on South Georgia.

Lord Howe Island, Australia

A U.S. $9 million program to eradicate an estimated 130,000 rats on the island, a subtropical paradise located 370 miles (595 kilometers) off Australia's eastern coast, was launched in July 2012.

Rats originally arrived aboard the S.S. Makambo, which ran aground on the north end of the island in June 1918. It was a catastrophe—at least 30 species of wildlife have since disappeared completely from the island, while another 13 species remain under threat. Lord Howe Island has often been cited as a worst-case example of rat devastation.

Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia

Sometimes described as the Galápagos of the north, the chain of islands in British Columbia has some of the largest remaining seabird colonies in Canada.

At one time these seabirds could be counted in the hundreds of thousands, but three centuries of rat infestation have whittled their numbers down to 20,000 or so.

Last September a rat-eradication program was launched, and so far two of the islands have been cleared of rats.

Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

The breathtaking island chain off Ecuador's coast, famous for its bird and reptile life, is home to an estimated 180 million rats—courtesy of the whalers who often stopped here in centuries past.

As elsewhere, the rodents have been an ecological disaster, devouring every single tortoise hatchling for the past hundred years.

Last November the Ecuadorian government set into motion South America's biggest rat-eradication scheme, hoping to have the island chain free of rats by 2020.

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Google's Motorola issues second appeal of dismissed ITC case against Apple

Google's Motorola issues second appeal of dismissed ITC case against AppleGet the lowest prices anywhere on Macs and iPads with exclusive coupons: Apple Price Guide updated May 25th. (Get the lowest prices anywhere) HomeReviewsBackpagePrice GuidesNew MacsMacs with AppleCarePrevious MacsiPadsApple Wireless DevicesBid on New & Used Apple ProductsFollow UsTwitterFacebookGoogle+RSS Feeds & QriusiPhone AppTip UsSend us a tiptip us anonymouslyContact us by e-mailForumsAAPL: 445.15 ( +3.01 )Never miss an update Follow AppleInsiderFollow @AppleInsider –A+
Friday, May 24, 2013, 07:08 pm

Google's Motorola issues second appeal of dismissed ITC case against AppleBy Mikey Campbell

Motorola has given notice to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that it will be contesting the International Trade Commission's dismissal of a case against Apple, the second time the now Google-owned company has filed an appeal tied to that investigation.


The appeals notice, uncovered by FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller after recently being made public, is in regard to an ITC decision to throw out a case against Apple after finding six Motorola patents-in-suit invalid.

In its dismissal, which was filed a month ago, the trade body found Motorola's last standing patent, a property for an infrared proximity sensor, invalid. The company was asserting U.S. Patent No. 6,246,862 for a "sensor controlled user interface for portable communication device," which covers a system that ignores errant screen touches during a phone call.

As noted by Mueller, Google's latest appeal is the second such action for the ITC investigation. The first came in November 2012, which questioned a decision that cleared Apple of infringing on three patents. The contention from Google resulted in a review of the findings, and that appeal has yet to be resolved.

Mueller pointed out that Apple may want to combine the two appeals, thus saving court resources, but the tactic is likely to fail due to the long span between Google's filings.

Motorola's Second Appeal of ITC Dismissal by Mikey Campbell

Tags:patentsMotorolaGoogleJump to comments (21)Categories:General(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); On Topic: patentsGoogle's Motorola issues second appeal of dismissed ITC case against AppleApple granted patents on push-to-talk, double-sided touch panelApple invention adjusts audio based on a display's orientation, user positioningApple investigating advanced AirPlay system with device-specific UIsSamsung Galaxy S4 & Google Now accused of violating Apple patents for SiriToday's' HeadlinesFoxconn may sell own branded accessories after Apple profits dipApple's iPhone sales tactics in Europe under antitrust investigationRelated ArticlesITC throws out Motorola patent suit against AppleITC to review decision that cleared Apple of infringing on Motorola patentsApple cleared of infringing Motorola patents, avoids U.S. import banApple cleared of infringing on Motorola patent in ITC caseGoogle cites quote from Steve Jobs biography in attempt to win iPhone import banPrevious Comments View Alljohn.b2013/05/24 07:39pm

Clearly, holding a phone against the side of your face was a new and unique idea that had never been thought of prior to this patent...

?

?

Though I'm not really sure why Apple would want to combine Motogoogle's appeals.

frood2013/05/24 08:23pm

Hooray!?? Seeing?more or less trivial patents invalidated never gets old.? The new digital age is less about inventions and more about obstruction.?? Only 939488583738292 more patents related to 'touching' 'shaping' 'looking at' and 'methods for performing "an operation" on a list' to go and maybe our court system can start working on legitimate stuff

ericthehalfbee2013/05/24 08:29pm

Waiting for GG to claim Google never initiates anything.

starbird732013/05/24 08:46pm

Court to Google/Motorola: You lose.

?

Google/Motorola: But, no, we don't.

?

Court to Google/Motorola: Yes, you do.

?

Google/Motorola: But, but, no, we don't.

?

Court to Google/Motorola: Yes, yes you do.

jungmark2013/05/25 12:51am

Do no evil, google.

applesauce0072013/05/25 07:04am

Three strikes and they're out...

suddenly newton2013/05/25 11:09am

LOL More reporting of court paperwork as 'news.'

ankleskater2013/05/25 11:17am

Quote:Originally Posted by starbird73?

Court to Google/Motorola: You lose.

?

Google/Motorola: But, no, we don't.

?

Court to Google/Motorola: Yes, you do.

?

Google/Motorola: But, but, no, we don't.

?

Court to Google/Motorola: Yes, yes you do.

How is that different from what virtually every company does? Appealing is a legal option and most companies, including those you worship, employ that option liberally, frequently and almost automatically. It's absurd, ridiculous, ignorant, hypocritical and unintelligent to mock any company for appealing.

?

Quote:Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee?

Waiting for GG to claim Google never initiates anything.

This is a fair comment (about Google, not about GG - that part I couldn't care less about). Motorola is part of Google now, and Google did once declare a non-aggression policy on patents. Whether one agrees with Apple's legal actions, their objective is quite clear. This is not true of Google.

ankleskater2013/05/25 11:19am

Quote:Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton?

LOL More reporting of court paperwork as 'news.'

?LOL. More people reading and mocking it. Yet the joke is clearly, squarely on the mocking reader.

jessi2013/05/25 11:25am

I'm glad to see that Patent Troll Google has lost again, but let's not assume that this is a trivial patent simply because the people describing it do so in simple terms.

Multi-touch is a very sophisticated technology, never seen before (despite the claims from idiots who don't know how it works and who always bring up systems working on a different method, such as pushing two wires tougher as if they were "prior art".) ... and deserves to be protected.

Most of these "trivial" patents are not actually trivial. And getting them tried in court IS the way the patent system was designed.

The idea that there's a problem here is asinine-- the only problem is that innovators like Apple can't get timely resolution to these violations, while companies like google skate by.

But it's embarrassing that people would claim that patents stifle innovation-- patents ARE innovation, and the people being "stifled" weren't being innovative, they were being copycats.

If these patents really are trivial they don't stand up in court.

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