World mourns Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder

World mourns Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder
Rich tributes are being paid to Apple Inc's co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, who has died at the age of 56.

President Barack Obama described the man who brought the world the iPod and iPhone among the greatest of American innovators.

Apple's board of directors said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

Apple's corporate statement announcing the death of 56-year old co-founder Steve Jobs is brief: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

Tim Cook, Apple's current CEO, mourned Jobs' death on Wednesday.

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor."

Steve leaves behind a company, Cook said, "that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple".

Medical leave
Jobs had stepped down as CEO of Apple last month, In January, he took medical leave, before resigning as CEO in August and handing over his duties to Tim Cook.

In his resignation letter, Jobs said: "I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role."

However, Jobs stayed on as Apple's chairman.
Many technology experts, industry peers and other admirers have been quick to add their own tributes.
In his tribute, Obama said: "Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

Obama was joined by political, technological, entertainment and business leaders around the world in paying tribute to Jobs.

Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and chairman paid tribute to his one time rival, said: "Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour."

Jobs was seen as innovator in the way the consumer can utilise the smartphone to access the world.
'Influential thinker'

Rupert Murdoch the CEO of News Corporation paid homage to Jobs by saying: "Today, we lost one of the most influential thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs of all time. Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation.

"While I am deeply saddened by his passing, I'm reminded of the stunning impact he had in revolutionising the way people consume media and entertainment. My heart goes out to his family and to everyone who had the opportunity to work beside him in bringing his many visions to life."

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the social networking site, Facebook, said Jobs for him was more than an innovator.

"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

Apple was based in California and the state's former governer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said: "Steve lived the California Dream every day of his life and he changed the world and inspired all of us."

Twitter users from around the world contributed eulogies of 140 characters or less, supplementing obituaries from nearly every major media outlet:
"3 Apples changed the World, 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton and the 3rd was offered to the World half bitten by Steve Jobs."

"Thank you, Steve Jobs, for making technology a delight to use, instead of a necessary evil."
Apple fans were invited to share their thoughts, memories and condolences by sending messages to rememberingsteve@apple.com.

And social networking groups were calling for iPhone vigils in public parks across the US.

World mourns Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder 
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/10/201110641530804759.html
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A Heated Robotic Mother Hen Improves Quail Chicks' Spatial Learning Abilities


We love when live animals follow a robot’s lead, from Robofish leading schools of real fish away from harm, to babies fooled into thinking a friendly robot is human. But studies have not yet shown how these robotic surrogates can affect animal development. Now a new study suggests they can have a positive effect — at least for a while.

Researchers at the University of Rennes in France built two comfy cube-shaped robotic mother hens, and introduced them to 36-hour-old Japanese quail chicks. The team took 24 chicks and divided them into groups of four. All six groups hung out with the robot for an hour a day for 10 days in a row, according to an account at PhysOrg. Three groups spent time with a mobilized version of the robot, and three groups got a stationary one. The chicks stopped interacting with the robot after the 10th day.

On the 13th day, the researchers placed the chicks back with their robots and watched what happened. The chicks with the mobile robot mother moved around a lot more, emitting more distress calls. The chicks with the immovable object mother were less active.

QuailBot The birds were drawn to the robot because it was warm. E. de Margerie, et al. ©2011 IOP Publishing Ltd

On the 14th day, the researchers placed the chicks facing each other, with a grid in the way. The chicks with the mobile mommy navigated around the grid more quickly than the chicks with a stationary HenBot, the researchers said. All this is to show that the chicks with a mobile robot mother had a slight advantage in spatial understanding.

But here’s the rub: This evaporated after a few days. On the 20th day, the team repeated the grid experiment, and found the chicks with the stationary robot had improved so much, there was no longer a significant difference in their behavior.

Still, it’s an interesting example of how robotic technology can impact animal development. Imagine a zoo or a rehabilitation center with some orphaned animals; if they have a movable object the birds can bond with, the birds might do a little better, this study suggests.

The other QuailBot we’ve seen was developed to monitor sage grouse mating behavior. It's nice to know this new QuailBot could conceivably help their offspring.

The study was published in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-09/heated-robotic-mother-hen-improves-quail-chicks-spatial-learning-abilities
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SASSA, the Military's New Satellite Self-Defense System, is Ready to Go to Space


A new satellite defense technology is about to get its first real-world test in orbit, and while we naturally don’t get to know much about it just yet, the Air Force has confirmed that a classified satellite launching sometime in the near future will carry the awkwardly named Self-Awareness Space Situational Awarenessksystem, or SASSA. 

Like radar for satellites, the system will alert operators of potential space-borne threat to the satellite and perhaps even take kinetic action should a satellite become threatened.

That marks a pretty big milestone for space-based defensive capabilities. As of right now, U.S. military forces are extremely reliant upon orbiting hardware like GPS satellites, reconnaissance satellites, and the like. They guide our ships and our planes, augment our missile guidance, and otherwise tell our troops where they are on the map, not to mention providing critical communications.

ASATs Away Aerial-launched anti-satellite weapons are an increasing concern for military planners, as depicted in this righteous artist's rendering. via Wikimedia

They are also largely undefended. Space is a big place and it’s difficult to cut down the angle of attack for something orbiting up there in free space. As such, military leaders are increasingly concerned about threats like anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons (remember China’s 2007 ASAT missile test that created all that space debris?), which could effectively put American forces in the dark in the case of all-out warfare.
Enter SASSA, which will act like a radar receiver for orbiting satellites, warning satellite handlers if it perceives incoming threats ranging from ASAT missiles to ground based lasers or signals that could blind it or jam its signals. No one is yet divulging the details of exactly how SASSA will work (this is top secret satellite stuff, after all), but as the Register smartly notes, maybe that’s why we’re being fed just this little nugget of information about the system.

After all, meddling with another state’s satellites is a major offense under international convention, and it’s only something you do if you think you can get away with it. SASSA will make it more difficult for another actor to mess with America’s space-based capabilities. And maybe that’s exactly why they’re getting the word out about SASSA beforehand.

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