Manning looks good in Broncos' first OTA workout

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) talks to his receivers during minicamp at the NFL team's football training facility in Englewood, Colo., on Monday, May 21, 2012. At left is tight end Anthony Miller (86) (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) talks to his receivers during minicamp at the NFL team's football training facility in Englewood, Colo., on Monday, May 21, 2012. At left is tight end Anthony Miller (86) (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) throws a pass during minicamp at the NFL team's football training facility in Englewood, Colo., on Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning directs players during the team's minicamp at Broncos headquarters in Englewood, Colo., on Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning joins players during the team's minicamp at Broncos headquarters in Englewood, Colo., on Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) ? Peyton Manning is on target and there's plenty of zip on his throws at the Denver Broncos' first OTA workout.

Manning ran the offensive practice, lining up receivers, running backs and even fellow quarterbacks during the Broncos' workout Monday that marked the first time the media witnessed Manning throwing the ball since last year's training camp.

Up until now, reporters have had to rely on his receivers for updates on his progress from a series of neck operations. Manning has refused to talk about it.

Manning was released by the Indianapolis Colts in March after he missed the entire 2011 season because of a nerve injury that caused weakness in his throwing arm. The only four-time MVP in league history signed with Denver, leading to Tim Tebow's departure.

Associated Press

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Nadal beats Djokovic 7-5, 6-3 to win Italian Open

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Spain's Rafael Nadal during their final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

ROME (AP) ? Rafael Nadal beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to win his record sixth Italian Open title.

Djokovic had 41 unforced errors, including a double-fault on the last point to give Nadal his 49th career title and his 35th on clay.

Nadal won the Italian Open for the third time in four years, his streak interrupted last year by Djokovic. Nadal moved back to No. 2 in the rankings, ahead of Roger Federer.

Nadal struggled with his serve early in the match, but an overturned call in the 10th game seemed to swing momentum. Djokovic had just held at love and had a chance to earn two break points.

A line judge called the Serb's shot out initially, so after the umpire overruled the decision, they had to replay the point. Nadal won the replayed point then held his serve to make it 5-5.

Nadal broke in the next game, drawing Djokovic to the net before sending a sharp volley past him. A frustrated Djokovic smashed his racket against a net post and was given a warning. Nadal clinched the first set when Djokovic hit long.

Nadal immediately broke Djokovic's serve again in the second set as the Spaniard took control of the match.

Associated Press

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Family Travel Phuket ? A Vacation to Remember

Measuring just under fifty kilometres in length and about twenty one kilometres at its widest point, Phuket maybe a small island but that has not stopped it from becoming a huge global holiday spot. It is located on the southern tip of Thailand's Phang Nga Province, on the warm waters of the Andaman Sea. The island is popular with the young crowd for its gorgeous beaches, which are mostly located on the west coast, and its vibrant nightlife, which tends to centre on the beaches. In addition to this, Phuket also bills itself as a family getaway with plenty of attractions suitable for the entire family.

Contrary to what one may believe, Phuket is one of the best destinations for a family vacation. The island is extremely kid-friendly and has plenty of fun family activities. One family favourite is taking an elephant ride in the Chalong area. Suitable for families with children over four years old, the elephant trek is full of adventure and excitement, allowing the jungle explorers to witness amazing panoramic views of the east coast.

Another thing to do is visit the Splash Jungle Water Park on Mai Khao Beach. Featuring a number of thrilling rides such as the ?Boomerango', the park is sure to be a hit among parents and children alike.

Families vacationing in the Thai island can also try Mini Golf at Dino Park. The eighteen hole course is populated with a bunch of gigantic replicas of the ancient reptiles. Everything about the course stays true to the dinosaur theme, including the restaurant. Those on a family vacation should also take the opportunity to visit the Phuket Aquarium and the Butterfly Farm.

Vacationers looking for more things to do can try Thanyapura Phuket. The sports club offers a variety of facilities including an International School Phuket for children and one of the best Thailand Yoga retreats. Visitors can build up an appetite by playing a variety of sports, including tennis and football, and then head over to the club restaurant for some amazing Thai fare. Offering hours of endless fun, the place makes for a great day trip.

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WORLD NEWS: Violence Ends Ukraine Pride, Surrogates In Israel ...

On Sunday, the first-even Pride parade in The Ukraine was canceled when police claimed 500 right-wing soccer hooligans had gathered to block the march, held in Kiev. After attendees were evacuated by authorities, two LGBT activists still on the scene were tear gassed and beaten and by a dozen youths. ?It has been clear from the start that the Kyiv police department did not want this march to go ahead. Their reluctance to commit to the event and to put adequate security measures in place to protect demonstrators left organizers fearing for their safety,? said Max Tucker, Ukraine campaigner at Amnesty International. [AI]

New French Prime Minister?Jean-Marc Ayrault (right) announced on Thursday that he is backing? President Francois Hollande?s same-sex-marriage pledge: ?The Government is determined to challenge prejudice and to put an end to discrimination and violence. It will implement the commitment of the President of the Republic to the right to marriage and adoption to gay couples,? Ayrault said in a statement. [Pink News]

Israel?s Health Ministry announced on Sunday that?gay men and single women would be allowed to conceive children through surrogacy, provided it was voluntary and not compensated. It?s a bittersweet victory for the country?s LGBT community after the Knesset voted down a marriage-equality bill put forth by the Meretz Party?s Nitzan Horowitz. [All Voices]

President Joyce Banda of Malawi announced she wants to overturn her country?s ban on same-sex acts. ?Some laws which were duly passed by the august house? will be repealed as a matter of urgency. These include the provisions regarding indecent practices and unnatural acts.? Malawi is highly dependent on foreign assistance and insiders say Banda all too aware that world leaders like Hilary Clinton and David Cameron are connecting humanitarian aid to LGBT rights. [BBC]

Also on Sunday: The government in Queensland, Australia cut nearly $2.5 million in U.S. dollars from Queensland Association for Healthy Communities, an LGBT health and HIV awareness organization, saying its efforts to stem the epidemic weren?t working and the group was shifting its activities ?away from AIDS/HIV to more general, political issues.? Healthy Communities director Paul Martin, who has to let 26 of his 35 employees go, says his group was only tasked with combating HIV among gay men, a group that has seen its numbers decrease. ?It is unfair to blame Healthy Communities for the rise in HIV over the past 10 years, when we are only a relatively small player.? [9 News]

An anonymous gay Asian man living in New York has recounted his story of marrying a woman to stay in the United States to the New York Daily News, as part of a series on immigration. ?We got married at City Hall. We had plenty of photos to show, people dressed up like a real wedding, we had a cake and everything? People brought gifts but they were just empty boxes.? [NYDN]

Photos: Amnesty International, jmayrault, QAHC

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Europe's debt woes dominate G8 summit

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pledged at a summit on Saturday to work with Europe on a package that balances growth with debt reduction as world leaders try to prevent the worsening euro zone crisis from destabilizing the global economy.

At the wooded Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, Obama and leaders from other major economic powers are seeking ways to soothe financial markets after worries about Spain's banking problems and the risk of a Greek exit from the euro zone sent world stocks to their lowest levels this year.

A shirt-sleeved Obama opened the morning session on the global economy at a rustic lodge, promising to seek ways to restore healthy growth and jobs and address concerns in Europe.

"All of us are absolutely committed to making sure that both growth and stability, and fiscal consolidation, are part of an overall package in order to achieve the kind of prosperity for our citizens we all are looking for," Obama said.

After an early morning meeting with Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he detected a "growing sense of urgency that action needs to be taken" on the euro zone crisis.

"Contingency plans need to be put in place and the strengthening of banks, governance, firewalls - all of those things need to take place very fast," he told reporters.

European Union leaders seemed keen to stress on Friday that they would stand firm in protecting their banks, after news of escalating bad loans raised the specter that rescuing Spain's banks would crash the euro zone's fourth largest economy.

"We will do whatever is needed to guarantee the financial stability of the euro zone," EU President Herman Van Rompuy said.

Earlier French President Francois Hollande suggested using European funds to inject capital into Spain's banks, which would mark a significant acceleration of EU rescue efforts.

Balancing a growth agenda with efforts to lower government debt through fiscal belt tightening is a crucial part of the G8 discussions. Obama has aligned himself with Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti and the new French president in putting more emphasis on growth.

That places pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pushed fiscal austerity as a the prime means of bringing down huge debt levels that are burdening European economies.

Voters in euro zone countries have shown frustration with that approach, ejecting the Greek government and in France the conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was defeated by Hollande, a socialist, in the May 6 elections.

A draft of the summit communiqu? shown to Reuters will stress an "imperative to create growth and jobs."

There are signs of softening in Germany's austerity stance.

Its largest industrial union IG Metall struck its biggest pay deal in 20 years early on Saturday. The 4.3-percent pay increase, more than double Germany's inflation rate, will boost worker buying power in the euro zone's richest nation and lift consumption - something the United States long has urged as a means to bolster overall growth throughout the world's second largest economic region.

GLOBAL SECURITY

Also on the summit agenda are concerns about oil and food prices as well as Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and North Korea.

Speculation has grown that Obama will use an energy session at the G8 to seek support to tap emergency oil reserves before a European Union embargo of Iranian crude takes effect in July.

But with oil prices already sliding, a move by Obama to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - alone or along with other countries - could expose him to criticism that the emergency supply should only be touched in a supply crisis.

The Camp David summit kicked off four days of intensive diplomacy that will test leaders' ability to quell unease over the threat of another financial meltdown as well as plans to wind down the unpopular war in Afghanistan.

After the Camp David talks wrap up late on Saturday afternoon, Obama will fly to his home town of Chicago where he will host a two-day NATO meeting at which the Afghanistan war will be the central topic.

(Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Jeff Mason, Caren Bohan, Stella Dawson, Elizabeth Pineau, Gleb Bryanski, and John Irish; Writing by Matt Spetalnick and Stella Dawson; Editing by Mary Milliken and Vicki Allen)

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A snapshot of changing roles this week | Rust Report

Brocade names Foo VP APAC
Brocade has announced the appointment of Charlie Foo to the role of vice president for Asia Pacific (APAC) effective immediately. Foo succeeds Deb Dutta to assume the region?s top role responsible for charting the company?s overall growth strategy across Asia Pacific and will be based in Singapore reporting directly into Ian Whiting, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales. An industry veteran with more than 20 years of sales management and leadership experience, Foo was most recently senior director of the Brocade Partner Business Group for APAC where he drove the company?s regional business strategy for growth and diversification, and led the partner strategy with distributors, resellers, OEMs and global systems integrators across the region. He joined Brocade in January 2007.

Pivot3 appoints Anderson as regional sales manager APAC
Pivot3 has appointed Cal Anderson as regional sales manager to lead the APAC market. In this role, Anderson will be responsible for driving sales and servicing the growing needs of Pivot3 distributors and customers throughout the region. ?Cal?s skills in driving sales momentum and his understanding of our business and technology, makes us confident that he will significantly contribute to helping us achieve our sales goals,? said Dieter Kondek, VP & GM International Sales at Pivot3. Anderson brings more than 20 years of executive sales leadership experience to Pivot3. He has extensive experience developing productive sales programs though his keen understanding of channels and value proposition. Prior to Pivot3, Anderson served as the chief executive officer of Wirelessworx, a provider of hosted solutions for mobile computing and value added communication services, where his leadership drove the release and sale of numerous innovative mobile solutions. Earlier, Anderson served as the country manager and VP for Symbol Technologies, a global leader in enterprise mobility solutions.

Schneider Electric IT appoints two new state managers
Schneider Electric IT, a global leader in integrated critical power and cooling services for data centres and industry, has announced the regional appointments of Olaf Moon as State Manager, ACT & Federal Government and Graeme Ridler as State Manager, WA.?Olaf and Graeme?s appointments are a reflection of the ongoing expansion of the data centre, mining, oil and gas markets in Australia, and their roles will focus on addressing customers? key business drivers such as increasing energy efficiencies, improving facility reliability and decreasing costs across various mission critical applications and operations for large facilities and mining plants.

• Ridler will address the local market demand for more energy efficient data centres and brings a wide range of expertise to the Australian operation from over 20 years of experience working in sales roles with both vendors and channel partners
• Moon has an extensive background in the IT and Telco industries and has previously held major leadership roles responsible for managed-hosting and cloud services, as well as government hosting and security services.

VDM Group hires new managers for Eastern Australia
VDM Group, Australian engineering?and construction company that services the mining?& resources, transport & civil infrastructure and urban development sectors, has announced it has appointed coal industry veterans Tony Robertson as Executive Manager ? Engineering & Project Delivery and Greg Wickman as General Manager of Project Development.? Tony Robertson brings over 25 years of business, operations and project management experience within multi-national mining and mineral processing industries and small-to-medium enterprises, to the VDM group. Prior to joining VDM Group, Mr Robertson has worked in Australia, China, Mongolia, Chile, Colombia, and Southern Africa for service providers such as Sedgman, United Group, Monadelphous, and Worley Parsons, as well as asset owners; Shell, BHP, Anglo Coal and Peabody. Greg Wickman also joins VDM Group, with over 20 years of commercial, contracts, procurement, project and business development experience, Mr Wickman?s experience and exceptional industry knowledge amounts from working for resource owners and service providers including Sedgman, Leighton Contractors and Ensham Resources.

Fujitsu NZ appoints GM, Enterprise Sales
Fujitsu has appointed Mike Bullock to the role of General Manager, Enterprise Sales in New Zealand. He will lead the national sales team responsible for the range of Fujitsu?s offerings including licensing and hardware, through to software development, application management and outsourcing. As a member of the executive team Bullock will contribute to the overall strategy of Fujitsu New Zealand, in particular its client alignment strategy, partnerships and vertical market development for continuing growth. The majority of his 22 years in the ICT industry have been in sales and sales management, focussing on managed services. Critically, he has experience from both the vendor and client perspectives from his roles in organisations such as ANZ Bank, Comtex, Datacom and Telecom/Gen-i.

BigCommerce hires Power as Chief Revenue Officer
BigCommerce, the world?s fastest growing ecommerce platform has named Steven Power as the new Chief Revenue Officer of its global operations. Having recently left his post as Chief Sales Officer at ReachLocal, a leader in local online marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, Steven comes to BigCommerce with a wealth of management experience in sales, marketing, operations, and business development. Power said he was thrilled to be joining BigCommerce and was looking forward to having an immediate impact. Power?s time at ReachLocal, saw him grow its Australian operations from start up to $50m revenue in under four years as CEO, before relocating to the US and being elevated to the role of Chief Sales Officer, where he oversaw several hundred million dollars in sales. Prior to that, Power held leadership roles at direct marketing company PMP Limited, retail software provider Retail Directions and worked for a number of years in management roles at Shell.

Logicalis appoints Cisco Market Innovation Head
Logicalis Australia has announced the appointment of Ian Ross as Strategic Solutions Director effective immediately. Based in Melbourne, he holds responsibility for the strategic evolution and transformation of the Logicalis solutions portfolio in Australia, ensuring that it aligns to emerging customer business issues both inside and outside of IT, and maintaining innovative and unique responses to technological and market opportunities. With 15 years? industry experience, his skillset comprises unified communications, networking, SaaS, product management & marketing, business modelling and business innovation, across Enterprise, Government and Service Provider sectors. Mr Ross joins from Cisco Australia where he was most recently Head of Business & Market Innovation, and also held a variety of positions across business development and Managed Services innovation in a career at Cisco spanning seven years.

Retriever Communications appoints Shulz
Retriever Communications, a global provider of mobile field force automation, has announced the appointment of Steve Schultz as Operations Director. As part of Retriever?s commitment to provide world-class customer support, Schultz will be managing the implementation of major mobility deployments. Based in Sydney, he will also oversee ongoing customer and partner support and service desk operations for the company?s global operations.Schultz joined Retriever from Telstra, where he worked in a range of roles within the sales and engineering divisions, including previously managing engineering teams in the deployment of leading edge technology across Australia.? Most recently he was the group manager of Telstra?s mobile business applications, services and partners business for enterprise and government sales, managing a team of business development managers.

Broadreach Services announces new senior hires
Broadreach Services, responsible for delivering and managing video technologies to some of Australia?s largest organisations for more than ten years, has announced that it has appointed Stephen Kruize as Director, Partner and Strategic Alliances. Adam Trayer has been appointed as General Manager, Sales. The Director, Partner and Strategic Alliances role has been created to lead and facilitate Broadreach?s strong key partnerships and alliances, as well as driving the company?s long term relationships in line with the corporate? strategy. As Director, Partner and Strategic Alliances, Steve will be responsible for further developing Broadreach?s alliance partnerships strategy. As General Manager, Sales, Adam will manage and oversee all sales staff and drive performance. With many years of experience in sales within Broadreach, Adam is well experienced in maintaining Broadreach?s strong customer focus and key relationships. The restructure of this role will focus Broadreach?s sales efforts.

Meridian Systems appoints Petersen
Meridian Systems, a Trimble Company and its local affiliate office, Trimble Australia, has expanded its Asia Pacific presence with the appointment of Chris Petersen as its new Asia Pacific and Japan Regional Manager. ?Based in Sydney, Petersen will be responsible for accelerating Meridian?s construction project management software business including sales, market development, account management and channel partnerships. The focus will be on supporting Meridian?s Prolog construction project management software for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) companies, and Proliance capital program management software for building owners and operators. Petersen joins Meridian Systems with 16 years? experience in IT sales and channel partner management, including 10 years at IBM. ?He has also worked at Compuware, OpenText and salesforce.com

This entry was posted on May 21, 2012 at 12:01 am and is filed under Issues, Latest Issue, May 21, 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Maths and Imaginary Machines | I, Science

Maths and Imaginary Machines

This article is taken from the Spring 2012 issue of I, Science.

Programming is a skill that allows us to develop and personalise the functions of computers ? and anyone can learn to harness it, argues Michael Cook

One of my favourite editions of historical webcomic Hark! A Vagrant! is about Ada Lovelace, daughter of renowned poet Lord Byron and a gifted mathematician. In the comic, Ada?s mother hides the young girl from a passing poet, for fear that she might be tempted into her father?s wild life. Purportedly, it was her mother?s fear that led to Ada?s rigorous mathematical education, something that caused her to achieve notoriety as the world?s first computer programmer. This achievement was even more impressive due to the simple fact that computers didn?t actually exist yet.

Spot the Difference

When mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage failed to construct his Difference Engine for computing logarithm tables in the 1800s, he drew up designs for an even more complex machine that could be programmed through punch cards ? the Analytical Engine. Lovelace was one of the few people who understood Babbage?s idea, and wrote what amounts today to a computer program for calculating Bernoulli numbers for a machine that didn?t even exist.

As any computer scientist will attest, some days it is hard enough writing code for a machine that is right in front of you. It wasn?t until 1991 that Babbage?s Difference Machine was finally built, and although his Analytical Engine is yet to be fully built, Ada?s algorithm has been verified as correct.

The programming aspect of a computer is what makes it such an invaluable tool to human beings. Tools are a key part of our society and are crucial to our rise as a species, but most tools are developed for specific uses ? from crude stone axes right through to Geiger counters and plasma cutters. Unlike these specific tools, computers are designed to understand very small instructions, allowing us to build up layers of complexity resulting in three-dimensional simulation, international communication and artificial intelligence. Without programming, modern technology is just a series of single-use items, no more remarkable than a clay bowl.

Despite this immense flexibility and power found in every computer, only a very small proportion of our society are able to make the most of it. The majority of us use our computers for a very limited range of purposes. We play games someone else made, we check our email using protocols and encryption algorithms someone else designed and we print our photos only after letting someone else?s application touch them up automatically. For all the wonder and potential inside the grey metal boxes we carry everywhere with us, we are quite happy to treat them as a Swiss Army knife ? multipurpose, but limited to what its designer intended it for. It?s a curious situation, but one that might be changing.

Teaching Technology

Many governments are now announcing a greater emphasis on teaching schoolchildren to program and to understand computer science, which might lead to an upcoming generation that are not only users of code, but creators as well ? people who can adjust and tweak and create software that solves problems unique to them, in a way they want them to be solved. This paints an optimistic picture of the future ? where everyone has the knowledge to protect themselves from exploitation online and to create and share solutions to niche problems that might not be commercially viable to solve today.

What happens to the generation caught in the middle, though? We often laugh (or at least wryly smile) at the generations before us for being less tech-savvy, unable to send text messages or avoid viruses online. Yet we are about to be succeeded by a generation that will not only have their own gadgets that we won?t understand ? they?ll be controlling them in a way we won?t understand either.

Fortunately, there are organisations online that don?t think it is too late to turn this around, the most passionate of which are Code Year and Codecademy, two websites running with the grand aim of teaching programming to everyone, regardless of skill or savviness. The former, Code Year, runs weekly tutorials teaching programming from the ground up, using pleasing machines interactive lessons that let you write real code, see it running and get immediate feedback. It is an incredible service, offered for free, that thousands of people around the world are now taking part in (and it is not too late to start either ? you can catch up with their previous lessons too).

The message Code Year tries to get across is that programming can be much simpler than it is portrayed to be, that it is not some dark art as it was in the days of Ada Lovelace and the imaginary machines she wrote algorithms for. Today, programming isn?t all maths and imaginary machines ? you are carrying all the tools you need around with you. Take advantage of it.

More > Check out Man, Remade, Michael Cook?s essay on our relationship with machines, and watch John Graham-Cumming?s brilliant TEDxImperialCollege talk, The Greatest Machine that Never Was.

Image: flickr | Larry Johnson

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