Ray Dolby ( dolby digital studios ) dies at 80

I'm pretty sure that almost, if not everyone knows the famous Ray Dolby.
Ray Dolby, the US engineer who founded Dolby Laboratories and pioneered noise reduction in audio recordings, has died in San Francisco aged 80.
Mr Dolby had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years and was diagnosed with leukaemia this summer. His name became synonymous with home sound systems and cinema, and his work won many awards. Kevin Yeaman, president of Dolby Laboratories, described Ray Dolby as a "true visionary".

Mr Dolby was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in the San Francisco area. He began his career in the Ampex Corporation, helping to develop early videotape recording systems while he was still a student. He then went on to complete his PhD at Cambridge University in England and in 1965 founded Dolby Laboratories in London.
The company grew to be an industry leader in audio technology, cutting background hiss in tape recordings and later bringing out "surround sound". Mr Dolby moved his company to San Francisco in 1976 and in 1989 was awarded an Oscar for his contributions to cinema.
He shared the award with Dolby executive Ioan Allen. He also received a Grammy award in 1995 and Emmy awards in 1989 and 2005. Mr Dolby's son, filmmaker and novelist Tom Dolby, said: "Though he was an engineer at heart, my father's achievements in technology grew out of a love of music and the arts.

Apple hit with US injunction in e-books antitrust case. ~ By Nate Raymond

By Nate Raymond

 A U.S. judge who found Apple Inc conspired to fix e-book prices imposed new restrictions on the iPad maker on Friday, limiting its agreements with publishers. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in New York also said she would appoint an external monitor to review Apple's antitrust compliance policies, procedures and training for two years.
The injunction was narrower than the U.S. Justice Department had sought, in line with Cote's statement last week that she wanted it "to rest as lightly as possible on how Apple runs its business." The department had sought a broader injunction that could have affected Apple's agreements with suppliers of movies, music and TV shows. Cote ruled on July 10 that Apple was liable for conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices above those established by the dominant retailer in the market, Amazon.com Inc.

The five publishers, all of which have settled with regulators, include Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group Inc, News Corp's Harper Collins Publishers LLC, Penguin Random House LLC, CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster Inc and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH's Macmillan. The terms of Friday's judgment will expire after five years, but Cote's order allows for extensions in one-year increments if necessary.

The Justice Department welcomed the injunction. "Consumers will continue to benefit from lower e-book prices as a result of the department's enforcement action to restore competition in this important industry," Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer said in a statement.

Apple said it would appeal the injunction. "Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing," said company spokesman Tom Neumayr. "The i Bookstore gave customers more choice and injected much-needed innovation and competition into the market." Apple's shares rose 0.6 percent to $498.22 on Friday. It faces a separate trial on damages demanded by states that are pursuing related claims.

Assad's Doom, Looms as US resolution on Syria strike passes first hurdle in Senate

Its likely that the U.S will strike Syria, following the alleged use of chemical weapon by Assad's regime on civilians.
Reuters reports that President Barack Obama's effort to win legislative backing for military strikes against Syria passed its first hurdle on Wednesday when a Senate committee voted in favor, but the narrow margin of victory showed the depth of U.S. caution. In a possible sign of internal unrest in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ruling Alawite sect in the shadow of a likely U.S. intervention, Syrian opposition figures said General Ali Habib, a former defense minister,had defected. Syria denied the report. Washington and Syria's main backer, Russia,remained publicly at odds as Obama tried to build his case for military action over chemical weapons before flying to Russia for a G20 summit hosted by President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Putin said U.S. congressional approval without a U.N. Security Council resolution would be an act of aggression, and accused U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry of lying by playing down the role of the militant group al Qaeda with rebel forces. With Obama focused on building international support, administration officials kept up their campaign of persuasion in Congress, where deep U.S. skepticism about going to war was reflected in a House of Representatives hearing.

Still, after much jockeying over the exact wording, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria in a vote that avoided party lines, with Democrats and Republicans on both sides. The action cleared the way for a vote in the full Senate, likely next week.

The committee voted 10-7 in favor of a compromise resolution that sets a 60-day limit on any engagement in Syria, with a possible 30-day extension, and bars the use of U.S. troops on the ground for combat operations. The administration is trying to balance the views of many in Congress who want a narrowly defined resolution against hawks such as Senator John McCain, who has pushed for a broader resolution that would allow direct U.S. support for rebels.

The Senate committee adopted amendments proposed by McCain with policy goals of degrading Assad's ability to use chemical weapons, increasing support for rebel forces and reversing battlefield momentum to create conditions for Assad's removal.

The Singaporean man with 6,000 Barbie dolls

This man must have missed his childhood days a lot.
The white exterior and spartan grey staircase of Jian Yang's tidy row house give no hint of the shock that lies within - a pink living room floor and his collection of more than 6,000 Barbie dolls.

The 33-year-old Singaporean favors minimalist decor but the Barbies and 3,000 dolls of other kinds dominate three sides of the main room and spill over to fill nine mirrored cabinets in his dressing room and the shelves of his study. "Incongruous is kind of me," Yang told Reuters. "When you meet me outside of this, I'm not that kind of guy. I'm not what you expect from a guy that collects dolls." Yang has a professional interest in toys and consumer trends as director of strategy at Omicom Media Group.

But his Barbie collection began at age 13 when he bought the "Great Shape" model in a turquoise Spandex gym outfit and striped leg warmers. "Before I knew anything about social norms, I was a boy that watched this on TV, liked it and wasn't allowed to have one," he said. "As I grew older, got my own allowance, that's where I started getting the freedom to buy whatever I wanted." His boyhood interest turned into a"crazy obsession" that his friends support and his family has come to accept. "I'm very into collections, I'm very into amassing," Yang said. "I've also got the ex-girlfriends who get insecure about this kind of stuff ... They look at dolls and go 'OK, that's the competition', which is quite troubling but it's a reality." The self-described "toy nerd" reckons he has spent at least S$500,000 ($392,000) over the last 20 years on his collection, which also features hundreds and hundreds of dolls from the Bratz Girls, Monster High and Jem and the Holograms lines.

Source: Reuters.com

500 Syrian Scud missiles is reported to be targeting Israel

A mid the ongoing unrest in Syria that has claimed hundreds of lives, Syrian hatred for Israel seems to be unending.
Lebanese website reported that Syrian Army Award 500 Scud missiles and directed them toward Israel.

 According to the report, which received validation from anyone, Russian-made missiles have warheads weighing half a ton “Syria deployed 500 Scud missiles and guided them towards Israel” – The site reports that the Lebanese Allachbrih lubnaniyya. According to the site, during the last days of Syrian forces deployed Russian-made ballistic missiles, which have warheads weighing half a ton. According to the report, there is a large military alert in the border area of Israel, for fear of Syrian President Bashar Assad, fighting for survival against the rebels will use this weapon. Was not even an official report on the report.

Source: JewsNews.com