Issues Remain In Greek Debt Talks

BRUSSELS -- Talks between Greece and its private creditors on cutting the country's massive debt load have made some progress, but disagreements remain on key parts of the deal, a person close to the negotiations said Thursday. Big banks and investment firms have been asked to forgive Greece some 50 percent of its debts so that the country can concentrate on getting its economy back in shape and eventually raise money on financial markets again. Athens has been kept afloat by a ?110 billion ($144 billion) bailout from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010 and has been promised an extra ?130 billion in aid if investors agree to share part of the burden. The idea is that by forgiving Greece part of its debt, private creditors avoid the much bigger losses they would face in a tumultuous default. While the eurozone and bank representatives reached a tentative deal on a debt restructuring in late October - which would see Greece debt cut by some ?100 billion - discussions on the details of the agreement have dragged on. The plan was to agree on the terms of a bond swap by the end of the year, so that private investors could exchange their old bonds for ones with a lower value in January or February, ahead of a ?14.4 billion repayment deadline Athens faces in March. In recent days, the Greek government and private investors agreed on some structural aspects of the package, but are still divided on central financial questions, which will determine the level of losses private creditors have to accept, said the person, who has been briefed in the talks. The person was speaking on condition of anonymity because talks are still ongoing. Investors won concessions from the government negotiators, who agreed to provide legal certainty that private creditors won't face more losses if Athens runs into trouble again in the future. For instance, the swapped bonds will be treated in the same way as loans from the eurozone in case of a future default by Greece. On top of that, the new bonds will be issued under U.K. rather than Greek law, giving investors extra security that the parliament in Athens won't be able to change their terms in the years to come. But the person said that there was still no deal on when Greece will have to repay the new bonds and at what interest rate. A high interest rate could add billions of euros to Greece's financial burden. Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Tuesday that he expected to reach an agreement with the private sector by early January, but the person close to the negotiations declined to commit to a deadline. He said informal discussions would continue in the coming days. All participants in the negotiations - Greece, the IMF and the eurozone on the one side and the bank representatives on the other - are under enormous pressure to reach a deal that can convince enough bondholders to participate. The IMF said in a report earlier this month that "near-universal participation" in the bond swap was necessary for Greece's debt to become sustainable again. How difficult that may be became clear earlier this month, when hedge fund Vega Asset Management resigned from the committee that has been leading the negotiations for the private investors. In a letter dated Dec. 7, Vega threatened legal action against Greece if it was forced to take steep losses as part of the restructuring. The person close to the talks said that letter was friendly in tone, and that some holdouts were to be expected, since different bond holders have different interests at stake. For example, a hedge fund, which may have bought its bonds when they were already trading at a steep discount, may be more willing to bet on getting bigger payments through a law suit than a bank or insurance fund more focused on cutting its risks. Separately, Greece's Finance Ministry said it exceeded its deficit-cutting targets in the first eleven months of the year, despite a revenue shortfall. A ministry statement on state budget execution Thursday showed the deficit was ?20.6 billion ($26.7 billion), a little bit lower than the ?21.1 billion target. The figures exclude certain categories of spending. ____ Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.wpxi.com/money/30054795/detail.html

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New device could bring optical information processing

Friday, December 23, 2011

Researchers have created a new type of optical device small enough to fit millions on a computer chip that could lead to faster, more powerful information processing and supercomputers.

The "passive optical diode" is made from two tiny silicon rings measuring 10 microns in diameter, or about one-tenth the width of a human hair. Unlike other optical diodes, it does not require external assistance to transmit signals and can be readily integrated into computer chips.

The diode is capable of "nonreciprocal transmission," meaning it transmits signals in only one direction, making it capable of information processing, said Minghao Qi (pronounced Chee), an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University.

"This one-way transmission is the most fundamental part of a logic circuit, so our diodes open the door to optical information processing," said Qi, working with a team also led by Andrew Weiner, Purdue's Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The diodes are described in a paper to be published online Thursday (Dec. 22) in the journal Science. The paper was written by graduate students Li Fan, Jian Wang, Leo Varghese, Hao Shen and Ben Niu, research associate Yi Xuan, and Weiner and Qi.

Although fiberoptic cables are instrumental in transmitting large quantities of data across oceans and continents, information processing is slowed and the data are susceptible to cyberattack when optical signals must be translated into electronic signals for use in computers, and vice versa.

"This translation requires expensive equipment," Wang said. "What you'd rather be able to do is plug the fiber directly into computers with no translation needed, and then you get a lot of bandwidth and security."

Electronic diodes constitute critical junctions in transistors and help enable integrated circuits to switch on and off and to process information. The new optical diodes are compatible with industry manufacturing processes for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors, or CMOS, used to produce computer chips, Fan said.

"These diodes are very compact, and they have other attributes that make them attractive as a potential component for future photonic information processing chips," she said.

The new optical diodes could make for faster and more secure information processing by eliminating the need for this translation. The devices, which are nearly ready for commercialization, also could lead to faster, more powerful supercomputers by using them to connect numerous processors together.

"The major factor limiting supercomputers today is the speed and bandwidth of communication between the individual superchips in the system," Varghese said. "Our optical diode may be a component in optical interconnect systems that could eliminate such a bottleneck."

Infrared light from a laser at telecommunication wavelength goes through an optical fiber and is guided by a microstructure called a waveguide. It then passes sequentially through two silicon rings and undergoes "nonlinear interaction" while inside the tiny rings. Depending on which ring the light enters first, it will either pass in the forward direction or be dissipated in the backward direction, making for one-way transmission. The rings can be tuned by heating them using a "microheater," which changes the wavelengths at which they transmit, making it possible to handle a broad frequency range.

###

Purdue University: http://www.purdue.edu/

Thanks to Purdue University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116292/New_device_could_bring_optical_information_processing

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Kindle iPad app now offers magazines, textbooks

By Rosa Golijan

Amazon

The Kindle iOS app?? which can be used on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch devices?? has received a nice little update on Wednesday. One of the most noteworthy changes? On the iPad version, users are now granted access magazines, newspapers, and textbooks?? just like Kindle Fire users.

According to Amazon, all iOS users ? iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad???can now sync compatible documents to read on the app, either via iTunes or by emailing files to their Send-to-Kindle addresses. A built-in PDF reader means that you don't have to use a separate app for non-book reading.

The updated (and free) app can be?downloaded from the Apple App Store?right now.?

But on the iPad, the app has even more. It allows users to access over 400 magazines and newspapers ??the same ones that are available to Kindle Fire users ??including Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Popular Science, and more. It'll be possible to buy single issues or subscriptions thanks to the Kindle Newsstand feature (not to be confused with the iOS Newsstand, of course).

Electronic textbooks that preserve the layout and graphics of the original printed versions will also be available for purchase or rental.

And frankly, the magazine service surprises us a bit. Not that Amazon would bring it to the iPad, but that Apple would allow it in an app. Amazon is blatantly trying to get into magazine subscriptions on the iPad, and Apple has made it clear that it wants to dominate this business ? especially on its own turf.

We've reached out to Apple to see why it let things go, at least for now. I will update if there is any comment.

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/21/9609138-kindle-ipad-app-now-offers-magazines-textbooks

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Is Strauss-Kahn staging a political comeback ? on his wife's coattails?

Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, whose political life seemed over after sexual assault accusations, is back with a speech criticizing the EU. Does this, and his wife's selection as 'Woman of the Year,' signal his comeback?

Seven months ago, accused of sexually assaulting?a hotel maid, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was a man for whom time appeared to have run out.

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The prominent managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the man who was poised to be the Socialist Party's presidential candidate challenging French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was finished, termin?, in the eyes of many. But yesterday, Mr. Strauss-Kahn made his first foray back into public life, giving a well-publicized speech to a Chinese-based Internet firm, blasting Europe for the eurozone crisis. And on the same day, Strauss-Kahn?s wife, Anne Sinclair, was named ?Woman of the Year? in a public opinion poll for her ?loyalty and courage? in standing by her man.

In his speech to the Chinese Internet company NetEase in Beijing, Strauss-Kahn let it be known he was not impressed with the restructuring of the European Union?s single-currency zone, hammered together by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Strauss-Kahn?s apparent rival, French President Sarkozy.

?None of the main problems has been addressed,? he said. ?There?s no central budget in Europe, no institutional centres, no lender of last resort, no expansion of the monetary policy.?

The French paper Le Monde carried more from Strauss-Kahn?s speech, which is translated here:

"With the recent storm, the raft seems not to?be?strong enough,? he said, speaking of the eurozone.??The fact that the euro is still in the middle of the river and that the union budget is not completed makes it very, very vulnerable, and the raft seems about to sink. (...)?I am not convinced that [French President] Sarkozy and [German Chancellor] Madame?Merkel will understand each other and this is probably one of the reasons why the European system has problems ahead,? he said.

Is it because the French public is, like Strauss-Kahn, pessimistic about the Eurozone bailout plan, or is it because they are simply sick of Sarkozy? Whatever the reasons, the French seem more than willing to overlook or move past Strauss-Kahn?s fall from grace?and see him return to the public stage.

Strauss-Kahn was?accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York City last May. Before that, he was the main challenger to Sarkozy in the upcoming 2012 presidential elections. Instead, he was escorted off his plane back to France in handcuff and put through a ?perp walk? by New York City police. He resigned his position as head of the IMF and spent the next few months preparing his defense.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/qAahvrAbxaE/Is-Strauss-Kahn-staging-a-political-comeback-on-his-wife-s-coattails

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Sony's new bio battery

527 posts

Ultimate Geek

? Reply # 560693 posted on 22-Dec-2011 13:19
So they are developing a technology to use paper as a fuel source to power devices including those designed to eliminate the need to use the worlds paper resources...interesting. Artificial intelligence is no match, for natural stupidity!

9450 posts

Uber Geek

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? Reply # 560694 posted on 22-Dec-2011 13:20
scuwp: So they are developing a technology to use paper as a fuel source to power devices including those designed to eliminate the need to use the worlds paper resources...interesting. Nek minute http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

536 posts

Ultimate Geek

? Reply # 560701 posted on 22-Dec-2011 13:44
Looking at the bigger picture it could probably be developed to work with all manner of plant waste. Weed ya garden, then use the weeds to watch a dvd I should not be here

945 posts

Ultimate Geek

? Reply # 560728 posted on 22-Dec-2011 14:47
TheUngeek: Looking at the bigger picture it could probably be developed to work with all manner of plant waste. Weed ya garden, then use the weeds to watch a dvd Feed the clippings in the charger to charge up the perpetual lawn mower....?

536 posts

Ultimate Geek

? Reply # 560731 posted on 22-Dec-2011 14:51
market is alongside: ? For infinite win!!! Problem? ? I should not be here

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Master Geek

? Reply # 560769 posted on 22-Dec-2011 17:48

scuwp: So they are developing a technology to use paper as a fuel source to power devices including those designed to eliminate the need to use the worlds paper resources...interesting. Well unless Smith City or Harvey Norman are going to send an Ipad down the street for everyone to gaze at the?advertisements?each week, I would assume that as ever there will be a large amount of waste paper...? Unless trying to?utilize?waste is a bad idea?

Source: http://feeds.geekzone.co.nz/~r/GeekzoneForumsLatestPosts/~3/a1pF2Y0oOLI/forums.asp

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