Information Technology (IT): Because IT has become embedded into every lifestyle and modern life, even more importantly for students, and the demands in our professional lives, studying IT and developing our communication skills at this point is very important and necessity.
The importance of communication skills is readily evidenced by glancing through the daily newspapers / newspaper. Most job vacancies for key positions always require a computer and foreign languages. Even today it was important for Indonesian students coincided with government efforts to boost foreign investment in Indonesia.IT ClassPair Learning
Creativity: Skilled IT and communication allow us to enter various fields of profession, however, without accompanied by the development of the skills of personal knowledge itself becomes meaningless, and not by itself guarantee a bright future or a personal career development is certainly
Computer and website (site) is a tool that can be useful to express our creativity, so the students can be served either individually, in pairs or in groups. However, with regard to modern teaching practices in schools, active learning, and contextual (in Indonesia known as the Active Learning) is the best way to enhance creativity. And ICT-based learning (eg e-Learning), which does not allow for "self-expression" and creativity (a certain answer and the "outcomes" of a uniform), can kill the creativity of their students. Exchange between the human mind and the opportunity for constructive feedback directly that is very important in human development through learning dicapaikan not like E-Learning.
Exchange opinions and Communication: Exchanging opinions and knowledge are not only limited in a classroom. Equally important is that we in the global community to exchange information with the wider community both within the country and the world community. But this should be done outside the classroom so as not to spend too much time can be used for active-learning. There are many risks jugu for our students.
The more we participate in the process of interaction, we will be a learning experience richer. For the school, expanding the communication network enable it to exchange information, including the existence and development in the school.Creativity in ActionOur Server
Internet: Through the Internet we can participate in the process of sharing information at all levels (see: Wide Area Networks). Photo: Modern Internet Server.
Today, with the range of services available to an even broader level of regional / remote communities, there is no excuse for not participating in the Global Learning Community. Even with the existence of an increasingly proliferated WarNet today, access to dial up and can be easily accessed from all over Indonesia. With the use of the technology outside of school hours (see issue: Internet & Education), we need to ask if the Internet really is an important issue in education in Indonesia now. One example of good teaching can be found at: MBEProject.Net.
School or Educational Institution Website: One role of the website is to enable basic information and contacts. Example: Raffles International School, is a website that is very simple but effective. Websites can be used as a means of communication in a variety of wider community activities including forums and discussion groups. Scope of the website depends on how broad the vision and the resources you have.
A key issue here is that there is no point in having the greatest website if nobody visits it. Therefore, being part of the community such as the Education Network is a vital link to help others find you the information they need.
Through the site (Pendidikan.Net) we can communicate widely with the public education in Indonesia. We believe that the Internet can provide significant benefits for the development of schools and therefore we have to make the source / site of this new (Pendidikan.WS) to assist the exchange of information and cooperation.
Schools and other institutions that do not currently have a website can create by using the information and facilities.

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Poached by rival company or just fed up? His departure is a mystery

The Royal Ballet's biggest star, a 21-year old part-owner of a tattoo parlour who loves gangster movies, has left the industry in shock by walking away from Covent Garden. Not even his mother knows what he will do next.

Described by one critic as "better than Baryshnikov," Sergei Polunin was the great hope of British ballet and at 19 was the youngest ever dancer to make the rank of principal at the Royal Ballet.
Rumours swept the industry yesterday over whether he had been tempted by a lucrative offer from a rival company – with the American Ballet Theatre and Mikhailovsky Ballet in St Petersburg among the names speculated – or even whether he was to hang up his pumps for good.

Polunin, who has several tattoos including tiger claw marks on his torso, part owns The London Tattoo Company, based in North London. He was said to have spent time there yesterday, while later he was in rehearsals for a show he had agreed to do in Sadler's Wells.

Polunin, now 21, dropped the bombshell on Tuesday. During rehearsals for The Dream, in which he was to play the lead role of Oberon, he approached director Dame Monica Mason and told her he would no longer be dancing for the company.

Dame Monica, who is in her final season as director, said it had "obviously come as a huge shock" – especially just over a week before the first performance. She added: "Sergei is a wonderful dancer and I have enjoyed watching him tremendously, both on stage and in the studio."

One ballet insider said: "This is really unexpected and it is really quite shocking, he was ballet's boy wonder and a remarkable dancer." They added: "In career terms, it doesn't sound like a brilliant decision. He was given a lot of backing by the Royal Ballet and he was their biggest star."

It is believed that Polunin had become frustrated that his performances at the Royal Ballet meant he could not accept guest invitations with the American Ballet Theatre and in Russia, but there was no clue as to what triggered his departure.

His mother said he had called her to tell her the news on Tuesday night, but "did not tell me the reason for it or what he is going to do next. He just said he was leaving." She told the London Evening Standard: "I know Sergei is a talented young man, he must know what he is doing. Believe me, he will never be lost in this world. If he made up his mind to do this, he must have thought it over very deeply indeed."

Emilia Spitz, of the BalletBag blog, said: "He is very young still. It probably is difficult to handle all that pressure. He has talked of not being quite ready for some of the responsibility... This could be part of the 'Money Ballet' trend where companies are offering advantageous contracts to star dancers."

The Ukrainian dancer grew up in poverty in Kherson, close to the Black Sea, with no electricity or hot water after 6pm. He trained in the gymnastic school there, harbouring dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal.
Forced to quit after contracting pneumonia, which put him in hospital for six weeks, he later said he was unable to shake off the illness until he saw "this guy who heals with his hands".

His family moved to Kiev to join the State Ballet School when his mother thought he had the chance of a better life with a career in dancing. He was accepted into the Royal Ballet School in 2003 at the age of 13, and four years later was named Young British Dancer of the Year.

Polunin said he unwinds by playing the video games Call of Duty or FIFA on his PlayStation against the co-owner of his tattoo parlour. He has also said he is inspired by Al Pacino movies and Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator.

The Royal Ballet was still coming to terms with the news yesterday, although a spokesman insisted it was "business as usual" and that there were other principals ready to assume Polunin's role. In private, senior members were bemoaning the loss of an exceptional talent.

Steven McRae, who beat Polunin to the award for best male dancer at the National Dance Awards this week, is expected to take on all the lead duties.Polunin will no longer play the male lead in Romeo & Juliet or the Jack of Hearts in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for the Royal Ballet.

The dancer will appear in Men in Motion at Sadler's Wells, overseen by Ivan Putrov, who quit the Royal Ballet in 2010. The source said: "Putrov's departure was also rather abrupt but there had been rumblings about it. In Polunin's case there was nothing."

 

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Study says flooding caused by climate change could affect 5 million a year by 2080

Flooding caused by heavier rainfall will be the major threat to Britain from climate change in the coming decades, potentially costing the country billions a year, a new assessment of the risks of global warming concluded yesterday.

New research commissioned by the Government shows that if no further plans are made to adapt to changing flood risks, as temperatures rise and population grows, by the 2080s damage to buildings and property could reach £12bn per year, compared with current costs of £1.2bn. In the worst-case scenario, five million people could be affected. Flooding is regarded as the most serious of 100 separate challenges from a changing climate to Britain's economy, society and natural environment, which have been identified in a comprehensive new study, the Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA).

These include increased health problems for vulnerable people in hotter summers, increased pressure on the UK's water resources, droughts affecting farmers and the potential introduction of new pests and diseases.
The study says that if no further precautions are taken, the number of people affected by flooding is likely to hit between 1.66 million and 3.64 million annually by the 2050s, and by 2.43 million to 4.98 million by the 2080s.

It is significant that of the many problems posed by climate change, flooding is now seen as the most important. The man behind the CCRA, Sir Bob Watson, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said. "I think the flooding issue is the most dominant."
However, this seems at odds with the Government's spending priorities, as expenditure on flood defence has been cut by 27 per cent from the last Labour administration's £354m annually, to £259m a year for the next four years. "Ministers are playing Russian roulette with people's homes and businesses by cutting too far, too fast," the shadow Environment Secretary, Mary Creagh, said.

The flooding threat comes mainly from the more intense rainfall predicted in a warmer atmosphere. "What the climate projections show, especially in winter, is significantly more precipitation, but also more heavy precipitation," Sir Bob said.

Such cloudbursts can cause river flooding, but also the new phenomenon of surface water flooding in towns when volumes of rainwater are too big for drainage systems to deal with. Both of these happened in the summer of 2007, which was Britain's wettest.

Sir Bob said the current risk assessment was based on modelling of river flooding and coastal flooding, which will be made worse by rises in sea-level. But it does not include the risk from surface water flooding, which is still being researched.

Summertime blues: The washout of 2007
If we want to get a feel for what the future may hold, in terms of flooding, we should look back at the washout summer of 2007. This was the wettest summer recorded in Britain since rainfall records began in 1766.
It was characterised not only by incessant rain, but especially by two stupendous downpours, the first coming on 24 June in Yorkshire, and the second on 19 July centred on the valley of the River Severn.

The former displayed the new phenomenon of surface water flooding, when the drainage in towns such as Hull and Doncaster simply could not cope; the latter downpour led the Severn to burst its banks and turned the town of Tewkesbury into an island.

I drove through the July downpour; it was the heaviest rainfall I have ever experienced in my life, including the Amazon in the rainy season.
Michael mccarthy

 

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Mayor's aide quits over 2012 sponsorship deal with Bhopal chemical company

One of Boris Johnson's "ethics tsars" will quit her post today over the controversial Olympics stadium contract awarded to an American chemical company.

Meredith Alexander stands down after accusing Olympics organisers and the 2012 ethical watchdog of acting like "apologists" for Dow Chemical by publicly repeating the company's own public relations line on human rights.

Lord Coe, the 2012 chairman, and the Games organisers Locog, have faced criticism from MPs, Olympians and human rights groups including Amnesty International and Bhopal Medical Appeal, ever since Dow was awarded a sponsored fabric "wrap" around the outside of the Olympic Stadium in a deal worth £7m.
Dow is the 100 per cent owner of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), which was the majority shareholder of Union Carbide India Limited [UCIL], the company responsible for the 1984 gas disaster in Bhopal, India, which killed 25,000 people.

Campaigners say the continuing water contamination is responsible for high rates of congenital deformities and cancers among communities living around the old factory site.

Ms Alexander was appointed to the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 by the Mayor in 2009 for her expertise in trade and workers' rights. It is the official watchdog set up to ensure London 2012 meets its commitment of being the most sustainable Games ever.

Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 and denies any responsibility for UCC liabilities in Bhopal – which Locog accepts. Dow claims the $470m paid in 1991 for the disaster victims (currently contested in the Indian Supreme Court) was final. Yet Dow and UCC are defendants in an Indian litigation case about cleaning up the site.

Ms Alexander, who is head of policy at the charity Action Aid, told The Independent that Locog's failure to properly examine Dow's ongoing responsibilities to Bhopal was "inexcusable".

The "deal breaker" for her was a letter from the Sustainability Commission's chair, Shaun McCarthy, stating that it was satisfied with Locog's decision to work with Dow. "That letter has been used to justify Dow's position that it has no responsibility for the ongoing human rights tragedy in Bhopal," she said. "I cannot have my name associated with that.

"To my mind it is inexcusable that Locog did not find reference to Bhopal when they looked at Dow from a sustainability perspective. A two-second search on Google would have done it. This is not consigned to history – the site is still an ongoing environmental disaster. It's totally unjustifiable."

Ms Alexander's resignation comes as a blow because the Commission's work to ensure compliance with workers' rights – her area of expertise – is still outstanding. She is largely complimentary about the Commission's work. The Commission and Locog have never met Bhopal victims or survivor groups. Ms Alexander said: "Firstly, Locog didn't even know that this was going on, and then when they did find out, they only listened to one side of the story."

Lord Coe has defended Dow's record on Bhopal, telling MPs: "We have looked at this, and we are satisfied that Dow were not the owners or the operators or were involved with that plant at the time of the disaster, and at the time the overall settlement was made."

Dow's corporate social responsibility policies are in part why it was awarded the contract over five other bidders, according to Olympic organisers.

 

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A live barbershop quartet crooned an elliptical rendion of 'Rehab', while the models wore black veils

Is it strictly appropriate for a French couturier to send out a catwalk homage to Amy Winehouse complete with models wearing exposed bra straps, Fred Perry collars, baseball jackets and shirts tucked into pencil skirts? Probably not. But yesterday in Paris Jean Paul Gaultier chose to do just that. A live barbershop quartet crooned an elliptical rendition of the late singer's most famous recording, "Rehab", and Gaultier went so far as to attach black veils to towering beehives for his finale.

Monday marked the six month anniversary of Winehouse's death and her father broke news of a forthcoming memorial concert only days ago. Gaultier's tribute was well-intentioned, clearly, but gave rise to a palpable sense of unease.

While his handwriting is entirely confident where French dressing is concerned and no one understands Parisian chic and a decadent undercurrent better, his grasp of a more British dress sense was less assured. The uniform of the dominatrix – rubber trousers, fishnets and underwear as outerwear – in this instance appeared more Soho sex shop than French couture salon which, given the context, made for uncomfortable if not plain confusing viewing.

True there were moments of clarity – Gaultier's use of colour was sensational in places and few cut either a trench coat or mannish trouser suit better – but this was not his most accomplished collection by any stretch of the imagination.

Earlier in the day, the rather less controversial Beirut born and based designer, Elie Saab, showed his spring/summer haute couture collection which was, conversely, as pretty as the proverbial picture. Saab has a booming couture business and that was clear as guests arrived: there appeared to be almost as many princesses front row as their were members of the press.

This season's collection will suit them down to the ground. Saab focussed on ultra-feminine shapes (sweet prom dresses with bouncing skirts and floor length columns with fluttering trains), fondant colour (peach, pistachio, lemon and rose) and fragile embroideries (crystals and flower petals decorated the surface of clothes).

Saab first became known outside his own country when Halle Berry was awarded the Oscar for best actress in 2002 wearing one of his designs. "It was a very important moment for us," the designer told Women's Wear Daily earlier this week. His managing director, Chucri Cavalcanti added: "The red carpet definitely has a direct impact on the business because when the customer sees a celebrity wearing that dress, there is more demand." With that in mind, while there was nothing ground-breaking on offer, there was much to appeal to Hollywood A-listers and royalty alike.

 

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President Abbas blames Israeli settlements for failed bid to revive top-level negotiations

The Palestinians were last night preparing to walk away from talks with Israel aimed at reviving peace negotiations as international mediators frantically shuttled between Ramallah and Jerusalem in an attempt to keep the peace process alive.

Palestinian representatives believe that negotiations have run their course as a deadline for both sides to present proposals on borders and security expires today. Israel, which has criticised the deadline as "artificial," said talks should continue.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, said yesterday that the talks aimed at reviving top-level negotiations had ended without progress. "If we determine the borders it is possible to return to negotiations, but the Israelis don't want to determine the borders," he said.

While mounting international pressure may yet persuade Mr Abbas to keep talking, the Palestinians are increasingly convinced that Israel's hawkish Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is unwilling to make the compromises necessary for a two-state solution.

The Palestinians want Israel to accept the pre-1967 borders as a basis for negotiations, and halt Jewish settlement construction – deemed illegal in international law – in the occupied West Bank, the acceleration of which has convinced many that a two-state solution is moving out of reach. On both counts, Israel's right-wing government has refused to yield.

Reflecting the mood in the Palestinian camp, one official said: "For us, it's over... Israel chose to [promote] settlements over peace". Previously, Mr Abbas has warned that he would employ "other measures" to isolate Israel if the talks fail. It is thought that this could include reviving a UN statehood bid and asking the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes during the Israeli invasion of the Palestinian-controlled Gaza strip in 2008.

The Quartet of Middle East peacemakers, comprising the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, which is represented by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, said in October that both sides should present proposals and wrap up exploratory talks within three months, or by 26 January. Israel has refused to do so, claiming that it has until April.

Low-key meetings, mediated by Jordan, were launched with little fanfare at the beginning of January in a last-ditch attempt to bring the two sides together.

Baroness Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief on a visit to the region, said yesterday "we need to keep talks going and increase the potential of these talks to become genuine negotiations".

Israeli officials have rejected the notion that they are responsible for the looming break-off in talks, arguing that the Palestinians had fixed on an "artificial date" to create an "artificial crisis".

"They would be making a mistake if they are looking for excuses to leave the table," an Israeli official said. "Walking away...is not going to solve anything."

But some Israeli analysts say responsibility lies primarily with Mr Netanyahu's administration, which is seen as loath to make tough political compromises in the absence of compelling external or domestic pressures.
The last top-level talks collapsed in September 2010 following another row over settlements. In an effort to break the deadlock and move the conflict into the international realm, Mr Abbas launched a doomed statehood bid at the UN a year later, drawing Israeli fury which prompted a range of punitive measures.
There has been lukewarm international support for Mr Abbas's UN bid, but some are calling for a new approach to resolve the conflict. "The Quartet has failed," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said last week. "Let's stop kidding ourselves. We have to widen the circle of negotiations and involve everybody who can help resolve the conflict."

 

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Pop-ups have become a key feature of the modern British high street.

Head for your local high street, town centre or main road shopping strip. Wherever you stand – whether it's High St Kensington, London or Yorkshire Street in Oldham – you're likely to notice something. Just look at those empty shops.

As the double-headed demon of a crippling recession and a rise in internet and out of town shopping batters high streets and stores such as HMV, La Senza, Peacocks, Blacks and Past Times, the number of empty shopping units expands. And the more empty shops there are, the less appealing our towns become to visit. The less appealing a place is to visit, the less footfall it gets and the more neighbouring businesses struggle. Then they close down and before you know it you're queuing to get into a retail park.

A recent Government report called Understanding High Street Performance, which complements Mary Portas's report on high streets, points out the severe pressures that towns and retailers face. Shops have seen their rents, business rates and material costs rise significantly, while at the same time being squeezed by the supermarkets and online retailers. Add that to a crippling downturn and the result is that between 2000 and 2009 the UK lost 15,000 town centre stores. That means that one out of six shops lies vacant.

So what can be done with all this empty space? If retailers and other businesses aren't able to commit to five or 10-year tenancies and entrepreneurs are unable to risk thousands of pounds in what could be seen as declining areas, then are our towns doomed? Well it's unlikely to be that bad, but the British town centre requires major surgery. And one of the most effective ways of healing a town is also one of the most temporary.

It's the economic and artistic power of the pop-up that Dan Thompson is seeking to highlight in a new Arts Council-backed report called Pop-Up People. The report, which launches next week in Worthing in an old Allied Carpets store-turned vibrant company HQ for the firm Fresh Egg, will urge landlords, local authorities and budding entrepreneurs to test out pop-up businesses and to convince them that temporary shops can have as much benefit as long-term ones. "Pop-up People advocates something temporary," explains Sally Abbott, director of the Arts Council in the South-east, "and that's quite a challenge for agencies keen on long-term sustainable approaches. But there's absolutely room for both."

For Thompson, an artist by trade who rose to prominence last summer with his involvement in the post-riot clean-up, pop-ups matter because they can fail without disastrous consequences: "Pop-ups give people a chance to experiment," he says, "to try something new, to take a chance on something.

"We've got to reinvent our towns, we've got to work out what they're for, we've got to find new uses for empty shops. And pop-ups are a way to test ideas, to try things out and to fail. The report says 'failure is completely OK', we have to be able to find our way to what works by some things failing."

A good example is the restaurant world, a notoriously difficult industry in which to sustain a business. Some of the most hyped launches in recent months have succeeded because their temporality has increased their appeal. Good pop-ups, such as Meateasy, a burger joint set for a few months in a disused pub in New Cross, south London can drive customers to new locations too.

Thompson began to get involved in pop-ups through his art career a decade ago. Then, they were a good way of creating an exhibition space quickly and quirkily. In the preceding years the notion of the pop-up has risen in the national consciousness and – arguably – gone back through the other end of being "cool". He's aware of the associations some have with pop-ups but is adamant that they're not supposed to be a hip thing. "We found that pop-ups are widespread. We're not looking at places that are going to become hip. Worthing is not going to become hip, Bedford, Coventry... these places will always be Bedford and Coventry and that's where the interesting stuff is happening, in places that aren't ever going to become fashionable but in places where local people love their town and love what makes it special."
Two of those people are Kayte Judge and Erica Ross from Bedford. They spotted an empty development in the centre of town and cajoled its owners – the local council and a private landlord – into letting them use the empty units for free for a couple of days to host an art festival. They later returned for other events and founded the We Are Bedford scheme. A grant from the RSA and a lot of hard work enabled them to put the events on and focus attention on the empty shops. Judge suggests that their events were key to the units then being let on a permanent basis: "We knew that if we could fill it and bring it to life, and people could see that, then all of a sudden it's easier to sell. Those units were empty for a number of years before we came along – at least two years. And now they're pretty much full."

But pop-up culture isn't just about being artistic and independent. It's making sure that towns' energies are maintained in the worst of economic times. And if that means big brands taking on the characteristics of pop-up culture then so be it, says Thompson. "I don't think it has to be cool, Hoxtonite urban stuff," he says. "I'd love to see Tesco getting behind what we do as well – it shouldn't just be something cool and clever. In Worthing they built a huge Tesco and to get planning permission they had to build a community centre next to the store. But why not make it part of the store so that the community centre gets the benefit of the footfall? Then, rather than Tesco and the community centre being isolated, they're both part of the same community."
A great example of this retail mix comes in Boxpark, a temporary mall in Shoreditch, made of old shipping containers. But as well as featuring household brands such as Calvin Klein, Levi's and Nike, it also offers a space for a Mexican restaurant and up-and-coming clothes brands among others.

This mixture of the established and the new is a key part of why pop-ups matter, explains Max Nathan, an economic geographer at the London School of Economics: "Boxpark has got a foot in both camps because they do provide space for people you haven't heard of," he says. "If you look at high streets that work, like Marylebone – there's a strategy of getting as big a mix as possible. They have different rent levels, different terms, much more flexibility for smaller firms."

This lack of flexibility in high streets is one of the key things that sees them suffer next to well-curated out of town malls and places like Westfield.

One of the key messages in the Portas report is that town centre management teams should work to get a good retail mix and pop-ups, encouraged by discretionary business rates (as proposed in both the pop-up and Portas reports) are one way to tackle that. They're a way to test coffee shops where there aren't any, or to try out a craft shop.

The message from everyone from academics to artists to business is clear: empty shops are no good for anybody. Encouraging young people, budding entrepreneurs and local towns to offer theses spaces, whether public or private, on a temporary basis can be a key way to making our civic centres and other faded retail outlets healthy again. Anyone can fill these spaces, you only need one thing, says Dan Thompson; bloody-mindedness. "It's knowing you've got an idea and you want to make it happen and going out and doing it." The future of our shops might depend on it.

 

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Clegg adds to mounting pressure on Chancellor as economy shrinks

George Osborne is considering tax cuts for low and middle earners in his March Budget in an attempt to kick-start growth after figures showed that the economy is contracting.

The Chancellor will consider speeding up the Coalition's plan to raise the personal tax allowance to £10,000 a year by 2015. The move would help families in the "squeezed middle" and enable them to spend more – in the hope this would get the economy moving again.

Significantly, the Treasury has cleared a speech by Nick Clegg today in which he will urge Mr Osborne to go "further and faster" towards the £10,000 tax-free income goal. This was a key Liberal Democrat pledge at the 2010 election and is Mr Clegg's No 1 priority in negotiations with Mr Osborne about the Budget, which have just begun.

The personal allowance was raised from £6,475 to £7,475 this financial year and will go up to £8,105 in April, putting the Coalition on course to hit the £10,000 target by the next election and take more than a million people out of the tax net.

Mr Clegg believes his case for speedier action has been strengthened by figures from the Office for National Statistics yesterday, which showed that the economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the final three months of last year. Ministers fear another negative figure for the first quarter of 2012, confirming Britain has entered a double-dip recession, which would put a huge question mark over their deficit-reduction strategy.

Although Mr Osborne would face Labour claims of opting for a "Plan B" by announcing tax cuts, he could argue that the move is in line with existing Coalition policy. Speaking to business and world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, today, David Cameron will say: "This is a time to show the leadership our people are demanding. Tinkering here and there and hoping we'll drift to a solution simply won't cut it any more. This is a time for boldness not caution. Boldness in what we do nationally – and together as a continent."

The Prime Minister will say Europe's lack of competitiveness remains its "Achilles heel" and that it has failed to deliver the structural reforms it needs.

Mr Clegg, who will spell out his Budget demands in a speech to the Resolution Foundation think-tank, will say any tax cuts for the "squeezed middle" would have to be paid for by higher taxes for the rich, rather than higher borrowing or deeper spending cuts. "The pressure on family finances is reaching boiling point," the Deputy Prime Minister will say. "These families cannot be made to wait. Household budgets are approaching a state of emergency and the Government needs a rapid response."

Arguing that Britain "cannot afford not to do this", Mr Clegg will argue that the tax system must be rebalanced so it "rewards work and encourages ordinary people to drive growth". Mr Osborne will reject Liberal Democrat demands for a "mansion tax" on homes worth more than £2m. Instead, Mr Clegg will press the Chancellor to reform tax allowances and loopholes that favour the rich – such as rules allowing them to place expensive properties in companies so they pay only 0.5 per cent stamp duty when they are sold.
The gloomy figures from the ONS added to pressure on Mr Osborne to adopt a Plan B. Labour seized on remarks by Olivier Blanchard, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, who suggested Britain had room to slow the pace of the cuts to avoid strangling the economy.

Mr Blanchard told the BBC: "If growth is really dismal then you may decide you're going to go a bit more slowly about the discretionary part of the budget ... to the extent that these countries are not under the gun from the markets, have plausible medium-term plans, they can slow down and it would help." However, ministers pointed to Mr Blanchard's comment that departing from the deficit-reduction plan might "lose credibility" in the financial markets.

Mr Osborne came under attack after he blamed the GDP figures on the eurozone crisis. Rachel Reeves, the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "[His] excuses are starting to wear thin. First he blamed the snow, then the Royal Wedding and now it's the eurozone. But Britain's recovery was choked off well before the recent eurozone crisis, and it was only exports to other countries that kept us out of recession last year."

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Starting a new year by playing a bad game isn’t really a good way to enjoy the new year. The best way to do it is to get some of the top PC games for the year. These games are considered some of the best in the market at the moment and have some interesting gameplay as well.
Batman: Arkham City

The previous version of Batman which is Arkham Asylum was one of the best games ever produced due to its great storyline. Batman: Arkham City is another one that ranks great amongst gamers and critics alike. It’s rated as 9 out of 10 in Gamespot and 91 in Metacritic.
 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
This is one of the few games that will definitely clock long hours from the player. Some of its battles are just a joy to have and one to look forward to are the dragon battles. There are a few bugs that are yet to be resolved but not many of these are serious. It’s also rated the same 9.0 as the Batman.

Trine 2
Trine 2 is an easy going adventure game which simply has a good visual. It can be played in co-op or online as well. In both cases, the game is highly enjoyable.

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Microsoft Windows 8 is to be launched this year with the beta version of the OS slated for a late February release. Windows 7 users can migrate to the new OS extremely easily as it requires the same hardware specifications as Windows 7. The Win 8 view has a series of square tiles that show the status of applications in real time. This out of the box and untested revision of the interface is a revolutionary change in the standard user interface and may be integrated with the touch interface too.

The Microsoft Target
The new OS will run on PCs, smartphones and tablets and the idea of a common interface for all electronic gadgets may now finally be realized. Microsoft assures that the OS is exceptionally friendly with a mouse and keyboard as it is with the touch interface. Windows 8 can run on Intel, AMD, and the smartphone ARM CPUs.

Impact on IT Industry
The interactivity and user-friendliness of smartphones will be brought to PCs and soon laptops with the new OS will flood the market. The enterprise IT developers are sure to take some time to be familiarized with the new interface. Meanwhile, the migration to Windows 8 is expected to be universal.

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Ion Audio, the creator of the iCade iPad arcade has turned up at CES 2012 with an inspiring iPad mounted guitar. Dubbed the Guitar Apprentice, the instrument offers sweetest tunes with the help of an iPad. A full-sized guitar is made up with an integrated iPad tablet to teach users to strum the chords like a professional musician. Well, you can now train yourself to strike the chords like Van Halen and Jimmy Hendrix with the Ion’s iPad mounted guitar.

The Guitar Apprentice will work fantastically with the music apps like GarageBand. However, the best thing is to use the custom app from Ion Audio to learn how to strike chords on a guitar. The Apprentice’s strings will light up to direct you with the right moves. Surely, in the initial stage of learning a guitar everyone will fret, but the Guitar Apprentice will simply show you how to replicate a particular track that you have on your iPad tablet’s memory.

The Ion Audio iPad app is just in beta mode. The company is still working to make it an impeccable app. Ion will retail the Guitar Apprentice for just $99 in the U.S. It will be up for grabs in many retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart, like the firm’s previous products. Of course, it is time for you to rejoice learning to play a guitar yourself. It will be so easy for all to learn the basics of guitar with the Apprentice. Here, you just have to follow the lighting on the chords of the guitar, which amazingly reflects a track you play on the built-in iPad and its strings.

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We’ve certainly seen a fair share of PS4 concepts and after a few years of waiting we will soon get to see the real thing. The same goes for Xbox 720 concepts (not a real name yet). We’ll also get to see the real next gen Xbox as well. Both will be going on show at E3 this year.

E3 is being held on June 5-7 this year at which point we’ll also get to look at the Wii U which is also scheduled to go on show through those days.

The E3 show has been running now for 17 years and this is the first time from the start that three consoles have gone head to head. Normally one is revealed a few months before another, but in this case there will be three that will be directly comparable.

It isn’t clear what will be unveiled and we also hear pricing and release dates are not being provided. Also, we might only get a small hint such as a presentation of screenshots and moving video rather than seeing the full console. Either way, it’s a step closer to a next gen launch.

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Have you ever wondered what gadgets will be like in 5 years time? HP recently did and came up with a number of drawings and ideas as to what we might be using in 2012. The first is this HP laptop which can be seen above. It has virtual keys, is razor thin and is featherweight. Hopefully virtual keyboards will be easier to use in 5 years time as currently they suck.

Continue reading on for more cool gadgets from 2012.
Next in line is the Media Mat which is a roll up screen. Flexible screens are becoming available recently but tend to be in grey scale and do not have a fast refresh rate. The screen above is full colour and should be able to roll right up to be stored away when not in use.

Communication is key with current times. Devices need to be able to connect together to share information so that appointments are not missed and family are a button press away. This watch is what ties all these devices together. It is a wireless hub which communicates with the laptop, roll up screen and the other gadgets and allows you to see at a glance what is happening.

With the amount of credit cards available these days it is time to have your wallet updated. This wallet features a screen inside which actually makes it in to a digital wallet. The screen allows you to control your finances with in the wallet and to see exactly what comes in and goes out each day. Again, another great idea which links up to the watch to show your current balance.

Of course we all need a tablet PC while we are on the go taking notes in meetings etc… The HP tablet just like the laptop is razor thin and very light weight. As can be seen the design work is very modern and just right for what we might see in 2012. I do have to wonder though if all these devices need to be used in 5 years time or if a collection of them all converging together will be made making most obsolete.

The Shelf has to be one of my favorites. It is not an ordinary shelf, but a shelf in that when a device is placed on it, the device will charge automatically with out connecting wires. This is of course very useful for now, but I wonder what kind of battery charging we will need if fuel cells become more popular which can keep a laptop going for 10+ hours and be instantly charged by topping them up.

The smart pen is capable of writing on any surface and then storing what was just written in to its memory so you can download it later.

Overall I am impressed with the ideas put forward by HP although most, if not all is not new technology but rather a nice mixture of what we have now, shrunk down a little and made to look good. The idea of having all the devices together is good, but at the same time we are seeing a lot of devices being built together such as the Phone/MP3 and pocket computer in 1 device.

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Tablets are getting far slimmer every day. At CES 2012, we have just witnessed the arrival of the world’s thinnest tablet, the Toshiba Excite X10. With a density of just 0.3-inch, the Excite X10 is doubtlessly the slimmest tablet on market today. The Toshiba tablet, which weighs at mere 1.18 lbs, features a 10-inch display. The device edges out key tablets like the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Eee Pad Transformer Prime and iPad 2 in thickness.

The Excite X10 tablet works on the latest version of Google OS, the Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). Its slim body doesn’t prevent Toshiba from slotting in a microHDMI and microUSB port on the tablet. The device also sports a dock connector and a microSD slot for external memory cards. But sadly, the thinnest tablet misses 3G connectivity. It depends on Wi-Fi for network connectivity.

The Toshiba Ice Cream Sandwich tablet runs on a dual-core 1.2 GHz OMAP 4430 processor, 1GB of RAM and 16/32GB storage options. Its 10-inch screen is a solid 1280 x 800 IPS touch display. The display performs nicer and it will help you watch movies, surf web and play games with ease.

The Excite X10 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera for video calls. Toshiba has priced the Excite X10 at $530 and $600 respectively for its 16GB and 32GB models. The company will start shipping the thinnest tablet in February. Get ready to buy a unit of the thinnest tablet in the world.

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We all use headphones to listen to music from iPhones. You can find lots of cases for an iPhone to protect it from dust, scratches and falls. However, what about safeguarding an iPhone headphone from annoying tangles and earbud damages in the same way? Yes, the idea has pulled in designers Belal and Aqua to come up with iHeadCase, iPhone 4 and 4S cases with concealed headphone storage facilities.

Showcased at the CES 2012, the iHeadCase, which comes in Hardshell and Wallet versions, helps you store your iPhone headphones neatly away from cable tangles and earbud damages. They safeguard your handsets as well. Made of materials like polycarbonate and faux leather, the solid iHeadCase cases can provide better security for the handsets also.

Designers of the iPhone cases have been researching and working on the products for a year. They developed multiple prototypes before showcasing the end product at CES in Las Vegas. The cases are envisaged to protect your iPhone and help you carry headphones without losing and getting its wires entangled. Beyond all, the iHeadCase will also add a cool look to your iPhone.

The iHeadCase Hardshell
The Hardshell iHeadCase acts as a protective case for your iPhone with a secret storage facility for its headphone. The case has a sleek minimalist body and it can be used as a stand for your iPhone to place it in landscape mode. The Hardshell case is made of polycarbonate, which is light, but strong and highly durable. The Hardshell iHeadCase doesn’t only secure your iPhone, but also stores its headset neatly. Amazingly, it weighs only 2 ounces, which means it won’t be a burden for you anymore.

The iHeadCase Wallet
It is a version of iHeadCase made in the form of a wallet. Made from polyurethane, ethical and animal-friendly faux leather, the Wallet comes in various textures and colors. Needless to mention, a leather wallet can well safeguard your favorite gizmo from all external impacts. The wallet also leaves spaces to keep three credit cards, a pair of business cards and one photo ID card. Some models of the Wallet feature wrist straps and chains to help you grasp the case sternly. Some others feature 9 ct gold — a bit of luxury, indeed.

The iHeadCase has been designed for iPhone 4 and 4S only. Its success will drive its designers to think of similar cases for other popular smartphone brands such as HTC, BlackBerry, Samsung and Nokia. The designers also plan to design similar cases for Portable Media Players and other handheld gadgets.

Anyway, as of now, the iHeadCase project is looking for financial backing from well-wishers. The project has been presented on Kickstarter. So far, the project has amassed up $8,234 out of the pledged goal of $30,000 from 112 backers. Both versions of the iHeadCase are ready for production. Prototypes are complete and manufacturers are on-board. The Kickstarter funds will be used to purchase injection-molding tools and to meet other production costs.

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If you’ve always wanted a 3D-ready tablet or smartphone but never had the kind of money to actually buy one, Lumus’s new invention may just be the thing for you. Two different types of wearable displays, called the DK-32 and the PD-18-4, were shown off by Lumus at the CES 2012. The DK-32 is essentially a pair of glasses which uses Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology to cleverly display 3D images in a way that is not distressing to the viewer’s eyes. The 720p 3D-capable Lumus DK-32 weighs just 27 grams and the PD-18-4 is the monocular version of the device.

Lumus’ DK-32 delivers a bright 720p 3D-capable display that only weighs 27 grams.
The glasses use technology patented by the Israeli company and allow users to view three-dimensional videos as if they were being projected onto an 87-inch screen almost 10 feet away. In both the monocular form as well as the video glasses, the technology uses fiber optics embedded within each lens and uses the Optical Engine to project light into the lens. In the next step, video and images from an HDMI source are reflected directly into the viewer’s eyes. A micro-display pod allows users to adjust the brightness, contrast and colors of the images and videos.

Since the images appear to be suspended in mid-air at a distance, they cause any unnecessary strain to the viewer’s eyes. The firm doesn’t have any market-ready gadgets yet both hope that their developmental kits will be picked up by some electronics giant soon.

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3D Holographic displays
The human eye sees objects by sensing the light reflected from it. The light reflected from different parts of the object vary and the two eyes perceive the reflected light slightly differently, to create a 3D image in the brain. The use of laser light beams on an object enhances differences in the light reflected. This reflection is recorded and played back to create holographic displays.

An early application of holographic displays has been in the advertising holograms used over the night sky at sports stadia and at entertainment venues such as rock concerts. Holographic advertising displays have also been built into point-of-sale terminals in shopping malls and placed in the lobbies of hotels and other public places. In these, the holographic image is projected on a glass or transparent plastic screen.

In recent years, the emergence of higher resolution cameras and faster computer chips has driven the search for higher definition 3D holographic displays. One of the leaders in this field is Zebra Imaging of Austin, Texas. Their ZScape technology was listed among Time magazine’s 50 greatest inventions of 2011. The Zebra Imaging technology works with computer aided design software, with laser scan data and satellite images to capture thousands of “Hogel” ( Holographic image) points that are recorded on a film with a laser beam. When this film is viewed using a halogen or LED lamp, a 3D holographic image appears. This technology has been used at project construction sites to plan movement of lifting cranes, in medical imaging and in defense and security applications. Other products in this field include the RePro3D, from Tachi Labs of Japan.

The Microsoft 3D display technology appears to avoid this intermediate step of recording images on a film for playback by directly using computer images to create the holographic image. If the hologram is created as easily as the video clip suggests, it could drive costs down dramatically.

Possible future applications
Given Microsoft’s domination of the office suite software, the possible applications of this new technology would be to create 3D moving images in presentations and other office documentation. It could also change the concept of video conferencing by replacing the 2D image of the participants, with a 3D virtual presence.

This technology could quickly make its way into portable electronic devices such as music players, smart phones and tablets. Anyone listening to a piece of music may actually be able to project a holographic image of the singer or play the music CD as an image in air in front of him. This technology could also be deployed in the GPS devices used as map displays in cars to project a 3D virtual image of the route in place of a 2D map.

It would be fascinating to see what Microsoft and the others do with this technology in the coming few years.

Microsoft Research has conducted a laboratory scale demonstration of a 3D holographic display that can be viewed by multiple people from any angle and does not require the use of special eyeglasses. Unusually for Microsoft, the announcement and the accompanying video contain very few details of the technology or the planned end applications. From the sparse details seen on the video, the display appears to be based on the mirascope, which is a pair of convex mirrors bonded together with an opening at the top on one of them.

Images of an object captured by laser photography are projected into the parabolic mirror cavity.
 With multiple reflections, the light beams get amplified and emerge from the hole to form a 3D hologram in air. This image can be viewed from any angle, you can poke a finger through it and so on.

The only details disclosed by Microsoft is that 3000 images per second are projected at a speed of 15 frames per second. The holographic image, as seen from the video, appears small in size and in black and white.

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There is just one thing about robots that tend to fascinate mankind – otherwise, how else do you explain the amount of money raked in by the Transformers franchise over three films, despite the fact that the second and third parts were unable to live up to the first movie in terms of storytelling and fleshing out of its characters? Not to mention other robot films and cartoons that had made an impact in our lives all these years, too. For those who feel that they have this strange attraction to Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, here is one memento that you definitely could make do with in your living room – a 2.7 meter tall Optimus Prime.

I am quite sure in real life (fictionally speaking, that is – I know that came across as weird), he is far taller than this, but considering this is a hand-made effort that was built using recycled metal, useless auto parts as well as other machines, it is a true masterpiece. The asking price for this half ton behemoth? We are looking at $10,500 here, and that does not even take into account shipping costs

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Come on now, I am quite sure that some of you might think this $9.92 Justin Bieber Singing Toothbrush deserves a place on our sister site Foolish Gadgets instead, but here’s the deal. As a parent, how many of you out there have trouble getting your little one to brush his or her teeth? Even if you have the cutest looking toothbrush with the fruitiest flavored toothpaste, the little ‘un still refuses to get those molars and canines cleaned out before bed. I am quite sure that Justin Bieber’s appeal spreads to those pre-teens, too, and with the Justin Bieber Singing Toothbrush, your mission is accomplished.

Featuring soft DuPont bristles, an ergonomic design that cleans plaque in hard to reach places, a soft rubber coating that delivers a comfortable brushing experience, and it is good to go. As an added incentive, pressing a button on this toothbrush will play a Justin Bieber song for 2 minutes – which is the same amout of time that dentists recommend to brush your teeth. A trio of LR44 batteries will power this puppy, and the only drawback is, your ears will be treated (or tortured, depending on which side of the fence you are on) to “U Smile” and “Baby” songs from the Canadian crooner.

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Robots, CES 2012, Justin Bieber, it makes no sense, or does it? TOSY Robotics is a leading robotics and high-tech toys manufacturer that hails from Vietnam, but they do know a thing or two about capitalism. After all, what better way to draw attention to a product of yours than to have a worldwide celebrity appear at your booth on the showfloor? This is what TOSY Robotics did to promote their mRobo Ultra Bass, a state-of-the-art portable speaker which also functions as a dancing robot (hello there, Transformers! I see what you did there).

Multi-platinum selling Pop & R&B singing sensation Justin Bieber also made an appearance with the mRobo Ultra Bass yesterday, and if you happen to be at CES this year, you might want to make a beeline for the TOSY Robotics booth at the LVCC South Hall Ground Level.

With 2GB of internal memory to store a fraction of your digital music collection, the battery powered mRobo Ultra Bass will be able to store around 500 songs within. All data or songs are transferred using the built-in USB port, where you can then select the track of your choice thanks to the included remote control. As whether you would want to rock to Justin Bieber or a far more accomplished musician, the integrated speaker will do the job for you, producing bass at 40Hz.

The moment music starts to play, the mRobo, who is capable of listening to its own music, music from other devices, or music streamed via Bluetooth, will start to perform right away, “transforming” just like our favorite robots from the Hasbro franchise do, “growing” a head out of nowhere, with its legs and arms popping up from its previously static configuration. Regardless of the genre of music, the mRobo Ultra Bass will be able to run through a series of pre-programmed dance moves to virtually any genre of music.

According to Ho Vinh Hoang, Founder and CEO, TOSY Robotics JSC, “mRobo is one of the most innovative and interactive entertainment devices ever introduced. It gives music and dance lovers the ability to enjoy their passions in a whole new way. Not only do they have a great new way to listen to their favorite songs but they also have a new partner to dance to their favorite music with. We’re thrilled to be able to unveil mRobo Ultra Bass here at CES 2012 with the help of one of the world’s most recognized stars, Justin Bieber.”

The mRobo tips the scales at approximately 3.3 pounds and measures 4.3″ x 6.3″ x 7.9″, and will stand at under 18″ in height when it is turned into a robot. Expect the mRobo Ultra Bass to retail for $199 a pop when it hits the market this fall – perhaps with a free pre-loaded Justin Bieber album?

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