■ Computers
Apple adds mouse buttons
Just weeks after announcing a switch to Intel-based chips, Apple Computer Inc on Tuesday unveiled another change that brings it closer to the mainstream -- a new computer mouse with four programmable buttons and a scroll ball. The introduction of the US$49 device came after decades in which Apple insisted that a single button mouse was adequate for managing computer tasks. The new Mighty Mouse doesn't actually feature separate buttons. Instead it has two touch sensors near the front that can be used like a two-button mouse, or as a single-button for Apple traditionalists. Pushing down the scroll ball can also act as a button while squeezing the mouse from both sides also can launch applications or bring up menus.
■ Piracy
Web rebels test `darknet'
Internet rebels on Tuesday began preliminary testing of a new weapon that threatens to scuttle efforts to stop illicit online music swapping. Internet privacy activists at Freenet Project posted word on their Web site that they were looking for kindred technology renegades to test a refined version "darknet" software designed to keep file swappers anonymous. The new software is being heralded as "scalable," which means it would enable large numbers of computer users to freely share files online without revealing their identities, said Doug Tygar, a computer professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "Even if this version of Freenet doesn't meet its goals, I can assure you they will continue to refine their software. It is just a matter of time before anonymous file sharing networks become available," Tygar said.
■ Oil industry
Indonesia asks for loan
Indonesia's cash-strapped government has asked China to provide a loan of up to US$1.5 billion to fund oil imports by state-owned oil firm Pertamina, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said yesterday. Indonesia submitted the request during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state visit to China last week as a means of supporting the rupiah, Bakrie told reporters. Pertamina is responsible for all of Indonesia's oil imports. Although Indonesia is the sole Southeast Asian member of OPEC, falling investment in oil exploration and extraction in the country has reduced output in recent years and made the country a net oil importer.
■ Fraud
Bank settles Enron claim
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has agreed to pay US$2.4 billion to settle investors' claims that it helped hide losses at the fallen energy trader Enron Corp through a massive accounting fraud. The settlement announced on Tuesday with the Toronto-based bank -- Canada's fifth-largest financial institution and the operator of the securities firm CIBC World Markets -- was the biggest individual payout so far in the long-running debacle. Combined with similar agreements with Citigroup Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and others, the settlements have now reached more than US$7 billion, said lawyers for the investors who lost tens of billions in Enron's 2001 collapse. Some 50,000 Enron stock and bond holders led by the University of California's board of regents filed claims as part of the lawsuit. Investors claim a number of global banks and brokerages helped Enron continue to operate and raise money even as the company was imploding.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
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