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Don’t Tweet and Drive Warns Swinton Insurance

April 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM, Apr 11 (MARKET WIRE) —
UK drivers have been warned not to ‘Tweet and drive’ after a jump in the
number of accidents caused by in-car social networking.

Swinton, the UK’s leading car insurance provider, has reported a 12% year
on year increase in the number of claims for crashes caused by drivers
using Twitter, Facebook and other social network sites while behind the
wheel. Most have been minor prangs in slow moving traffic while drivers
have been distracted.

The car insurance company has warned drivers that any distractions behind
the wheel can lead to an accident, a costly insurance claim, and
potentially a conviction for driving without due care and attention.
Swinton’s advice is to turn off all mobiles, smart phones and PDAs before
driving any vehicle.

Steve Chelton, Insurer Development Manager at Swinton, said: “As
technology advances, we are seeing more and more drivers using smart
phones and other devices while behind the wheel – and this is leading to
more accidents on our roads. Even in slow moving traffic, writing or
reading a message is a major distraction. Our advice is simple – turn off
any electronic equipment before getting into a car for a safer journey.”

The announcement follows a survey by car accessories chain Halfords that
revealed that one in 20 drivers admitted to reading a post on social
networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, while behind the wheel.
Soaring numbers of motorists have gone beyond phone calls and are now
texting and even posting on social-networking sites while on the road,
the survey of more than 2,000 car drivers showed.

On 27th February 2007, the law was updated and the penalty for using a
hand-held mobile phone whilst driving was increased to GBP 60 and three
penalty points.

About Swinton

– With 580 branches nationwide Swinton is the UK’s largest high street
insurance retailer
– Unlike many other companies in the financial services industry, Swinton
is committed to keeping its branches open for business, and part of the
community
– Swinton provides a one-stop-shop for the insurance and related needs of
its clients, offering home, car, caravan, business, holiday, motorbike
and even classic car insurance
– With a dedicated team of advisors on hand at every branch to search a
panel of insurers to offer quality cover at competitive rates

Contacts:
SKV Communications
Anoushka Done, Anna Asamoah or Mairead Rodden
0161 838 7770
www.skvcommunications.co.uk

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Car Accessories, car drivers, Car Insurance Company, Chelton, Costly Insurance, distractions, Driving Without Due Care And Attention, Electronic Equipment, facebook, Halfords, Insurance Claim, Insurance Provider, Manchester United Kingdom, penalty points, smart phones, social networking sites, Swinton Insurance, Technology Advances, tweet, Uk Drivers

Trio who funded Tamil Tigers walks free

April 1, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Three men have walked free from court after pleading guilty to funding the separatist Sri Lankan group the Tamil Tigers.

Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 35, Sivarajah Yathavan, 39, and Arumugam Rajeevan, 44, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Supreme Court to providing $1 million to the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) between 2002 and 2005.

Vinayagamoorthy also pleaded guilty to providing electronic equipment, including radio transmitters, used in bomb attacks in Sri Lanka.

It is a federal offence under the United Nations Act to provide funds to a recognised terrorist organisation.

The Tamil Tigers are recognised as a terrorist organisation overseas but not in Australia.

Justice Paul Coghlan accepted that each were connected with the Tamil Tigers and knew the group had a reputation of being a terrorist organisation.

But he told the court the men were motivated to assist the Tamil community in the north of Sri Lanka.

“I would not go so far as saying that your aims were entirely humanitarian. But I do accept that they were not purposely to assist terrorist activity,” he said.

He recognised Australia’s international responsibility to prevent terrorism, but noted that at the time the three men were collecting donations, there was a ceasefire in Sri Lanka and the LTTE acted as a de facto government in the north.

He sentenced Vinayagamoorthy to two years’ jail but released him on a good behaviour bond for four years.

Yathavan and Rajeevan were sentenced to one year in jail and released on a good behaviour bond for three years.

Last year, Justice Coghlan criticised the Australian Federal Police’s 2007 arrest of Rajeevan, describing his treatment as “frightfully heavy handed” and of questionable legality.

During pre-trial arguments, the Supreme Court was told Rajeevan was arrested at gunpoint and was refused access to a lawyer during a five-hour interrogation.

Terrorism charges against all three men were later withdrawn by prosecutors and replaced with the lesser charges of funding the separatist group.

In sentencing, Justice Coghlan gave weight to the men’s treatment.

“The fact that you might have been seen and publicly held up as a member and supporter of a terrorist organisation was something that each of you had to bear up until February of last year.” he said.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Australia, Australian Federal Police, bomb attacks, ceasefire, courts-and-trials, de facto government, Electronic Equipment, Federal Offence, good behaviour bond, gunpoint, international responsibility, interrogation, law-crime-and-justice, ltte, melbourne-3000, prosecutors, questionable legality, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan, Tamil community, tamil tigers, terrorism charges, terrorist activity, terrorist organisation, three men, Vic

Soon, operate your cellphone without touching it

March 23, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 23 (ANI): You could soon operate your cellphone just at the point of a finger, without even having to touch the display—thanks to touchless control made of printable polymer sensors.

The sensors, just like human skin, react to the tiniest fluctuations in temperature and differences in pressure and recognize the finger as it approaches.

And the feat has been achieved, owing to the efforts of the research scientists involved in the EU project 3Plast, which stands for ‘Printable pyroelectrical and piezoelectrical large area sensor technology’.

The companies and institutes involved from industry and research have set themselves the goal of mass producing pressure and temperature sensors which can be cheaply printed onto plastic film and flexibly affixed to a wide range of everyday objects, such as electronic equipment.

“The sensor consists of pyroelectrical and piezoelectrical polymers which can now be processed in high volumes by screen printing, for example. The sensor is combined with an organic transistor, which strengthens the sensor signal. It”s strongest where the finger is. The special thing about our sensor is that the transistor can also be printed,” explained Gerhard Domann, who is in charge of the project.

The production of polymer sensors still poses a number of challenges.

To produce printable transistors, the insulation materials have to be very thin.

However, the experts at the ISC have succeeded in producing an insulator, which is only 100 nanometers thick.

The first sensors have already been printed onto film.

The research scientists are currently working on optimised transistors, which can amplify rapid changes in temperature and pressure.

“By providing everyday objects with information about their environment – for example whether a person is approaching – by means of pressure and temperature sensors, we can create and market new devices that can be controlled just by pointing a finger,” said Domann. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: cellphone, Electronic Equipment, everyday objects, fluctuations, human skin, insulation materials, insulator, ISC, plastic film, Polymer, polymers, rapid changes, research scientists, Screen Printing, Sensor Signal, sensor technology, Temperature And Pressure, Temperature Sensors, transistor, transistors

‘Teen-proof’ room cuts out the clutter

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 24 (ANI): The days of teenagers’ messy bedrooms may finally be over, courtesy an Edinburgh-based company, which has designed a room they can’t ruin.

Design firm IDP claims to have created the ‘teen-proof’ bedroom, which provides solution for the cluttered spaces that have enraged parents for decades, reports the Scotsman.

It features drawing pin friendly fabric wallpaper; a wipe-clean desk; a swivel chair with secret pockets for stashing chocolate and electronic gizmos; stain-resistant carpets; and enough space under the bed to hide a mountain of clothes and computer games and still leave room for a set of iPod speakers.

Gilly Corkery of IDP said: “It was an incredibly challenging project. How do you counteract the natural messiness of teenagers?”

The room includes shelves tailored to the size of CDs, along with compartments in the bed space so that electronic equipment such as stereos or PlayStations can be plugged in – great for easy access when the teens are still lounging in bed at noon.

The room will be exhibited at the Homes and Interiors Scotland Exhibition at the SECC in Glasgow next weekend.

The design firm is keeping some details a closely guarded secret – just releasing a rough sketch of a suspiciously tidy-looking room and a sample of some dog-themed furniture decor.

Corkery, who modelled the design on the taste and habits of her son Jamie, 12, said: “We’ve tried to do little quirky things that teenagers will think are quite cool,” says

“No self-respecting teenager wants to move for too long so we’ve designed a desk chair which has a pocket where they can keep a remote control, their iPod, pens, chocolate or whatever, without having to move.

“Then there’s the upholstery fabric on the walls, which means they can put posters up with drawing pins without leaving a mark,” Corkery added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: access, ANI, Aug, bed, Bed Space, bedroom, chair, chocolate, clutter, company, Computer, control, Corkery, courtesy, décor, design, desk, Desk Chair, Drawing Pins, Edinburgh-based, Electronic Equipment, Electronic Gizmos, Enough Space, equipment, exhibition, fabric, Fabric Wallpaper, firm, furniture, gilly, glasgow, IDP, interiors, ipod, Ipod Speakers, jamie, London, mark, Mark Corkery, Messiness, messy, mountain, Mountain Of Clothes, noon, PIN, PlayStations, pocket, project, Proof Room, room, Rough Sketch, sample, Scotland, scotsman, SECC, Secc Glasgow, Secret Pockets, set, size, sketch, solution, son, son jamie, space, stereos, swivel, Swivel Chair, taste, Teen-proof, teenager, upholstery, Upholstery Fabric, wallpaper, weekend

Trio who funded Tamil Tigers walks free

Soon, operate your cellphone without touching it

‘Teen-proof’ room cuts out the clutter

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