Trapped in Transit: Orwellian Moscow airport hotel

Ian Phillips, Eastern Europe News Director of the Associated Press, stands in a corridor of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, Russia, Friday June 28, 2013. The hotel has one wing that lies within the airport's transit zone. President Vladimir Putin has said that national Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has stayed in the transit zone since his arrival in Moscow. (AP Photo/Ian Phillips)

Ian Phillips, Eastern Europe News Director of the Associated Press, stands in a corridor of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, Russia, Friday June 28, 2013. The hotel has one wing that lies within the airport's transit zone. President Vladimir Putin has said that national Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has stayed in the transit zone since his arrival in Moscow. (AP Photo/Ian Phillips)

This photo taken Thursday, June 27, 2013 shows a view of the lobby of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, Russia. Glass doors in the background separate the lobby from the hotel wing that lies within the airport's transit zone. President Vladimir Putin has said that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has stayed in the transit zone since his arrival in Moscow. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

This photo taken on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 shows a view of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow, Russia. The hotel has a wing that lies within the airport's transit zone. President Vladimir Putin has said that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has stayed in the transit zone since his arrival in Moscow. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Passengers walk to board Aeroflot flight SU150 from Moscow to Havana, at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow Thursday, June 27, 2013. A dozen of Russian and foreign journalists continued to occupy the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo airport as yet another Havana-bound flight left Moscow with no sight of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden who is believed to remain at the transit zone. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT (AP) ? "An interesting route, Mr. Phillips," says the airport transit desk employee. "This activity makes for suspicion."

It was the start of an Orwellian adventure in which I deliberately got myself sequestered in the hopes of finding Edward Snowden at Moscow's main airport.

The experience leaves me feeling that if the NSA leaker is indeed in the transit zone of the airport, as President Vladimir Putin claims, he may already have a taste of what it's like to be in prison.

Snowden is possibly holed up in the wing of an airport hotel reserved for travelers in transit who don't have visas to enter Russia. The Novotel's main building, located outside the airport, has a plush lobby with a fountain, a trendy bar and luxury shops. One wing, however, lies within the airport's transit zone ? a kind of international limbo that is not officially Russian territory.

And that's where Snowden, whose U.S. passport has been revoked, may be hiding.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Eastern Europe News Director Ian Phillips flew from his home base of Prague in the Czech Republic to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the goal of getting to the bottom of the mystery of fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden. What followed was a surreal 21 hours.

___

The woman at the transit desk raises an eyebrow and stares at my flight itinerary, which includes a 21-hour layover in Moscow before a connection to Ukraine. "Why would ANYONE stay here in transit for so long? There are so many earlier connections you could have taken. This is strange behavior."

After a nearly two-hour wait inside the terminal, a bus picks me up ? only me ? from the transit area. We drive slowly across the tarmac, through a barrier, past electronic gates covered in barbed wire and security cameras.

The main part of the Novotel is out of bounds. My allotted wing feels like a lockup: You are obliged to stay in your room, except for brief walks along the corridor. Three cameras track your movements along the hallway and beam the images back to a multiscreen monitor. It's comforting to see a sign instructing me that, in case of an emergency, the locks on heavily fortified doors leading to the elevators will open.

When I try to leave my room, the guard outside springs to his feet. I ask him why room service isn't responding and if there's any other way to get food. He growls: "Extension 70!" I rile him by asking about the Wi-Fi, which isn't working: "Extension 75!" he snarls.

"Don't worry, Mr. Phillips," the transit desk employee had said. "We have all your details and information. We will come and get you from your room at 6 p.m. on Friday, one hour before your connecting flight."

Now it's midnight, and I'm getting edgy. I feel trapped inside my airless room, whose double windows are tightly sealed. And the room is extortionate: It costs $300 a night, with a surcharge of 50 percent slapped on because I will be staying past noon.

("Can't I just wait in the lobby after midday?" I asked the receptionist at check-in. "Of course not," she retorted. "You have no visa. You will stay until you are picked up.")

I look out the window. If Snowden is here and has the same view, he can see the approach to the departures terminal at the airport. A large billboard shows a red 4x4 vehicle driving along an ocean road. A parking lot below is filled with vehicles. A man in green overalls is watering a patch of parched grass. Vehicles whizz in and out of the airport.

A maid has just brought a tea bag. She puts a tick against the room number on the three-page document on her trolley. On it, there are no guest names, only numbers ? and departure dates. A quick look suggests there are perhaps a few dozen people staying here. A couple of rooms on my floor have tell-tale signs of occupancy ? food trays lying outside from the night before.

But no sign of Snowden.

The guard allows me to stretch my legs in the corridor. The signs on the wall rub things in. Under a pretty picture of the Moscow skyline and Red Square, a message reads: "Should you wish to see the full range of facilities offered by our hotel during your next stay, we strongly recommend you to get a visa before flying to Moscow."

A fleeting glimpse of a possible change of scene: a set of guidelines posted on the wall say I can go out for a smoke!

Rule No. 6: "It is possible to go and smoke one time per hour for 5 minutes in the beginning of each hour escorted by security service."

I don't smoke, but this would be a way to escape this floor. But when I ask him to take me down, the security guard scoffs. "No!" he says flatly.

I call the front desk. "You need a visa to go outside and smoke, Mr. Phillips" the receptionist says.

If he's here, Snowden has access to a few international TV stations. He also has a fair amount of options with room service ? the only source of food in this wing. But after almost a week, he might be getting bored. And he'd need a credit card or a lot of Russian cash. A selection:

Buffalo mozzarella and pesto dressing starter? 720 rubles (about $20).

Ribeye steak: 1,500 rubles (about $50).

Bottle of Brunello di Montalcino red wine: 5,280 rubles ($165).

A miniature bottle of Hennessy XO cognac: 2,420 rubles ($80).

I've called all the 37 rooms on my floor in hopes of reaching Snowden. No reply except for when I get my security guard.

The floor above? A similarly futile attempt.

I only reach a handful of tired and irritated Russians who growl "Da? Da? Da?" ? "Yes? Yes? Yes?"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-28-Russia-Big%20Brother%20Hotel/id-309696b8d3154108bc57351e82a35e40

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INDIA POST PARIWAR: Top Internet Security Programs

Nowadays, almost everyone has a PC at home and internet connection has become a need of people of all ages. Though reliable anti-virus or anti-spyware software is installed, it is inevitable that we still have threats to the computer. In today?s computer world, internet security does not allow the information to be accessed or compromised by other individuals. The initial way to secure information is encryption and maintaining passwords.
A password should be confidential and not be revealed to other person.?Internet Security?can be achieved through following steps. Internet service provider should be from a genuine source. If there is availability, try to choose an internet service provider that offers online virus, spam and content filters. All these will secure the internet service from not allowing the infection to enter the computers. A variety of software like stop spam, filter content for kids, manage cookies, pop-up and pop-under ads and trip up phishing is available to clean the browser. Routers provide the security from internet by using network address translation technique. Routers are of low cost and complexity and provide the same service as that of a conventional internet service. Protection for computers is necessary because there are more than one million malwares that are estimated to be discovered in 2010 alone. Any one is exposed to malware attacks.?Anti-Viruis programs ase essential?on every computer.

They provide essential safety to people to surf and navigate the web pages. Anti-virus programmes are designed to scan for and remove the harmful components when they are found on computers. They search and trash the viruses, worms, Trojans, bots and many more.?Anti-virus?programs keep a machine free from virus. A level of protection is provided against identity theft when the machine is provided with anti-virus and internet security programs. They ensure to keep the higher speed levels. Even though the machines are provided with anti-virus programmes, they can?t protect it from spyware. Spyware is the software that runs on the computer without the permission of its user. It cannot be healed by anti-virus because, it does not spoil the system, but it tracks the personal information from the user?s machine and sends this data back to the software manufacturer over the internet. Adware is the software for advertising and it runs random or targeted pop-up advertisements. With these pop-ups the machine will be caught with spyware and it also affects the system speed by reducing it. The spyware track the personal information like passwords and may damage the business solutions if the system is using for business. So it is very important to have a good anti-spyware to ensure the privacy. Firewall controls the access between two computers and restricts unfettered access. Firewalls monitor network traffic and also able to block any dangerous traffic. There are two types of firewalls-software firewall and hardware firewall. Firewall functions as the intermediate server between SMTP and HTTP connections. Firewall keeps out malicious hackers and people who aspire to damage and takeover other?s servers. Hence, having a good firewall eliminates the risks with computer and internet and keeps out the malevolent people. When all these programs are used in combination it helps protect the computer and internet connection.

Source: http://bnjho.blogspot.com/2013/06/top-internet-security-programs.html

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Wall Street falls as technology stocks drag

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, as weakness in technology shares outweighed gains in other shares spurred by relief a premature pullback of central bank stimulus measures was unlikely.

The S&P 500 had risen 2.6 percent over the prior three sessions as economic data and comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials soothed worries over an earlier-than-expected reining in of stimulative bond purchases by the Fed.

The benchmark S&P index had lost as much as 4.8 percent in the days following a June 19 statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve, when Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could start slowing its bond purchases later this year if growth was strong enough.

Technology shares weighed on the market early on Friday. The S&P technology index fell 1.2 percent as the worst performing S&P sector.

Accenture PLC tumbled 13 percent to $69.76 as the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after the outsourcing and consulting services provider cut its full-year outlook and reported third-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates.

The results also put a dent in shares of competitor IBM , which dropped 3.3 percent to $189.17 as the biggest weight on the Dow.

"Clearly, (Accenture's) outlook is weak and certainly the underperformance of technology as a sector in the stock market shows there are cyclical issues going on in tech as well as secular issues, rapid change occurring and purchasing managers holding back," said Tim Ghriskey chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion plunged 27 percent to $10.57 after the BlackBerry maker offered few signs of a long-promised turnaround on Friday. It reported an unexpected quarterly operating loss, a dearth of details on sales of its make-or-break new line of devices and no return to profit expected in the current quarter.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment was 84.1 points, slightly below a near six-year high of 84.5 in May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a final June reading of 82.8.

The S&P 500 index is currently up 2.1 percent for the quarter and 12.4 percent for the year, its best first-half performance since 1998, though it is on track for its first monthly loss since October.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 119.23 points, or 0.79 percent, to 14,905.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 10.03 points, or 0.62 percent, to 1,603.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14.54 points, or 0.43 percent, to 3,387.32.

Investors can expect a surge of volume at the close Friday when Russell Investments is due to set the final update for the annual reconstitution of its indexes.

Molycorp Inc jumped 6.8 percent to $5.99 after the rare earths producer said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission completed an investigation into the company and didn't recommend enforcement action.

Arch Coal Inc gained 2.2 percent to $3.68 after the company agreed to sell its Canyon Fuel subsidiary for $435 million in cash.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-falls-technology-stocks-drag-143306794.html

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Source: http://vulbonatumay.blogspot.com/2013/06/sunambawcom-internet-marketing-ebooks.html

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NASA's Voyager 1 explores final frontier of our 'solar bubble'

June 27, 2013 ? Data from Voyager 1, now more than 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from the sun, suggest the spacecraft is closer to becoming the first human-made object to reach interstellar space.

Research using Voyager 1 data and published in the journal Science today provides new detail on the last region the spacecraft will cross before it leaves the heliosphere, or the bubble around our sun, and enters interstellar space. Three papers describe how Voyager 1's entry into a region called the magnetic highway resulted in simultaneous observations of the highest rate so far of charged particles from outside heliosphere and the disappearance of charged particles from inside the heliosphere.

Scientists have seen two of the three signs of interstellar arrival they expected to see: charged particles disappearing as they zoom out along the solar magnetic field, and cosmic rays from far outside zooming in. Scientists have not yet seen the third sign, an abrupt change in the direction of the magnetic field, which would indicate the presence of the interstellar magnetic field.

"This strange, last region before interstellar space is coming into focus, thanks to Voyager 1, humankind's most distant scout," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "If you looked at the cosmic ray and energetic particle data in isolation, you might think Voyager had reached interstellar space, but the team feels Voyager 1 has not yet gotten there because we are still within the domain of the sun's magnetic field."

Scientists do not know exactly how far Voyager 1 has to go to reach interstellar space. They estimate it could take several more months, or even years, to get there. The heliosphere extends at least 8 billion miles (13 billion kilometers) beyond all the planets in our solar system. It is dominated by the sun's magnetic field and an ionized wind expanding outward from the sun. Outside the heliosphere, interstellar space is filled with matter from other stars and the magnetic field present in the nearby region of the Milky Way.

Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977. They toured Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before embarking on their interstellar mission in 1990. They now aim to leave the heliosphere. Measuring the size of the heliosphere is part of the Voyagers' mission.

The Science papers focus on observations made from May to September 2012 by Voyager 1's cosmic ray, low-energy charged particle and magnetometer instruments, with some additional charged particle data obtained through April of this year.

Voyager 2 is about 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) from the sun and still inside the heliosphere. Voyager 1 was about 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from the sun Aug. 25 when it reached the magnetic highway, also known as the depletion region, and a connection to interstellar space. This region allows charged particles to travel into and out of the heliosphere along a smooth magnetic field line, instead of bouncing around in all directions as if trapped on local roads. For the first time in this region, scientists could detect low-energy cosmic rays that originate from dying stars.

"We saw a dramatic and rapid disappearance of the solar-originating particles. They decreased in intensity by more than 1,000 times, as if there was a huge vacuum pump at the entrance ramp onto the magnetic highway," said Stamatios Krimigis, the low-energy charged particle instrument's principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "We have never witnessed such a decrease before, except when Voyager 1 exited the giant magnetosphere of Jupiter, some 34 years ago."

Other charged particle behavior observed by Voyager 1 also indicates the spacecraft still is in a region of transition to the interstellar medium. While crossing into the new region, the charged particles originating from the heliosphere that decreased most quickly were those shooting straightest along solar magnetic field lines. Particles moving perpendicular to the magnetic field did not decrease as quickly. However, cosmic rays moving along the field lines in the magnetic highway region were somewhat more populous than those moving perpendicular to the field. In interstellar space, the direction of the moving charged particles is not expected to matter.

In the span of about 24 hours, the magnetic field originating from the sun also began piling up, like cars backed up on a freeway exit ramp. But scientists were able to quantify that the magnetic field barely changed direction -- by no more than 2 degrees.

"A day made such a difference in this region with the magnetic field suddenly doubling and becoming extraordinarily smooth," said Leonard Burlaga, the lead author of one of the papers, and based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "But since there was no significant change in the magnetic field direction, we're still observing the field lines originating at the sun."

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif., built and operates the Voyager spacecraft. California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA. The Voyager missions are a part of NASA's Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/RSctGZatbW0/130627140803.htm

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19 bodies found near copter crash in north India

GAUCHAR, India (AP) ? India's air force chief says 19 bodies have been recovered from a steep hillside in northern India where a helicopter crashed while on a mission to rescue people stranded in monsoon floods.

Air force chief N.A.K. Browne said Wednesday that paramilitary soldiers using ropes had reached the crash site in Uttarakhand state and found the bodies of 19 people, including five air force crew members.

The helicopter crashed Tuesday, and authorities initially said eight were killed. The aircraft's rotor blades hit the hillside while returning with survivors of the flooding that has washed away thousands of homes, roads and bridges in the Himalayan state.

Troops are trying to rescue about 5,000 people who remain stranded in Badrinath town 10 days after torrential rains triggered landslides and flooding in Uttarakhand.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/19-bodies-found-near-copter-crash-north-india-064522256.html

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Crabgrass' secret: The despised weed makes herbicide to kill neighboring plants

June 26, 2013 ? Contrary to popular belief, crabgrass does not thrive in lawns, gardens and farm fields by simply crowding out other plants. A new study in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has found that the much-despised weed actually produces its own herbicides that kill nearby plants.

Chui-Hua Kong and colleagues point out that crabgrass is not only a headache for lawns and home gardens, but also a major cause of crop loss on farms. Scientists long suspected, but had a hard time proving, that the weed thrived by allelopathy. From the Greek "allelo-," meaning "other," and "-pathy," meaning "suffering," allelopathy occurs when one plant restricts the growth of another by releasing toxins. They set out to determine if crabgrass has this oppressive ability.

Kong's team isolated three chemicals from crabgrass that affect the microbial communities in nearby soil and did indeed inhibit the growth of staple crops wheat, corn and soybeans. "The chemical-specific changes in [the] soil microbial community generated a negative feedback on crop growth," the scientists said, noting that the chemicals also would have a direct toxic effect on other plants.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Chemical Society.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Bin Zhou, Chui-Hua Kong, Yong-Hua Li, Peng Wang, Xiao-Hua Xu. Crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis) Allelochemicals That Interfere with Crop Growth and the Soil Microbial Community. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2013; 61 (22): 5310 DOI: 10.1021/jf401605g

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/JQctmUWi84A/130626113650.htm

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