For the Pope on Twitter, many slings and arrows

Now there's speaking truth to power.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

When you come down from on high and mix with us, les miserables, it can be a touch depressing.

For though you try to take us seriously, we may not feel the same way. And, well, social media allows us to express our feelings without fear of permanent damnation.

Pope Benedict XVI, famously a recent convert to Twitter, is discovering that mixing with us isn't always pretty.

His Holiness -- and his almost equally holy advisers -- surely believes that one has to speak to the faithful through every available channel.

And yet this entails encountering the unfaithful too: the lapsed, the skeptical, the jaundiced, the troubled.

Disclosure: I am all of those.

After stepping gingerly in his Prada shoes into Twitter's morass, the Pope has has now offered a handful of tweets. He is even following seven people. (Well, they're actually all himself in different languages.)

Yet there is a large, perhaps heathen crowd lying in wait for what they see as the Pontiff's pontification.

Yesterday, he tweeted: "How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our lives?"

He may not have been expecting the replies he received. There were serious, but critical replies, such as this from klubbkidd: "@Pontifex by preaching more acceptance Your Holiness. the Church has lost it's footing in adapting to the times."

Some were more direct. ElHijoDePutin (I feel sure he isn't) offered in Spanish: "Mmm, by not raping children and by paying property tax."

Oh, yes. This will turn into Apple Vs. Microsoft.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Others went for a certain sort of sociopolitical humor. Take this, from pinchinn: "Explain to me why it's a bad idea to wear a condom." (Sadly, the Pope has yet to reply to this one.)

There were those who just decided to channel absurdist comedy. For example this from GgRrEegOorYy: "Have you got 10 Euros?"

Some in the flock flaunted their chance to simply be passionately rude to the Pope.

More Technically Incorrect

Several replies enjoyed the rude colloquialism beginning with "b" that you think might be a new form of gateau, but then realize you only see it on porn sites. One lady called Binnie suggested "hookers and blow."

To the latter, one Colby Wilson assailed Binnie: "How could you say that to the Pope?"

The Vatican has publicly declared thus far that it is ready to leave all replies up, confident that good will prevail over evil. I may have slightly paraphrased that last part.

Going through all the Pope's tweets and the replies, though, makes me believe that his Twitter account will very soon turn into something livelier than Apple vs. Microsoft.

The Pope might consider not phrasing tweets as questions, as this does tend to incite.

A recent tweet offered: "How can faith in Jesus be lived in a world without hope?"

A recent reply from one John Freiler reads: "you are a huge bummer, dude."

Is nothing sacred?

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Hubble Discovers Oldest Known Galaxy

The Hubble space telescope has discovered seven primitive galaxies formed in the earliest days of the cosmos, including one believed to be the oldest ever detected.

The discovery, announced Wednesday, is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign to determine how and when galaxies first assembled following the Big Bang.

"This 'cosmic dawn' was not a single, dramatic event," said astrophysicist Richard Ellis with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Rather, galaxies appear to have been formed over hundreds of millions of years.

Ellis led a team that used Hubble to look at one small section of the sky for a hundred hours. The grainy images of faint galaxies include one researchers determined to be from a period 380 million years after the onset of the universe—the closest in time to the Big Bang ever observed.

The cosmos is about 13.7 billion years old, so the newly discovered galaxy was present when the universe was 4 percent of its current age. The other six galaxies were sending out light from between 380 million and 600 million years after the Big Bang. (See pictures of "Hubble's Top Ten Discoveries.")

Baby Pictures

The images are "like the first ultrasounds of [an] infant," said Abraham Loeb, a specialist in the early cosmos at Harvard University. "These are the building blocks of the galaxies we now have."

These early galaxies were a thousand times denser than galaxies are now and were much closer together as well, Ellis said. But they were also less luminous than later galaxies.

The team used a set of four filters to analyze the near infrared wavelengths captured by Hubble Wide Field Camera 3, and estimated the galaxies' distances from Earth by studying their colors. At a NASA teleconference, team members said they had pushed Hubble's detection capabilities about as far as they could go and would most likely not be able to identify galaxies from further back in time until the James Webb Space Telescope launches toward the end of the decade. (Learn about the Hubble telescope.)

"Although we may have reached back as far as Hubble will see, Hubble has set the stage for Webb," said team member Anton Koekemoer of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "Our work indicates there is a rich field of even earlier galaxies that Webb will be able to study."

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Royal Hoax Nurse Hanged Herself, Left 3 Notes

Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse who killed herself after she answered a radio-station prank call about Kate Middleton, was found hanging from the neck, and left three notes, according to the coroner's officer.

The 46-year-old nurse who worked at London's King Edward VII Hospital was discovered Dec. 7 hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her bedroom, Coroner's Officer Lynda Martindill told a British inquest.

The wife and mother of two also had injuries to her wrists, according to police detective chief inspector James Harman.

Harman told the coroner's inquest that two notes were found at the scene and a third was discovered among Saldanha's belongings.

He did not release the contents of the notes.

Royal Hospital Hoax: End to Shock-Jock Pranks? Watch Video

Australian DJs Apologize in Wake of Nurse's Suicide Watch Video

There is no suspicion of foul play in Saldanha's death, Harman said. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what led to her suicide, and are now interviewing her friends, family and co-workers to find more information, Harman said.

Saldanha was found dead Friday morning after police were called to an address near the hospital to "reports of a woman found unconscious," according to a statement from Scotland Yard.

Saldanha had worked at the hospital for more than four years.

DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian of 2Day FM in Sydney called the hospital Dec. 5 pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, looking to speak to Middleton, who was being treated at the hospital for acute nausea related to her pregnancy. The duo were able to obtain information about the duchess' condition.

When the royal impersonators called the hospital, Saldanha put them through to a second nurse who told the royal impersonators that Kate was "quite stable" and hadn't "had any retching."

The radio station, along with Greig and Christian, has apologized for the prank call, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority has now launched an investigation into the incident.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox has adjourned the inquest into Saldanha's death until March 26.

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Orbiting eye sees NASA rover's impact scars on Mars

Curiosity really has made an impact on Mars. A sharp-eyed orbiter has spotted craters at the site where castoffs from the NASA rover's landing gear fell to the surface in August. Examining the damage can help reveal what it takes to scar the Red Planet.

Just after entering the Martian atmosphere, Curiosity's descent capsule dropped two laptop-sized blocks of tungsten, each weighing about 75 kilograms, which helped the craft tilt and glide towards its landing site in Gale crater.

The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has now snapped detailed photos of the surrounding area, showing that the blocks made craters 3 metres to 5 metres wide. The scars are about 80 kilometres to the west of Gale crater – too far for the rover to investigate, because it can travel only about 100 metres per day.

But studying the impact zone from orbit can give planetary scientists cleaner data on Mars's surface and atmospheric properties than they could get from the hundreds of natural impact craters that they have already photographed.

"We think we kind of understand crater formation in terms of an object of a certain mass, at a certain velocity, should go ahead and create a crater of a certain size and depth," says Nadine Barlow of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. "But most of what we know is based on theory. This gives us some actual ground truth."

Scattershot asteroids

This isn't the first time we've studied artificial craters, says Jay Melosh of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Discarded landing gear from other craft sent to the moon and Mars have been studied in detail, especially since the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived in Martian orbit in 2006. But the tungsten blocks, with their simple shapes, are closer to a theoretician's heart, he says.

"They made craters much closer to the kind of craters that natural asteroid impacts make."

The HiRISE camera also caught other impact scars flanking the ballast craters, which probably came from Curiosity's cruise module, the doughnut-shaped section that provided electricity and propulsion on the journey from Earth.

Mars is much closer than Earth to our solar system's main asteroid belt, and its much thinner atmosphere provides less protection from incoming space rocks. Melosh and colleagues have been trying to figure out the numbers and strengths of asteroids that regularly break up in the Martian atmosphere, based on the patterns that their pieces leave on the ground.

Seeing the scars from broken bits of the cruise stage, the durability of which is already known, will help test his theories. "For that reason, the debris from the ring is even more interesting," he says.

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PM Lee to nominate new Speaker when Parliament next meets

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will nominate a new Speaker of Parliament when Parliament next meets, following the resignation of Mr Michael Palmer.

In the meantime, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mr Charles Chong will serve as Acting Speaker.

When asked who is likely to be considered for the post of Speaker, some Members of Parliament (MPs) from the ruling People's Action Party told Channel NewsAsia that they are still coming to terms with the news of Mr Palmer's resignation.

Singapore's Parliament has two Deputy Speakers.

Besides Mr Charles Chong, the MP for Marine Parade GRC, Mr Seah Kian Peng, is the other Deputy Speaker.

MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC, Denise Phua, said Mr Seah could be a possible candidate for the new Speaker of Parliament.

When asked if he would consider the post if he was approached to take it up, Mr Seah said the role of Speaker requires a lot of time and anyone taking the job would want to consider the matter seriously.

GPC chair for Communications and Information, Zaqy Mohamed, said that for now, the two Deputy Speakers would perform the role until such time the candidate for Speaker is proposed to Parliament.

Nominated MP Eugene Tan is of the view that either one of the two Deputy Speakers or former Cabinet Ministers who are now currently MPs, could be considered for the post of Speaker.

Singapore's Parliament will sit on 14 January.

- CNA/ir

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Dayton Audio's almost-too-good-to-be-true Sub-800 subwoofer

The best I can say about most cheap subwoofers is they make bass. The bass won't be the deepest, most powerful, or the clearest, or blend all that well with most speakers, but all subs make bass. Better subs, like the $449 Hsu Research VTF-1 MK2, generate deeper, less distorted sound, so you can actually hear distinct bass notes, and can play louder and fill larger rooms better than most cheap subs.

Dayton Audio Sub-800 subwoofer

(Credit:
Dayton Audio)

So my expectations for Dayton Audio's $79 Sub-800 weren't high. Still, I can't say enough nice things about Dayton's B652 bookshelf speakers. There's no better speaker you can buy for anywhere near its $34.80-per-pair price, so I thought maybe the Sub-800 would set a new standard for under $100 subs. I didn't have a set of B652s handy, so I started out listening to the Sub-800 with a pair of $70 Sony SS B1000 speakers, a Denon AVR 1912 receiver, and our Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player.

Starting out with CDs, the sub's clarity and punch were well beyond what I've heard from other budget subs; the Sub-800's 8-inch woofer and 80-watt internal amp were doing a hell of a job. The Sonys are just OK for cheap speakers, so I switched over to a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22 bookshelf speakers ($130). They're a lot better, and supported by the Sub-800 the Pioneers sounded like much bigger speakers. Pressed into home theater duty with the "Hunger Games" Blu-ray, the speakers and sub, which together retail for $210, sound considerably better than most under-$500 sound bars or Bluetooth or AirPlay speakers, including the $600 Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air. The Pioneer/Dayton combination sounded bigger, clearer, and more dynamically alive. As for the bass, well, the Sub-800 makes real subwoofer bass; the Zeppelin Air or a Zvox pedestal sound bar aren't in the same league. The Sub-800's bass has a remarkably solid kick, and goes nice and deep.

It's not the fairest comparison -- I was using a $500 Denon receiver for these listening tests, and that has to be factored in. Alternatively, you can use a cheaper receiver, like the $170 Yamaha RX-V371BL or a $100 Sherwood RX-4109 stereo receiver. Since the Sub-800 is self-powered, the receiver's quality won't make a difference in the bass you'll hear. In any case, the Pioneer/Dayton advantage over more expensive sound bars and
iPod speakers will still loom large.

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal Observatory

This image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.

To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon and evening planets, then take in the Perseids meteor shower.

"We live in a spiral arm of the Milky Way, so when we gaze through the thickness of our galaxy, we see it as a band of dense star fields encircling the sky," said Marek Kukula, the Royal Observatory's public astronomer and a contest judge.

Full story>>

Why We Love It

"I like the way this view of the Milky Way also shows us a compelling foreground landscape. It also hints at the astronomy problems caused by light pollution."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published December 11, 2012

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Mall Gunman Wanted to Kill 'Total Strangers'

The masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two and seriously injuring a third before killing himself, was trying to "kill as many people as possible."

The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's store and heading to the food court and public areas spraying bullets, according to witness reports.

Police have identified the gunman, but have not released his name, Sheriff Craig Roberts told "Good Morning America."

"We have been able to identify the shooter over this last night," Roberts said. "I believe, at least from the information that's been provided to me at this point in time, it really was a killing of total strangers. To my knowledge at this point in time he was really trying, I think, to kill as many people as possible."

Police have not released the names of the shooter's victims. Clackamas County Sheriff's Department Lt. James Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families.

The injured victim, identified by hospital officials as Kristina Shevchenko, has been taken to a hospital, according to Roberts.

PHOTOS: Oregon Mall Shooting

Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images

Oregon Mall Shooting: 'Killing of Total Strangers' Watch Video

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Oregon Mall Shooting: At Least 3 People Dead Watch Video

Nadia Telguz, who said she was a friend of Shevchenko, told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland that the woman was expected to recover.

"My friend's sister got shot," Teleguz told KATU. "She's on her way to (Oregon Health and Science University Hospital). They're saying she got shot in her side and so it's not life-threatening, so she'll be OK."

Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man who appeared to be a teenager, ran through the upper level of Macy's to the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after the other, with what is believed to be a black, semi-automatic rifle.

By 4:40 p.m., police reported finding a group of people hiding in a storeroom. In a surreal moment, even the mall Santa was seen running for his life.

"I didn't know where the gunman was, so I decided to kind of eased my way out," said the mall Santa, who the AP identified as 68-year-old Brance Wilson.

More than 10,000 shoppers were at the mall during the day, according to police. Roberts said that officers responded to the scene of the shooting within minutes, and four SWAT teams swept the 1.4 million-square-foot building searching for the shooter. He was eventually found dead, an apparent suicide.

"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Rhodes said. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."

Roberts said more than 100 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, and the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are working with local agencies to trace the shooter's weapon.

Cell phone video shot at the scene shows the chaos soon after the shooting. When police arrived they were met head on by terrified shoppers, children and employees streaming out. Customers, even a little girl, were being lead out with their hands up.

"I think a variety of things happened that I think this could have been much, much worse," Roberts told "GMA." "And to give you some ideas, we got the call at 3:29, we had someone on scene within a minute, 30 seconds.

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Taiwan's HTC unveils new rival to iPhone 5

TAIPEI - Taiwan's HTC on Tuesday unveiled a new smartphone boasting a higher resolution display than the iPhone 5 just days before Apple's latest handset goes on sale on the island.

The HTC Butterfly features a 5-inch screen with a pixel density of 440 ppi (pixels per inch) and full 1080p HD resolution, compared to the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen at 326 ppi at a lower resolution.

"We are confident that HTC Butterfly will set a new example for high-end smartphones," chief executive Peter Chou said at the launch in Taipei.

The new model, which is slimmer and curvier, is equipped with the latest 1.5 GHz Quad-Core S4 processor that allows users to surf the Internet and stream HD movies to their TV wirelessly at the same time, HTC said.

Its photo-taking and audio functions are also enhanced, with an ultra-wide front angle lens as well as a built-in amplifier for higher sound quality, the company said.

HTC sells its own smartphones and also makes handsets for a number of leading US companies, including Google's Nexus One.

The company has recently unveiled a new series of smartphones as it faces intense competition from Apple and South Korea's Samsung and seen its third quarter profit tumble 79.1 percent year-on-year.

HTC and Apple were locked in more than 20 patent lawsuits worldwide until the two firms reached a global patent settlement last month. The world's leading technology firms have routinely pounded each other with patent suits.

- AFP/ir

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Microsoft Office on iPad: More hints emerge

Microsoft officials have stopped bothering to deny that there will be some kind of Office support on the
iPad. But the Softies still aren't sharing when this support will arrive or in what form.

Reports that Microsoft was developing Office for iPad began circulating, courtesy of The Daily, earlier this year. Reporters at The Daily claimed a Microsoft representative demonstrated privately to them Word, Excel and PowerPoint running on the iPad. Microsoft officials, at that time, tried to throw cold water on The Daily's claims.

In subsequent appearances, Microsoft officials danced around questions as to when and whether Microsoft would deliver Office for iPad.

The latest non-answer to the "when is Office coming to iPad" question came last week from Bill Koefoed, who is now the chief financial officer of the Skype unit at Microsoft. Speaking at the December 4 Nasdaq OMX Investor Program, this was Koefoed's reponse to a question about how Microsoft is thinking, time- and unit-continuum-wise, about moving Office to the iPad:

BILL KOEFOED: There are some of the Office services that are available on the iPad. We have OneNote available on the iPad. I know we have Lync available on the iPad. And so as you look, we obviously think that Office is a differentiator on the Surface and you should obviously watch the Office momentum that we have with the Office 2013 release, and they'll have more to say on the products and how it lights up the different devices. (Emphasis mine)

As first noticed by bloggers over at the Mac4ever site, there also are references popping up in Microsoft's support pages to Office Mobile apps for the iPad. Again, there are no specifics as to capabilities, pricing or packaging. But based on recent leaks, it could be the case that Office Mobile for iPad and
Android, as well, will require an Office 365 subscription.

Among the rumored release dates for Office Mobile for iPad are "early 2013" (The Verge) and May 2013 (various reseller and other sources).

Again, if you think of Microsoft's new desire to be a "devices and services" company, a subscription-based offer of Office on non-Microsoft devices makes sense....

This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline "Microsoft no longer bothering to deny Office on iPad."

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