Haitian families struggle to find, bury their dead
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Some of the dead in this shattered city line the roads, carefully placed garments shrouding their faces. Others are carried into the hills for quick burials. Hundreds are arrayed in a macabre tangle of limbs outside a morgue, just feet from the grievously wounded.
The living and the dead here share the same space — the sidewalks, the public plazas, the hospitals. The living are frightened of being inside in case another earthquake hits; the dead are everywhere.
On the doorstep of a pharmacy, six bodies were lined up shoulder to shoulder. On the body of one woman, covered in a sheet, rested a small bundle, the tiny leg of an infant sticking out of the wrap.
China’s response to Google threat: Obey the law
SAN FRANCISCO – China’s government gave little indication Thursday that it’s willing to loosen its control over Internet search results, pushing Google Inc. closer to the brink of closing up shop and leaving the country.
In the government’s first official statement since Google issued its ultimatum two days earlier, a Chinese official endorsed the country’s current rules governing Internet content.
UN: 36 UN personnel killed, nearly 200 missing
UNITED NATIONS – Crews rescued a security guard Thursday from the U.N. headquarters building that collapsed in the Haiti earthquake, “a small miracle” as 36 U.N. personnel were confirmed dead and nearly 200 remained missing, the head of the world body said.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the U.N.’s mission chief, Hedi Annabi, and his chief deputy, Luis Carlos da Costa, are among roughly 100 people still buried in the rubble of the five-story headquarters building.
The U.N. chief said early Thursday morning, rescuers at the collapsed headquarters building heard “scratching sounds” and located Tarmo Joveer, an Estonian close protection officer, under about 4 meters (13 feet) of rubble. He was given water through a rubber pipe, pulled out and taken to the U.N. mission hospital run by Argentine staff.
Haiti quake aid snarled; up to 50,000 feared dead
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Doctors and search dogs, troops and rescue teams flew to this devastated land of dazed, dead and dying people Thursday, finding bottlenecks everywhere, beginning at a main airport short on jet fuel and ramp space and without a control tower.
The international Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday’s cataclysmic earthquake, based on information from the Haitian Red Cross and government officials. Hard-pressed recovery teams resorted to using bulldozers to transport loads of dead.
Worries mounted, meanwhile, about food and water for the survivors. “People have been almost fighting for water,” aid worker Fevil Dubien said as he distributed water from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighborhood.
From Virginia, from France, from China, a handful of rescue teams were able to get down to work, scouring the rubble for survivors. In one “small miracle,” searchers pulled a security guard alive from beneath the collapsed concrete floors of the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters, where many others were entombed.
Nikon D60 Lenses Compatibility
A little known fact about the new Nikon D60 is that it doesn’t have an built-in focus drive motor which means it can auto focus only with lenses which have their own drive motor (AF-S and AF-I lenses). This same thing can be in the Nikon D40 and Nikon D40x. However, the Nikon D60 has a new features, which is an electronic rangefinder to help manual focus on non AF-S / AF-I lenses.
The guys over at ShutterAsia has generously shared with all it’s forumers on the list of compatible lenses that can be used with the Nikon D40/40x/60. They have also posted a link from Digital Photography Review on the list of the compatible lenses that can be used. The links to both the sites can be viewed below.
Sending SMS Messages from a Computer / PC Using AT Commands (AT+CMGS, AT+CMSS)
Either of the AT commands +CMGS (command name in text: Send Message) and +CMSS (command name in text: Send Message from Storage) can be used to send SMS messages from a computer / PC. The key difference between them is that the +CMGS AT command takes the SMS message to be sent as a parameter, while the +CMSS AT command takes the index number that specifies the location of the SMS message in the message storage area as a parameter. Following is an example for illustrating the difference. Suppose you want to send the text message “Sending text messages is easy.” from a computer / PC to the mobile phone number 91234567 using the +CMGS AT command in SMS text mode. Here is the command line to be used:
Deleting SMS Messages from Message Storage (AT+CMGD)
The AT command +CMGD (command name in text: Delete Message) is used to delete SMS message(s) from message storage. The message storage area from which SMS messages are deleted is specified by the +CPMS AT command (command name in text: Preferred Message Storage). Details about the +CPMS AT command can be found in the earlier section “Preferred Message Storage (AT+CPMS)” of this SMS tutorial.
Writing SMS Messages to Memory / Message Storage (AT+CMGW)
The AT command +CMGW (command name in text: Write Message to Memory) is used to write an SMS message to memory (i.e. message storage). The memory/message storage area to which SMS messages are written is specified by the +CPMS AT command (command line in text: Preferred Message Storage). Details about the +CPMS AT command can be found in the earlier section “Preferred Message Storage (AT+CPMS)” of this SMS tutorial.
Preferred Message Storage (AT+CPMS)
The AT command +CPMS (command name in text: Preferred Message Storage) serves several purposes. It can be used to:
1. Select the message storage area that will be used when sending, receiving, reading, writing or deleting SMS messages.
2. Find the number of messages that are currently stored in the message storage area.
3. Find the maximum number of messages that can be stored in the message storage area.
Setting or Reading the Service Center Address / SMSC Address (AT+CSCA)
Before you send SMS messages, one important thing that should be done is to make sure the correct service center address (SMSC address) has been set properly. Typically a service center address/SMSC address is a phone number formatted using the ISDN / telephony numbering plan (ITU E.164/E.163). For example, +85291234567. The AT command +CSCA (command name in text: Service Centre Address) can be used to set or read the service center address through which SMS messages are sent. The setting will be used by the AT commands +CMGW (command name in text: Write Message to Memory) and +CMGS (command name in text: Send Message).
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