■ Internet
Google provides free tips
Powerhouse Internet portal Google on Monday began offering free data about effective way to market things online. Access to the tips, research and insights at Google Analytics, which was formerly referred to as Urchin from Google, is being provided free of charge by the Silicon Valley company, according to engineering director Paul Muret. Google Analytics provides tools to identify keywords that attract people to Web sites, Web site designs that hold people's attention, and effective e-mail marketing strategies, Muret said.
■ Aviation
Boeing to launch new 747
Boeing Co is launching a bigger, more efficient version of its 747 jumbo jet in a move that will put more competitive pressure on rival Airbus SAS and ensure continued production of the storied airplane. The Chicago-based company said late on Monday that Luxemburg-based Cargolux has ordered 10 freighter versions of the new airplane, dubbed the 747-8, with purchase rights for 10 more. Nippon Cargo Airlines has ordered eight of the freighter planes, with options for six more. Both airlines will begin receiving the planes in the second half of 2009.
■ Software
Search program released
Microsoft Corp yesterday released a business version of software that aims to help people more quickly find documents, e-mail and other data stored on Windows-based computers. The software will feel similar to Microsoft's consumer offering for searching files on desktop computers. But the product is designed so corporate technology executives can easily install it on many computers simultaneously, and better control how it is used.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique