7x7 News

A Virginia martial arts instructor is arrested for allegedly kicking an 11-year-old student 200 times. The kicks came in the abdomen, part of an exercise to test endurance.

A Faberge egg fetches $18.5 million at auction setting three new records in the process. The price tag is most ever paid for a piece by Russian jeweller Peter Carl Faberge. It is also a record amount for any Russian art object and any timepiece.

Five years ago, William Cleary’s son drenched him with a water balloon and got him to thinking. He took that idea to paper products giant Weyerhaeuser and they’re now ready to test their invention.

In the Internet Age, it has become one of the most important dates on the retail calendar — the Monday after Thanksgiving, when millions of people go online shopping

Ford’s UK unions have voted to support Tata’s bid but investors have cooled over fears that the acquisition is too complex given their other ambitious expansion plans.

Trinkets for sale at the fair included a $500 bottle of vodka, a diamond-encrusted Mercedes and a coffee table carved out of mammoth tusk.

Check out a robot that can kick a soccer ball, dance and even walk down stairs. The world’s most advanced humanoid robot demonstrate its skills at the Honda Initiation Grant Technical Horizon Symposium in California.

The U.N. has released its most comprehensive report on climate change to date, along with direct calls for U.S. action. So far the Bush administration is making no promises.

A call for UK fire engines to be painted yellow rather than red. The move, which follows research on car colours conducted by yesinsurance.co.uk at the end of last year, also points to a number of other studies which have indicated that vehicles painted with darker colours such as red are often less visible than those which are yellow. Lime yellow is highlighted by the insurance provider as one of the safest colours, because of its ability to be more easily spotted during both the day and at night, as well as in snowy conditions when white vehicles are less noticeable. Over recent years there have been two major scientific investigations of the relationship between car colour and safety (Lardelli-Claret 2002 and Furness et al 2003). Whilst neither was able to propose the selection of one particular colour as the unambiguous best choice for safety, the results did point towards lighter colours such as white and yellow being safer than dark colours.

A separate study of fire fighting equipment (Schuman 1991) stated that red, which is perceived as black at night, is one of the least visible of vehicle colours. The report also pointed out that people have particularly poor peripheral detection of red shades. Research conducted in September 2006 by yesinsurance among 4,000 motorists also indicated that red was considered to be the most dangerous colour to paint a vehicle.

“Over a third of respondents in our research picked red as the riskiest colour to paint a car, and almost as many chose black,” said Paul Purdy, of yesinsurance.co.uk. “From a car insurance point of view we make no distinctions on colour, but where emergency vehicles are concerned research seems to indicate that lime yellow is the most visible colour,” said Paul Purdy.

The preference for lime yellow colouring was also supported by research published in 1995 by Solomon and King, which analysed accident data of different coloured fire vehicles over a four year period in Dallas, USA. Whilst reflective markings and flashing lights help to highlight emergency vehicles, yesinsurance says that vehicle colour also plays an important role in defining the exact position and shape of a fast moving large
vehicle – something which is particularly important for fire engines. However, some people may resist the move away from red, which is
traditionally seen as the appropriate colour for fire vehicles. “I must admit that red fire engines do tend to look more powerful and macho than those which are painted yellow, but where safety is concerned we really need to consider which is better for visibility,” said Paul Purdy.

Rolls-Royce announced at the Dubai Airshow that Emirates Airline has ordered Trent XWB engines to power up to 120 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft. The business is potentially worth up to $8.4 billion at list prices, if all options are exercised, including a long-term TotalCare® services agreement. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is currently the only engine available on the A350 XWB family. Emirates has ordered 50 firm A350-900 and 20 A350-1000 aircraft, with 50 option rights, due for delivery from 2014. The Trent XWB is the fourth version of the Trent family ordered by Emirates and will bring its Trent-powered fleet to potentially 175 aircraft. Emirates operates 29 Airbus A330s powered by the Trent 700, 21 Trent 800-powered Boeing 777s and 10 A340-500s, for which the Trent 500 is the sole engine.

The Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in Lake Superior; Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev dies; Henry Stanley finds David Livingstone in central Africa; Film composer Ennio Morricone born; ‘Sesame Street’ premieres.

Combining a dynamic touch screen experience with industry-leading network speeds, Sprint and HTC Corp. announced the upcoming availability of Touch by HTC™, a full touch screen wireless phone integrating Windows Mobile 6 with advanced entertainment features. Operating on the Sprint Mobile Broadband network, the stylish Touch by HTC brings together email and other essential business applications with Sprint’s exclusive multimedia content including over-the-air music downloads, live TV and more.

With a nearly 3-inch display, Touch by HTC features integrated TouchFLO technology, developed by HTC, leveraging smooth navigation through menus with a finger swipe. In addition, the innovative TouchFLO cube brings a 3D cube interface allowing quick access to entertainment, communication tools and a “Dial-by-picture” photo caller ID screen.

Touch by HTC leverages the broad functionality of Windows Mobile 6 with Outlook Mobile for smooth email integration, Office Mobile, Windows Live and the ability to run thousands of third-party applications. It also allows users to surf the web with Internet Explorer®, send and receive emails, chat on Messenger and send files to their own web space through Windows Live®. The home screen provides one-touch access to email, text messages, calendar appointments and contacts, as well as current weather conditions and forecasts for hundreds of cities around the world.

Versatile and compact, Touch by HTC provides quick and easy access to Sprint-exclusive content, including:

* Sprint Music Store(SM), powered by Groove Mobile, which allows users to browse and wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone from a selection of more than 1.8 million songs
* Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE), the industry’s only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network
* Sprint TV(SM) with more than 50 channels of live and on-demand video and audio.
* More than a dozen streaming radio stations , including Sprint Radio and SIRIUS
* On-Demand with up-to-date information on sports, weather, news, money and more customized by zip code.

(Standard data charges apply to all downloads from Sprint.)

“Our customers appreciate the ability to have one device that seamlessly balances both personal needs and business demands,” said Danny Bowman, vice president of product development for Sprint. “Touch by HTC is unlike any other wireless device because it brings together the power of Windows Mobile with easy access to our entertainment applications. This attractive device easily lets you watch news as it happens, respond to email, download your favorite songs and stay connected with the office, family and friends.”

“This device provides a broad set of consumers with the benefits of a smartphone with the style and ease of use they demand,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC. “Touch by HTC presents a new, more intuitive touch experience that simplifies access to the most commonly used smartphone features such as dialing, messaging and Web browsing. It also improves the video and music experience with the addition of Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store.”

“People want an easy-to-use companion in a mobile phone, freeing them up to leave the office or home and get more done while on-the-go,” said Pieter Knook, senior vice president, Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft Corp.” The Sprint Touch is the result of the strong relationship between Microsoft, HTC and Sprint and offers customers a fun user experience, the power of Sprint’s network and the ease-of-use of Windows Mobile which makes it easy to browse the Web, send email or enjoy your digital entertainment.”

Touch by HTC offers MicroSD card slot that supports up to 4GB – a 512MB card is included with the device. Additional features include a 2.0 MP camera/camcorder with up to 5X zoom, advanced stereo Bluetooth® and Voice-activated dialing.

Touch by HTC measures 4.0″ x 2.4″ x 0.6″ and weighs just 4 ounces. This device will be priced at $249.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement and a $100 mail-in rebate. Standard data rates apply for music and other content downloads.

The $25,000 “Frrrozen Haute Chocolate” has officially become the most expensive dessert on the planet. The indulgent delicacy is being offered at Serendipity 3 Restaurant in New York City’s Upper East Side. The dessert is made with a blend of 28 rare and exotic cocoas from around the world.

Fast food restaurants are part of the American landscape, but in a community that is inundated with them, the city council is trying to change that.

Through a partnership with various communications providers, Google has announced plans to unveil an open platform for mobile phone devices. The system, Android, was developed through the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational initiative comprised of 34 technology and mobile industry providers. To create Android, Google developed various partnerships with T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others. Google indicates the purpose of Android is to provide an open forum for developers to work more closely together. By using this platform, Google reports communication providers can lower costs and accelerate product development for mobile phone consumers. Google estimates the first Android-based phones will be available in the second half of 2008. Currently there are an estimated 3 billion mobile phone users globally.

A hail storm in Colombia led to a 30-car pile up followed by flooding as the hail started to melt

Today is The Day of New York Marathon

Today, more than 38,000 of you will start one of the great journeys of your lives: 26.2 through the heart on NYC. Are you ready?

Continue reading “New York Marathon”

In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country in the coffins of soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. (imdb.com)