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Review Nokia has cranked up the volume of its mobile music message recently with the debut of its Comes With Music download service and the unveiling of its touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic handset.…
The Florida teen whose lethal drug overdose was broadcast live over the net earlier this week began blogging about his intended suicide 12 hours before.…
QCon 2009 Tim Bray, co-inventor of XML and Sun Microsystems’ Director of Web Technologies, found himself manning “the hangover slot” to give the morning keynote at day-two of the Qcon developer conference in San Francisco on Thursday.…
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Officials in California have unveiled ambitious plans to turn the San Francisco Bay area - home to 7.6 million people - into one of the world's leading centres for electric vehicles.
If it succeeds, the strategy will see billions of dollars poured into a power infrastructure that will turn the region away from fossil fuels and persuade millions of people to switch to green transport technology.
The plan, which will see the bay area become the first region of California to switch its transport systems entirely away from traditional fuels, is being supported by local government as well as the state's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"California is already a world leader in fighting global warming and promoting renewable energy," he said. "This partnership is proof that by working together we can achieve our goals of creating a healthier planet while boosting our economy."
Globally, cars generate about 20% of the world's output of carbon dioxide and California's cars account for 40% of the state's greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing around 1m petrol cars with electric cars by 2015, as is proposed under the new plans, will make a big difference.
At least $1bn is expected to be spent on improving green transport infrastructure to make the bay area - encompassing the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, as well as Silicon Valley - the leading centre for electric vehicles in America, and potentially around the world.
The electric transportation company Better Place will build a network of kerbside charging points across cities in the area and create the equivalent of filling stations, where electric car owners will be able to replace their flat batteries for fully charged ones. With a full charge on one of Better Place's batteries, a typical car will be able to travel 100 miles, ideal for commuting around urban areas.
The local government will also work to harmonise standards across the region so that drivers of electric vehicles can travel the length and breadth of the bay area without worrying about finding the right kind of charging station.
Most users of the Better Place system would pay a monthly subscription for unlimited access to the company's services. Visitors with electric cars could also use the charging points for a one-off fee.
"You can plug in any car," said Jason Wolf, the California business manager at Better Place. "In California, everyone who's bought Teslas, everyone who has bought plug-in hybrids or electric cars that are not in tight relationship with us, will be able to plug into our network."
Speaking at the launch yesterday, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, said: "If we're going to get serious about advancing climate-action plans, we've got to get serious about getting into the business of alternative transportation."
California, the world's eighth largest economy, has some of the most progressive climate-change legislation. The state aims to reduce greenhouse gas levels to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
The plans will put California on a footing with other countries leading the attempt to introduce electric cars, including Israel, Denmark and Australia. Last month, the Britain pledged £100m to speed the commercial introduction of electric and low-carbon road transport to the country.
Wolf said the first cars in the California scheme would be deployed in 2010.
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A police investigation is under way in Florida after a teenager appeared to kill himself live on the internet after being goaded by other web surfers.
The 19-year-old, from the city of Pembroke Pines, was found dead by police on Tuesday night after apparently taking an overdose. The alarm was raised by internet viewers who watched events develop online through messageboards and on the teenager's page on Justin.tv, a website that allows surfers to transmit their own TV channel.
He gave a clear indication of what he intended to do by posting a message on a bodybuilding website he frequented. Although some of the responses were sympathetic, other users told the teenager to "do it". He then proceeded to broadcast events online over the course of several hours.
As many as 185 people watched as he collapsed on camera and fell unconscious. Only after he failed to get up did anybody take any physical action, with several viewers alerting local police after being unable to contact him by phone.
The live video stream continued to run until police and emergency services arrived at the house, with footage showing them breaking down the door and inspecting the scene before filming stopped.
An investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office, which is dealing with the case, confirmed that some web users had encouraged the teenager to harm himself, while others had tried to talk him out of ending his life. The messageboard where he left the original note has now been deleted, but not before other viewers had noted some of the harsher reponses.
"You want to kill yourself?" said one internet user reacting to the teenager's message. "Do it, do the world a favour and stop wasting our time with your mindless self-pity."
The death has caused upset in Pembroke Pines, which lies on the fringe of the Everglades and has a population of 150,000. Friends have been leaving tributes and messages on his MySpace page, paying their respects to him for being a "good person" and expressing their disbelief.
The owners of Justin.tv said they had removed the footage from the internet on being alerted to the situation. In a statement, the website's chief executive, Michael Siebel, made little further comment, saying a "tragedy ... occurred within our community today", and "we respect the privacy of the broadcaster and his family during this challenging time."
Suicide on the internet has happened before, although it remains a rare phenomenon. For several years Japanese authorities have been dealing with the problem of group suicides organised online, while last year a British man killed himself live in front of a webcam. The man, from Telford, died live online after being urged to "get on with it" by other users in an internet chatroom he frequented. After a two-month investigation by police, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that none of the comments amounted to a criminal offence.
It is not clear whether police in Florida will charge those who goaded the teenager with assisting suicide - or even if they can be traced.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsRelated Stories
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