Salem-News.com Technology articles Page 32

NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour Launch Can be Viewed at OMSI

Oregon Astronaut Don Pettit of Silverton will be onboard.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - On Friday, November 14th, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will offer space exploration enthusiasts a front-row seat to watch Oregon astronaut Don Pettit launch into space aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour STS-126.

Suspected Online Predator Busted in Clackamas County

Intercept Task Force Arrest Medford Man In Clackamas County For Internet Crimes Involving Female Children‏

(CLACKAMAS, Ore.) - Police in Clackamas County have arrested a Medford man who they believe is an Online predator. Intercept Task Force Investigators identified 42-year old Kelly Ray Rasmussen of Medford, Oregon as a suspect in several investigations. He was taken into custody Tuesday at 2:00 PM at an unidentified location within Clackamas County.

Detective Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas Sheriff, says Rasmussen is known to have traveled to Portland, on Monday, and stayed at a downtown Portland hotel. At the time of his arrest, Rasmussen was operating a rented automobile described as a 2008, Chevrolet, Cobalt, 4-door, white in color, with Oregon plates.

Rasmussen's arrest led to law enforcement authorities executing search warrants Tuesday afternoon, seeking items of evidentiary value from Rasmussen, the rented automobile, the Rasmussen residence in Medford, and his place of lodging here in Portland.

Oregon Astronaut Don Pettit Will be Aboard Next Space Shuttle Mission

Don Petit was selected to join NASA in 1996.

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) - Astronaut Donald Pettit, who was born in Silverton, Oregon, will make his second journey into orbit on space shuttle Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour is targeted to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14th, at 7:55 PM EST.

Pettit is one of seven astronauts who will fly on the shuttle mission designated STS-126. The shuttle will deliver equipment and supplies necessary to double the station crew size from three to six in May 2009.

During the 15-day flight, astronauts will service the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints. The starboard joint has been in limited use since September 2007.

K-9 Teams Sniff Out Prison Cell Phones

Company is first to train dogs for cell-phone detection.

(FULLERTON, Calif.) - Experts in corrections say cell phones in the hands of prison inmates can lead to disastrous effects. It is reported that convicts with cell phones can coordinate serious crimes in the outside world, traffic drugs, plan escapes and even threaten court witnesses- all while incarcerated. In Baltimore, one witness was reportedly murdered after an inmate using a cell phone ordered the killing.

"Inmates talking on their cells, from their cells, has become a serious problem - we're talking about crime, violence, drugs and gang activity, all being initiated from a cell phone," said Harlen "Lamb" Lambert with All States K-9 Detection, the first US company to train K-9s to sniff out prison cell phones.

Taliban Burn MTN Communication Tower in Ghazni, Afghanistan

Telecom towers coming under new attacks.

(GHAZNI, Afghanistan) - Taliban militants burned an MTN mobile tower Thursday night in Qala Baran, in the Qarabagh district of Afghanistan's Ghazni province.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that they destroyed this tower because it didn’t work by Taliban regulations. Five months ago, the Taliban asked mobile companies to switch off their towers between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM.

One of the local residents who goes by the name of Naser, said that all mobile towers in this area were switched off from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM but the MTN was working until 9:00 PM.

Salem TV Station KWVT Will Cover Summerfest

KWVT is Salem's locally owned and operated broadcast television station that is available to over 200,000 residents.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The staff at Salem's only locally operated broadcast television staion, KWVT channel 17, says they are proud to bring their viewers "Summerfest 2008" from the heart of the Willamette Valley recorded is downtown Dallas July 26th.

Station General Manager Ken Lewetag says KWVT will broadcast the event Saturday, August 3rd at 8:00 PM.

"Summerfest, sponsored by the Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce, brings a truly community event and KWVT is proud to televise it. This is the first time that Summerfest will be broadcast. so please watch a truly local event only on KWVT," Lewetag said.

Wyden Says He Will Oppose Cloture for Wiretapping Bill

"While I have serious concerns about other parts of this legislation, I think history will recognize this amendment as an important achievement and a major step forward for privacy rights." - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced today that he would oppose new legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) due to his continued opposition to a provision that would grant blanket retroactive immunity to any telecommunications company that participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program.

"This is not the first time that the President has pressured Congress into interfering in federal court cases to cover-up his attempts to secretly rewrite the law. Congress’s previous attempts to bail-out the President—from the Detainee Treatment Act to the Military Commissions Act—have not only failed to solve the legal mess, but have often provided cover for the Administration's failed counterterrorism policies," said Wyden.

Kucinich Website Crippled Under Suspicious Circumstances Following Introduction of Impeachment Articles

Campaign officials say they are continuing to work on restoring the website and implementing additional security measures.

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) - Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich's re-election website was shut down this morning by a series of suspicious and fast-moving events several hours after Kucinich introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.

Phone Lines in Washington Cities are Down

Authorities in Washington say people need to flag down police or fire if they experience an emergency until the problems are resolved; 911 is part of the failure.

(VANCOUVER, Wash.) - Clark County Fire & Rescue in Washington state says that at the present time, telephone lines in the Battleground and Yacolt area with the prefixes 342, 666, and 687 are down.

Henry Von Dem Fange, Public Information with Clark County Fire & rescue, says people can not call 911 at this time. We have not been able to learn exactly what the problems are that are resulting in the outage, we will advise when we learn more.

Google VP Vinton Cerf Will Open Oregon Telecommunications Conference

Annual conference highlights developments in Oregon telecommunications.

(SALEM, Ore.) - "Oregon Telecom: Bridging the next divide," is the theme of the 13th annual Oregon Connections Telecommunications Conference, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, October 16th and 17th, at the Best Western Agate Beach Inn and Conference Center in Newport.

The Keynote Speaker will be Vinton Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google, who is widely regarded as one of the "Fathers of the Internet." Planned sessions will include speakers from industry, government, education and healthcare on the topics of telecommunications technology, applications, regulation and broadband public policy.