FAA wants Dreamliner transmitters inspected

General view of the Air Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner 'Queen of Sheba' aeroplane, on the runway near Terminal 3, at Heathrow Airport, London, Friday July 12, 2013. Two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes ran into trouble in England on Friday, with a fire on one temporarily shutting down Heathrow Airport and an unspecified technical issue forcing another to turn back to Manchester Airport. The incidents are unwelcome news for Chicago-based Boeing Co., whose Dreamliners were cleared to fly again in April after a four-month grounding due to concerns about overheating batteries. The fire at Heathrow involved an empty Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was parked at a remote stand of the airport after arriving at the airport. British police said the fire is being treated as unexplained, and that there were no passengers on board at the time of the fire. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

General view of the Air Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner 'Queen of Sheba' aeroplane, on the runway near Terminal 3, at Heathrow Airport, London, Friday July 12, 2013. Two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes ran into trouble in England on Friday, with a fire on one temporarily shutting down Heathrow Airport and an unspecified technical issue forcing another to turn back to Manchester Airport. The incidents are unwelcome news for Chicago-based Boeing Co., whose Dreamliners were cleared to fly again in April after a four-month grounding due to concerns about overheating batteries. The fire at Heathrow involved an empty Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was parked at a remote stand of the airport after arriving at the airport. British police said the fire is being treated as unexplained, and that there were no passengers on board at the time of the fire. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Airlines should inspect the emergency locator transmitters of all Boeing 787 "Dreamliners," the Federal Aviation Administration urged Friday following a fire earlier in the week aboard one of the airliners while parked at London's Heathrow Airport.

British aviation authorities, who are investigating the fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787, have said the transmitters should be disabled after finding that one of the squat orange boxes was the only thing with enough power to start a fire in the plane's tail section, which was scorched.

The FAA made no mention Friday of disabling the transmitters in a brief statement provided to the media. Instead, the agency said that after reviewing the British investigators' recommendations, U.S. officials have begun working with Boeing to develop instructions for how airlines should conduct the inspections.

The inspections would ask airlines to examine transmitters for proper wire routing and damaged or pinched wires, the statement said. The transmitter's lithium battery compartment would be inspected for heat or moisture.

An order making the inspections mandatory for U.S. operators is expected in the coming days, the FAA said.

FAA safety orders apply only to operators of U.S. registered planes, but aviation authorities in other countries are expected to follow with their own orders for inspecting or disabling the transmitters.

Boeing has delivered 68 of the planes worldwide so far, all with the same transmitter made by Honeywell International Inc. United Airlines is the only U.S. operator of the planes, with six.

Britain's Thomson Airways, which has six 787s, said on Thursday that it had already removed the emergency locator transmitters from its 787s. It said its 787 flights would still operate as planned. "This is not a Boeing 787 technical issue," the airline said, but an issue with the transmitter made by Honeywell.

As Honeywell reported financial results on Friday, an analyst asked CEO David Cote how it would be possible for such a relatively small transmitter to cause a fire like the one in the 787 at Heathrow. Cote didn't answer directly, but said he wants to wait and see what the final investigation finds.

"We'll just wait to find out what actuals are, and respond to it then," he said. "There's no significant financial impact to Honeywell in any way."

British investigators have said it is not clear if the fire was caused by the transmitter's lithium-manganese dioxide batteries or a short near or around the transmitter. A spokeswoman for the investigative branch said the easiest way to make the transmitter systems "inert" ? as set out in their recommendations ? would be to take out their batteries.

Honeywell has made 6,000 of these transmitters and they're used in a wide range of planes. The actions announced by the FAA, however, apply only to 787s.

The transmitters have logged 50 million hours of flight on planes other than the 787 with few reports of incidents, and none as serious as the London fire, an official familiar with the transmitters' history said. The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly, asked not to be named.

The locators are activated in a crash and send a signal that satellites use to calculate the location of the plane. They're most helpful when a plane crashes in a remote area on land, making it difficult for rescuers to find the wreckage. They're of little value in accidents where a plane is underwater or where the location of the plane is clear, such as the crash landing of an Asiana Airlines plane at San Francisco International Airport two weeks ago.

The 787 is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. It's the first airliner with a skin made mostly of lightweight composite materials. It relies far more than other airliners on electrical systems to operate. And it is the first airliner to make extensive use of rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

The plane is key to Boeing's future, but it has been plagued with problems. The entire 787 fleet was grounded for about three months earlier this year after a fire in a battery unrelated to the transmitter on a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston's Logan International Airport, and another smoking battery that led to an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 in Japan.

U.S. and Japanese authorities are still investigating the two incidents, but have reached no conclusion on the cause of the battery failures.

___

Freed reported from Minneapolis.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-07-19-Plane%20Fire-FAA/id-42e69d309653408f94d88ad07471986c

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MVNO Ting joins the Windows Phone crowd with launch of HTC 8XT

Sprint just recently announced that it will be offering the HTC 8XT on July 19th, but it turns out it's not the only option for those interested the phone. Upstart Ting has just announced that it is now taking pre-orders for the device, making it the first Windows Phone device available on the MVNO. Not many surprises beyond that, as you might expect -- the device is available off-contract per usual (running $373), and the phone itself is the same as you'll find on Sprint, including a 4.3-inch WVGA display, 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 CPU, 8 megapixel camera and HTC's trademark "BoomSound." Those looking for a different take on Windows Phone can also look for an unspecified Samsung ATIV device to be available on Ting sometime soon.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Source: Ting

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/iV2EW2xul_s/

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Hair-raising trend? Young celebs choosing gray

Celebs

Ashley Majeski TODAY contributor

3 hours ago

Celebrities used to dread the day that they'd spot their first gray hair, often rushing off to a high-priced salon to destroy any evidence of the aging process. These days, however, young Hollywood seems to be embracing the gray. In fact, some celebrities are actually dying their hair gray -- a color previously reserved for the cast of "The Golden Girls" and -- of course -- "Silver Fox" George Clooney.

Instagram; Getty Images files

Rihanna, Adam Lambert, and Kelly Osbourne all sporting gray hair.

Singer Rhianna recently joined the ranks of under-30 stars who have chosen to go gray. The pop star debuted her new gray-tinted tresses via Instagram on Wednesday, along with the caption "Grey is the new black! Blondies, it's quiet for y'all! #brrr."

The "Unapologetic" singer is not the first young celebrity to play with gray.

Kelly Osbourne
The "Fashion Police" star has sported nearly every haircolor in the rainbow, but still managed to shock fans when she went gray -- willingly -- in 2011. Osbourne discussed her odd color choice on mom Sharon's show, "The Talk." "It's something I've wanted to do my whole life," she said. "I've always wanted to be young and have gray hair. I'm 27, I've got three years left, the way I look at it, to have fun with it, because once you're 30, you look like a right idiot walking around with, like, rainbow, bright color hair and all different things like that."

Adam Lambert
Osbourne's "no crazy colors after age 30" rule obviously didn't apply to "American Idol" singer Adam Lambert, who grayed his normally jet black tresses in the summer of 2012 at age 30. The singer proudly sported his new 'do at New York Fashion Week and tweeted out an answer to anyone wondering why he chose to dye his hair: "You ask Why? Why not? ;) change is good.?

Lady Gaga
Like Osbourne, Lady Gaga has an affinity for changing her hair color, so it was hardly shocking when the then-24 year old pop star showed up on the cover of the September 2010 issue of Vanity Fair with flowing granny-gray locks. In true Gaga fashion, the color didn't stay for long.

Pink
The singer has dyed her hair everything from blond to -- what else? -- pink, but was one of the first young celebrities to go gray back in 2008. Pink sported the sexy silvery tresses to the 2008 American Music Awards, and has brought them back several times since then.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/hair-raising-trend-young-celebs-continue-go-gray-6C10680003

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Former Google, Twitter Execs Launch ?Homebrew? Venture Firm

By Amir Efrati

Two well-known Silicon Valley Web executives have launched a venture capital firm to finance and advise early-stage technology companies, yet another sign of the growing appetite of investors to place bets on younger startups.

It took former?Twitter?executive Satya Patel, 38 years old, and longtime former?Google?and?YouTube?executive Hunter Walk, 39, just four months to raise a $35 million fund?largely from a university endowment, a foundation and two other institutional investors.

Their firm, called Homebrew (an homage to a computer hobbyist group that formed in Silicon Valley in the 1970s), won?t just write checks. As former product executives, Messrs. Patel and Walk say they plan to take an active role in their portfolio companies, helping to shape their products and organizations in what venture capitalists call the ?seed? stage.

Read the?rest of the post on The Wall Street Journal?s Digits blog.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/07/17/former-google-twitter-execs-launch-homebrew-venture-firm/?mod=WSJBlog

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Stocks edge up as Bernanke reassures on stimulus

NEW YORK (AP) ? Some soothing words from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pushed the stock market slightly higher on Wednesday. Earnings gains for several major companies also helped.

Bernanke said that the U.S. central bank had no firm timetable for cutting back on its bond purchases. The Fed would consider reducing its stimulus program if the economy improves, but Bernanke emphasized in his testimony to Congress that the reductions were "by no means on a preset course."

The central bank is currently buying $85 billion of bonds a month to keep interest rates low and encourage borrowing. Concerns that the Fed was poised to start easing back on that stimulus before the economy had recovered sufficiently caused the stock market to pull back in June.

"The market is responding well," to Bernanke's comments, said Phil Orlando, chief market strategist at Federated Investors. The concern has been that "the Fed was going to dial the (stimulus) down to zero regardless how the economy was doing."

The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,682. The Nasdaq composite rose 10 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,608.

The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed at 15,460. The index was held back by American Express. The credit card company's stock slumped $1.88, or 2.4 percent, to $76.40 after European regulators proposed to cap the lucrative processing fees the card company imposes.

Bernanke's comments had a bigger impact on the Treasury market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell after Bernanke's comments as investors bought U.S. government bonds. The yield fell to 2.48 percent from 2.53 percent on Tuesday. The yield has been gradually declining since July 5, when it surged to 2.74 percent after the government reported that hiring was strong in June.

If Treasury yields rise too fast, it worries stock investors because of the impact that rising interest rates have on the wider economy. Higher mortgage rates, which are linked to Treasury yields, would slow demand for homes.

Homebuilder stocks climbed Wednesday as the yield on Treasury notes fell. The group had started the trading day lower after a government report showed that U.S. builders started work on fewer homes in June. Construction fell to an annual rate of 836,000 homes, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, 10 percent below May's total of 928,000.

PulteGroup rose 14 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $19.42. D.R. Horton gained 30 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $22.

The stock market has climbed back to record levels in July following its brief slump in June, when the S&P 500 logged its first monthly decline since October on concern that the Federal Reserve would ease back on its economic stimulus too quickly. The S&P 500 has gained 4.7 percent in July after falling 1.5 percent in June.

The index is up 17.9 percent this year, and could head higher still as the economy improves in the second half of the year, says Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management.

"Expect better things," said Lutts. "The market's going to churn its way higher from here."

Investors are also keeping an eye on company earnings during one of the busiest weeks for second-quarter profit reports.

Bank of New York Mellon gained 65 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $31, after the bank posted earnings that beat analysts' expectations. The bank's net income surged in the second quarter as market conditions improved and it collected more fees for managing investments. Bank of America rose 44 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $14.37 after it too reported surging earnings for the period, helped by cost-cutting and investment banking gains.

Banks and financial companies are expected to report the strongest earnings growth of all S&P 500 companies, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. The growth for the sector is expected to reach almost 20 percent, according to the data provider. That compares to the average growth of 3.4 percent forecast for all companies.

In commodities trading, the price of crude oil rose 48 cents to $106.48 a barrel. Gold fell $12.90, or 1 percent, to $1,277.50 an ounce.

The dollar rose against the euro and the Japanese yen.

Among other stocks making big moves Wednesday:

? Yahoo rose $2.51, or 9 percent, to $29.38 after the company reassured investors that it would keep buying back its own stock. The internet company had already spent $3.6 billion buying back about 190 million of its shares since last year.

? Mattel fell $3.16, or 6.8 percent, to $43.17 after its second-quarter net income fell 24 percent, hurt by weak sales in North America and continued softness in Barbie sales, as well as an asset impairment charge.

? St. Jude Medical surged $3.27, or 6.7 percent, to $51.73 after the medical device maker reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on higher sales of its heart-shocking implants.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-edge-bernanke-reassures-stimulus-142631792.html

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Anxiety brews among immigration supporters

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Supporters of far-reaching immigration legislation fear they're losing the message war and say an all-out campaign is needed from business groups and other outside advocates with ties to House Republicans to turn it around.

With House action now on hold until September at earliest, immigration bill backers see Congress' monthlong August recess as crucial to their cause. They're making plans to try to ensure that supporters of an immigration overhaul are heard as loudly as opponents when lawmakers return to their districts for town hall meetings and other events.

"Here's the fact: We're not winning, so we've got to wage a campaign," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday. "There are many members of the House that don't want to take up any bill at all, as you know. What our job is, we want to convince them to at least pass legislation, so that we can go to conference and work together."

Immigration legislation, a top priority for President Barack Obama, has been in limbo since the Senate last month passed a sweeping bill with provisions aimed at securing the border, requiring employers to verify their workers' legal status, allowing many more workers into the country legally, and offering eventual citizenship to the 11 million immigrants already in the country illegally.

Many members of the House's Republican majority oppose citizenship for people who crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visas, and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has ruled out taking up the Senate bill in the House. Instead, he's declared that the House will move in a piecemeal fashion with a series of individual bills, beginning with border security.

Although Boehner had hoped for House action on immigration before August, that goal is no longer in sight. He reiterated Thursday that the House must address the issue. When and how remained unclear.

"The House is going to do its job, and we're going to do this in a commonsense, step-by-step way," Boehner said. "Because the American people have kind of had it with 1,300-page bills that no one's read."

Individual House Republicans are grappling with the issue. Particularly vexing is the question of the millions already here illegally. Some conservatives oppose any kind of legal status for them, but others are open to offering them legal guest worker status and perhaps more. Boehner this week endorsed citizenship for those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

For now, Democrats are opposed to any solution that falls short of citizenship for all 11 million in the country illegally.

The debate promises to play out in August as business, religious, agriculture and other groups in favor of reform mount a campaign to promote it. On the other side, conservative tea party groups who tend to turn out in large numbers for town hall meetings will also be making themselves heard.

"August is a month in which either legislative proposals die, or they survive," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., another author of the Senate bill. He said those who favor immigration legislation must be heard in August. "And if we do that, we'll be well positioned for the fall in the House. If we don't, then we run a risk."

McCain, Menendez, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other authors of the Senate bill summoned a large group of business lobbyists, officials with religious groups and others to the Capitol earlier this week to tell them they needed to work harder and coordinate better to win over individual House Republicans. The senators distributed a list of 121 House Republicans seen as persuadable on the issue and instructed those present to focus on tailoring individual campaigns for their congressional districts to win them over.

"We are going to have numerous business contacts ? whether it be a local restaurant that cares about immigration or a high-tech or manufacturing or financial business in their district ? contacting them in terms of how important this is to the future of jobs in each district," said Schumer. "The economic message is the message that business can best send and I think that will resonate best with undecided Republicans."

Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was among those attending the meeting.

"The key to victory is that all interested parties must work for the entire bill, not just their piece," Appleby said. "We all live or die together."

House Republicans are largely dismissive of advice being handed down from on high, saying they are more interested in hearing what their constituents have to say.

"I pay more attention to what I hear in my district than what I do from various groups," said Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-18-US-Immigration/id-611614a11b504a548b91917c011d826e

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Bank of Canada pledges steady rates under explicit conditions

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada pledged on Wednesday to keep its benchmark interest rate on hold as long as there is economic slack and weak inflation and households are managing their debt carefully, but also made clear that the next move is likely a hike, not a cut.

The first policy decision under new central bank chief Stephen Poloz, who took over in June, delivered roughly the same message as his predecessor Mark Carney did in the prior year -- it is just a matter of time before borrowing costs start to rise.

However, Poloz was explicit in conditioning the continuation of steady rates on three key factors.

"As long as there is significant slack in the Canadian economy, the inflation outlook remains muted, and imbalances in the household sector continue to evolve constructively, the considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will remain appropriate," the bank said.

"Over time, as the normalization of these conditions unfolds, a gradual normalization of policy interest rates can also be expected, consistent with achieving the 2 percent inflation target," it said.

The bank has held its overnight rate at 1 percent since September 2010, the longest pause in monetary policy since the 1950s.

The bank also sharply cut its forecast for second-quarter economic growth to 1 percent from 1.8 percent, largely due to the impact of catastrophic flooding in Alberta and striking construction workers in Quebec. But it said growth would more than compensate for those losses in the third quarter, growing 3.8 percent instead of 2.3 percent as previously estimated.

Therefore it said it would "look through" the volatility of these two quarters.

Overall, the bank's growth outlook through 2015 is little changed from April and it continues to expect the economy to return to full capacity and inflation to rise to its 2 percent target by mid-2015.

One key change in language from previous statements is that it no longer referred to the "persistent strength of the Canadian dollar," reflecting the weakening of the currency since the bank's April Monetary Policy Report.

(Reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Randall Palmer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-canada-pledges-steady-rates-under-explicit-conditions-140346281.html

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