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The Senate passed a trimmed-back energy bill Thursday that would bring higher-gas mileage cars and SUVs into showrooms in the coming decade and fill their tanks with ethanol.

The measure was approved with strong bipartisan support 86-8 after Democrats abandoned efforts to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies, unable by one vote to overcome a Republican filibuster against the new taxes.

The bill now goes to the House, where a vote is expected next week. The White House issued a statement saying President Bush will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk, as is expected. Bush had promised a veto if the oil industry taxes were not removed.

The bill calls for the first major increase by Congress in required automobile fuel efficiency in 32 years, something the auto companies have fought for two decades.

The car companies will have to achieve an industrywide average 35 mile per gallon for cars, small trucks and SUVs over the next 13 years, an increase of 10 mpg over what the entire fleet averages today.

And it would boost use of ethanol to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, a sevenfold increase, and impose an array of new requirements to promote efficiency in appliances, lighting and buildings.

This bill “will begin to reverse our addiction to oil. It’s a step to fight global warming,” said Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

The increased auto efficiency by 2020 will save 1.1 million barrels of oil of a day, equal to half the oil now imported from the Persian Gulf, save consumers $22 billion at the pump, and reduce annual greenhouse gases emissions by 200 million tons, said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii., whose committee crafted the measure.

“It demonstrates to the world that America is a leader in fighting global warming,” he said.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a longtime protector of the auto industry that is so important to his state, called the fuel economy measure “ambitious but achievable.”

For consumers, the legislation will mean that over the next dozen years auto companies will likely build more diesel-powered SUVs and gas-electric hybrid cars as well as vehicles that can run on 85 percent ethanol. They will push engineers to develop new technologies to save fuel.

“Automakers can meet the new standards with today’s technology,” said David Friedman, research director at the Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicle Program. “Cars and trucks will be the same size and perform the same way they do today.”

But they may be using a different fuel.

The energy legislation would require that ethanol use as a motor fuel be ramped up at an unprecedented pace to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022. And at least 21 billion gallons will have to be ethanol from feedstock other than corn such as prairie grasses, switchgrass and wood chips.

About 6.5 billion gallons of ethanol were expected to be used as a gasoline additive this year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents ethanol producers.

The legislation also would increase energy efficiency requirements for appliances and federal and commercial buildings and require faster approval of federal energy efficiency standards.

These measures, said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., “will eventually save more energy than all our previous energy efficiency measures combined.”

Tax breaks for a wide range of clean energy industries, including wind, solar, biomass and carbon capture from coal plants, were part of the tax package that was dropped. Senate Democrats earlier also abandoned a House-passed provision that would have required investor-owned utilities nationwide to generate 15 percent of their electricity from solar, wind and other renewable sources.

While many environmentalists viewed almost certain approval of the automobile fuel economy increase as a major victory, some were critical Thursday of the Democrats’ inability to push through taxes on major oil companies, which have been making huge profits in recent years.

“The Senate Democrats should show some backbone,” said Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth. “If Republicans want to block progress on clean energy and global warming, they should be forced to mount a real filibuster — for weeks if necessary.”

Republicans had made it clear they would require the Democrats to find 60 votes on the oil taxes and the White House had said repeatedly the $13.5 billion in taxes on the five largest oil companies over 10 years would assure a veto.

On the 59-40 vote that failed to overcome a GOP filibuster, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., whose state’s economy is dominated by oil and energy activities, was the only Democrat to break ranks. Nine Republicans supported the tax measures.

The White House has said the taxes would lead to higher energy costs and unfairly single out the oil industry for punishment. A Democratic analysis showed that the $13.5 billion over 10 years amounted to 1.1 percent of the net profits that five largest oil companies would be expected to earn given today’s oil prices.

Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. said Wednesday it has licensed IBM's 45-nanometer integrated circuit technology.

SMIC said it would use IBM's CMOS technology on 300-millimeter silicon wafers used in SMIC fabrication plants. CMOS, or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, is a major class of integrated circuits used in microprocessors.

The IBM technology will be used in building graphics chips and chipsets and in components for advanced mobile phones and other consumer devices, the companies said in a joint statement. The licensed technology is expected to complement SMIC's work in 65-nanometer low-power technology.

SMIC, based in Shanghai, is among the largest wafer fabrication facilities, or fabs, in China. The company has two 300-millimeter wafer fabs in its Beijing megafab. In addition, SMIC will manage and operate a 300-millimeter wafer fab in Wuhan. That fab is owned by Wuhan XinXin Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Making chips with 45-nanometer integrated circuits boosts overall processing power by fitting more transistors on a processor than chips made with larger circuits. Intel started shipping 45-nanometer chips this year, and Advanced Micro Devices is expected to follow in 2008.

IBM and its joint development partners announced this month that they would make next-generation 32-nanometer processors available in the second half of 2009. IBM partners include AMD, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Freescale, Infineon, and Samsung.

IBM and its alliance partners have not yet begun volume production of 45-nanometer devices. That's expected to start at the end of the first quarter of 2008. The 32-nanometer devices are expected to deliver 30% higher performance than 45-nanometer products, while cutting power usage by 45%.

Nokia, the world's largest maker of cellphones, has been running ads that read “Open to Anything” and “Unlock your Potential.” The company wants cellphone buyers to know that its phones can be used with whatever carrier they choose, unlike a certain other phone that has been getting considerably more attention lately: Apple's iPhone. That phone is locked for use with only one carrier, the one chosen by Apple.

Nokia says its advertising campaign is not targeted at the iPhone. “A lot of people interpreted it as a shot at another product,” said Keith Nowak, a Nokia spokesman. “It wasn't its intention, to be honest.”

Indeed, nearly all mobile phone service providers discount the price of a handset, including Nokia's, in exchange for a fixed contract, usually two years. Even some phones sold at full price without contracts remain locked.

Many consumers want to unlock their phones, either with the permission of the carrier or, as is more commonly the case, without it. There are even better reasons to want to unlock a phone using the GSM standard, the most common in most of the world, rather than the CDMA standard, most prevalent in South Korea and Japan.

GSM phones use a small microchip that stores vital information like the customer's phone number and contact lists, as well as billing information. This SIM card is designed to be easily replaced, so someone who wants to switch carriers can simply get a new SIM card from that carrier and put it into his unlocked phone. Another advantage to an unlocked GSM phone is that it can be used in other countries by buying a local prepaid SIM card, thus avoiding huge international roaming fees.

More carriers are coming around to offering to remove the lock after a period of time, such as after 90 days or when the contract is fulfilled. Unlocking a phone without permission may void its warranty, so the consumer must pay to repair or replace it if something goes awry.

Apple said that nearly one out of every six iPhones sold in the United States was bought with the intention of unlocking it. Apple has tried to thwart the practice by updating the iPhone's software, turning any unlocked phone into a brick. But outside programmers say they have already broken the software lock again.

Apple locks its iPhones in the United States to AT&T, and it has announced similar exclusive deals with O2 in Britain, T-Mobile in Germany and Orange in France. Some European lawyers have noted that certain countries require mobile phones to be sold unlocked, and that would eliminate the exclusivity.

Antoine Gendreau, a French intellectual property lawyer, said in an e-mail that a seller must offer the product without a service plan even if he can sell it with a service plan at a lower price.

“A purchase with a service plan that is locked on an operator's network must be able to be unlocked so it can be used on any network at the request of the buyer, and must be done at no charge after six months,” Gendreau said. Orange has said it will sell an unlocked iPhone.

Some cellphone shops advertise that they will unlock certain phones for a small fee, usually $50 or less. And plenty of independent sellers offer unlocked cellphones; prices advertised online for an unlocked iPhone range from $400 to $700, depending on the storage capacity.

Guides have been published on the Web for unlocking popular handset brands like BlackBerry or Treo. Unlocking an iPhone is something that anyone can do in under an hour, said Kyle Matthews, the 25-year-old co-founder of ModMyiPhone.com, who said he had unlocked approximately 50.

“People that have no technological experience would be a little put off by it, because it's a little bit of work,” he said, “but anyone who has basic computer knowledge - it's really easy to do.”

The publicity around unlocking the iPhone has brought the issue to the attention of many Americans for the first time, said Susan Crawford, a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School who has studied the legal issues around unlocking.

“This may lead consumers in the U.S. to rise up and demand that their phones be unlocked,” she said.

LONDON: An advertisement in Belgium promoting the newly accelerated Eurostar trains recently caused a rare sense-of-humor failure in Britain.

The ad, a poster showing a shaven-headed English soccer hooligan urinating into a teacup, was discovered by British journalists who traveled to Brussels for the opening of the new high-speed train linking London to the English Channel. That created the odd spectacle of Fleet Street newspapers - never shy about resorting to national stereotypes when, say, the England soccer team plays a European rival - crying foul.

The Daily Mail quoted politicians as saying they thought the campaign was “disgusting” and “racist.”

The indignation eased when cooler heads consulted their travel guidebooks and realized that the pose of the “skinhead” closely matched that of a Brussels landmark, the Manneken Pis, a sculpture of a little boy who pees into a fountain.

This was all intended to show that London was now just “around the corner,” as the ads put it.

By shaving 20 minutes off journeys from London to Brussels and Paris, the new line has indeed brought the British, the French and the Belgians closer than ever - at least, if city-center-to-city-center travel is the measure. But the strikingly different ads marking the occasion in France, Britain and Belgium show that nationality can still trump geography in Europe.

At a time when some international marketers have embraced centralized advertising, Eurostar works with different ad agencies in each of the three markets: In Brussels, with TBWA, part of Omnicom Group; in London, with Fallon, owned by Publicis Groupe; and, in Paris, with Leg, whose parent is Havas.

“Strategically, what we're trying to do is the same in all three markets,” said Nicholas Mercer, Eurostar's commercial director. “But the way we express it in each country can be very different.”

In France, as in Belgium, Eurostar opted for humor. “Oubliez Waterloo” - “forget Waterloo” - urged a print ad featuring a painting of Napoleon, cheekily calling attention to the fact that the London terminus for Eurostar has been moved out of a station named after Napoleon's final defeat and into the refurbished St. Pancras International.

Other ads in the French campaign also highlighted the idea of change on the British side of the Channel Tunnel, while playing to French stereotypes about British eccentricity. One of the print ads, for instance, showed a British bobby casting off his uniform and streaking onto a soccer field.

In Britain, meanwhile, Fallon's campaign includes a 60-second television spot that takes viewers on a tour of St. Pancras. The camera lovingly pans across the grand expanse of the Victorian station.

“Say hello to 186 miles per hour,” the voice-over says.

That the Belgians and the French opted for humor while the British played it straight is “somewhat counterintuitive,” acknowledged Laurence Green, chairman of Fallon London. But, in a country where the railways have a less than glorious recent history, the on-time, on-budget completion of the high-speed line and the St. Pancras renovation - together, a £6 billion, or $12.4 billion, project - called for a sense of occasion, he added.

“It was important that a bit of national pride was invoked,” he said. “Even the most skeptical Brit is humbled by that building now.”

In Belgium, meanwhile, the strategic director at TBWA/Brussels, Bert Denis, said he was surprised by the reaction to the ad with the urinating hooligan. To Belgians, he said, London is seen as a place where people can express themselves more freely, and the campaign was simply intended to reflect that.”

To reinforce the idea that London is just around the corner, Eurostar has even taken over part of a Brussels bar called the Walvis, or Whale, turning it into an English pub. On one side, Belgian beers are served; on the other, English ales.

After a few pints, might the Belgians and the British agree that the storm over the Eurostar ad was just a tempest in a teacup?

Eric Pfanner can be reached at adcol@iht.com.

As tempting as Apple's iPhone and Amazon.com's Kindle are, I've refrained from buying them. Why? Because I'm certain these first-generation products will be significantly better in their second iterations.

Several intriguing products debuted or were announced in 2007. Here's a look back at some of them–as well as a look forward at what's likely to be their second-generation models.

Apple's iPhone

I had my reasons for not buying the justifiable outrage. That incident alone is an excellent example of why you should think twice about buying a first-gen product.

Other turn-offs for me: The iPhone uses AT&T's slow EDGE network for cellular wireless Internet connections, as opposed to the company's faster 3G network; it has only 8GB of storage, which is a lot for a phone, but not much for a portable media player; there's a paucity of third-party applications; the device can't record video recording; and AT&T is the sole iPhone provider in the U.S.

A second-gen iPhone, expected in 2008, is likely to address many of these concerns. AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson has already announced that a 3G iPhone would be forthcoming in 2008, though he didn't give a specific date.

It stands to reason the next iPhone will also offer more storage capacity. And some rumors are circulating online that Apple will refresh the first-gen iPhone during the first half of 2008 with more memory.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has already announced the company will release a software developer's kit in February 2008, to encourage third parties to develop native apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

As for video recording, there's been no official word. But several unofficial efforts are already under way to add this feature to current iPhones. Take a look at a video on Traveler 2.0.

Regarding the iPhone's ties to AT&T, Apple reportedly signed a multi-year exclusivity agreement with the wireless carrier, so we aren't likely to see iPhones for Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile anytime soon. But the iPhone has aroused consumer unrest around the whole business of cell phone companies locking devices to work only on their own networks.

Meanwhile, Google–a champion of "open access" networks–is developing a mobile phone platform to compete with Apple's. Google is also expected to bid on blocks of the wireless 700-MHz spectrum that the FCC is auctioning beginning on January 24. According to the FCC's rules, whoever licenses this spectrum must allow any devices to connect to their network.

Amazon.com's Kindle

Amazon.com took a leap forward with its $399 Kindle e-book reader. The device, introduced in November, allows you to wirelessly download e-books from Amazon.com using Sprint's 3G network. No contracts or charges are required to use the network. You can also pay to subscribe to Kindle-compatible versions of newspapers, magazines, and blogs, which are automatically downloaded to the device. If you haven't seen a Kindle, take a look at our video.

The Kindle has much to recommend, says our reviewer, Melissa J. Perenson. But there are some design flaws that, if Amazon.com is smart, will disappear in the second-gen device. Among them: The Kindle can be slow to respond to button presses, such as when you flip ahead several pages; it has a monochrome-only screen; and the navigation software is straightforward has some search limitations.

For its second act, I'm hoping the Kindle will offer a color screen, a lower price ($250 to $300 for an e-book reader feels more reasonable), and faster response to buttons. Also, some reviewers have complained it's too easy to accidentally press the page-forward and back buttons–another design issue that should be addressed.

Check back next week for three more products to watch for in 2008.

Further Exploration

• "Outcry Wins AT&T and Verizon Customers the Right to Gripe"
• "Travel Accessories for the iPod and iPhone"

Mobile Computing News, Reviews, & Tips

Geek Chic Wi-Fi T-Shirt: Though it's too late for Christmas, Think Geek's black Wi-Fi Detector T-shirt ($30) could certainly make a gag gift. The shirt has blue bars on the front that illuminate when you're near a wireless network. The stronger the signal, the more bars that light up. The detector can be removed for washing and is powered by three AAA batteries. Just remember to turn off your T-shirt when you go to the movies.

Enhancing and Securing a Wi-Fi Network: Our "In Pictures" guide will help you get more out of a Wi-Fi connection, whether it's at home, office, or on the road. Example: Public hotspots are notoriously unsecured. If you use them often, consider downloading and installing AnchorFree's free Hotspot Shield virtual private network software.

Tech Gear Coming Soon: PC World Contributing Editor Dan Tynan gazes into the crystal ball and sees more devices than ever connecting to the Internet, a la the iPod Touch and Archos 605 media players and the Chumby. What's that, you ask? You need to see for yourself.

Suggestion Box

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.

Contributing Editor James A. Martin offers tools, tips, and product recommendations to help you make the most of computing on the go. Martin is also author of the

 TALKING TECH
Home telephone service without a monthly bill. A bookstore that delivers best sellers to an e-book reader in a jiffy. And a smartphone that all but rewrites the rules of what a cellphone should be. These were among the tech items to capture my fancy this year.

It’s customary for columnists to compile annual “best of” lists. A list this year has to start with Apple’s (AAPL) seminal wunderkind, the iPhone.

And yet even as it advances the state of the art, the iPhone — and all the products on the 2007 Baig’s Best list — is something less than perfect. Perhaps more than other years, the roster includes products because they’re cool or broke new ground, rather than because they can’t dramatically improve. So Baig’s “Pretty Good” might be a more apt descriptor for the list.

I selected honorees from the pool of products I reviewed in my Personal Technology column. They were chosen because I (mostly) liked them — not because they necessarily racked up big sales.

IPhone:

Living up to the hype. I’d love to see an iPhone that’s compatible with a speedier third-generation, or 3G, data network, which provider AT&T (T) has hinted is coming next year. IPhones now work with Wi-Fi or AT&T’s poky Edge network. The 8-gigabyte version costs $399 — $200 off its debut price — and requires a two-year voice and data plan (in the USA) with AT&T.

The device marries a slender fashion phone with a slick iPod and true-to-life Internet browser. IPhone has a striking 3.5-inch touch-screen display that shows off pictures and movies beautifully. And there’s a virtual keypad or keyboard that turns up only as needed.

Apple OS X Leopard:

One cool cat. With all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone and iPod, it’s easy to forget that Apple sells computers — very good ones. Apple’s latest operating system for those machines, OS X Leopard (included on new Macs; $129 to upgrade), boasts several terrific new features, from prettier e-mail to a prettier desktop environment.

My favorite feature is called Time Machine, which lets you easily back up and restore files on your computer using cool outer-space-like special effects. (An external hard drive is required.)

Leopard also includes Boot Camp, which lets you run Windows XP or Vista on a Mac, provided you supply Windows software.

Smartphones:

Oceans and Curves and Centros, oh my. Smartphones aren’t just for businesses anymore, and iPhone wasn’t the only new device to reinforce that point.

The Helio Ocean, starting at $199, is among my favorites. The “dual-slider” device has a regular keypad for dialing and a slide-out qwerty, or traditional, one for banging out text messages and e-mail, key functions for the targeted social-networking crowd.

Meanwhile, with the new thin and light (3.9-ounce) BlackBerry Curve, Research In Motion continues to prove that BlackBerrys aren’t the staid corporate-only handsets they used to be. Curve includes software for transferring music, videos and pictures — and has a standard jack for connecting stereo earbuds.

There’s nothing about the Palm Centro smartphone that will have you line up in advance to get one. The keyboard is cramped. And yet it’s a competent smartphone that borrows several features from its more expensive Treo siblings. Sprint is selling the device at an attractive $99 (after rebates and data plan).

Amazon Kindle:

Book ‘em. Kindle gets the nod over portable e-book rivals. How come? Unlike competitors, you can wirelessly buy books (and other content) and transfer purchases directly to the device in less than a minute. Amazon (AMZN) uses the same EV-DO technology used in some cellphones.

The virtual ink on the device is highly readable, like paper. Kindle can hold more than 200 titles in built-in memory (more with an optional memory card).

At $399, it isn’t cheap. The placement of large buttons on both edges sometimes made me flip pages when I didn’t want to. It’s kind of homely.

Ooma:

A “free” phone line. Start-up Ooma wants to make monthly telephone bills a thing of the past. That’s a tall order, given how easily start-ups bite the dust. Still, the company in Silicon Valley’s Palo Alto says it will increase retail availability in 2008, beyond Ooma.com and Amazon.com.

You shell out $399 (the price will climb to $599 early next year) for a box that’s smaller than a typical answering machine. This Ooma Hub connects to your broadband Internet service and an ordinary telephone handset. From then on, all local and long-distance calls in the USA are free. You can plug in extra handsets through optional Ooma Scout devices ($39.95 each).

Through a “virtual second line” feature, you don’t have to hang up your call because someone else in the house needs the phone. Downside: If your Internet connection dies, there goes your phone service.

Pandora:

Lovely Internet radio. The Pandora online music service lets you build instant custom radio stations just by typing in an artist or song. You can click on a thumbs-up or -down button on every song it serves up to help it learn what you like. Pandora, which recently added classical music, costs $36 a year or is free with ads.

DirecTV Sat-Go:

A new mobile TV. It’s a football tailgater’s dream, within limits. DirecTV (DTV) Sat-Go is a complete satellite TV system in a briefcase. The briefcase’s lid doubles as the antenna. You can use the 17-inch LCD display as a second DirecTV tuner at home.

Admittedly, this is a niche product. The geeky-looking briefcase is heavy (27 lbs), wide (19½ inches) and vaguely reminiscent of the “luggable” computers of the 1980s. The price has dropped to $999 from $1,499 when I first reviewed it in May (plus the cost of DirecTV programming). Alas, setup can be tricky if you lack clear access to the Southern sky. The screen is hard to see in direct sun. Battery life is lousy.

All that said, for the right audience, Sat-Go is really cool. And as the products on the list prove, “cool” goes a long way to making you forgive a few blemishes.

E-mail: ebaig@usatoday.com

In an interview last month with Business Week, Sony's CEO Sir Howard Stringer acknowledged that the high-definition format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD has indeed been caught in a stalemate. While Stringer was merely confirming what had been obvious to most industry watchers for some time, his remarks caused quite a stir, given Sony's enormous investment to-date in the Blu-ray format.

For consumers who dislike choosing between two formats for their favorite movie content, the multibillion-dollar question is how much longer the stalemate between Blu-ray and HD DVD will last. While many potential buyers sit on the sidelines hoping for a clear victor, makers of the high-def players are doing their best to win them over with price cuts and exclusive content.

War Could Drag On

In anticipation of the holiday shopping season, Toshiba (one of the main backers of the HD DVD format) launched a sub-$100 sale of its second-generation player, the HD-A2. According to some estimates, the resulting run on units at Wal-Mart and Best Buy brought nearly 100,000 consumers into the HD DVD camp.

But Russ Crupnick, vice president and senior industry analyst for entertainment at The NPD Group, questioned whether a short-term sale would be enough to resolve the format war.

"I'm not sure we're at the point where either camp is near declaring victory," Crupnick told us, at the time of the price cuts. "The lower price and potential for some hot deals on HD players does invigorate the HD side, but Blu-ray has some compelling content coming out, like 'Spiderman.' We may be another year from seeing a victor, or the war could drag on."

Adding to consumer enthusiasm for the Toshiba sale was the fact that each unit came with a coupon for five free HD DVD movies, a value nearly equal to the sale price of the player itself.

Forced To Choose Sides

The offer of five free movies underscores the fact that, in any format war, content is still king. Indeed, the ongoing struggle over the industry standard for high definition has forced most movie producers to choose sides.

While Warner Brothers has demonstrated success in supplying content to both sides, the format war seems to be a lose-lose situation for many of the studios. Ultimately, studios run the risk of alienating a significant portion of their high-definition-watching customers, and movie fans either need two players (which is an unlikely scenario) or must forego content in the noncompatible format.

In the beginning, Sony and its Blu-ray format had the advantage with more movie studios on their side. But recently, Sony CEO Stringer said, the HD DVD coalition persuaded Paramount to issue content exclusively on the HD DVD format. Now, the major movie studios are roughly divided between the two formats, with only Warner Brothers successfully working both sides.

'High Definition Life'

Crupnick pointed out that another factor influencing both camps is the speed with which consumers are purchasing new high-definition televisions.

As high-def TVs become more mainstream, HD DVD and Blu-ray each have a better chance, he explained, "because without the TV, the player is of little use." The next step, he said, is that the people who buy HD TVs need to be connected to HD service so that they can "begin to experience the high definition life."

The real question, Crupnick suggested, is whether both HD DVD and Blu-ray will be overtaken by broadband delivery of content. That question, he said, will likely be answered over the next few years.

This article was written by Scott Baldauf.

When a massive earthquake shakes some corner of the Pacific Ocean, sensors alert Pacific Rim nations of possible tsunamis. When massive downpours converge on the nations of Central America, satellite imagery and computer modeling helps those nations to prepare for possible floods.

But what about Africa? This vast continent of 53 nations has been struck so often by natural disasters - from drought to flood to disease - that the continent is all-too-often synonymous with cataclysm.

While such disasters will continue, technological help from the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) - a partnership of 72 nations that share satellite imagery and other remote sensing information - will soon give African nations a leg up when it comes to managing natural emergencies. At a meeting here on Nov. 30, GEO members agreed to expand the group’s operations from the Americas and Europe into Africa.

The expansion comes at a critical time. As climate change makes itself felt around the world, no one is more affected than Africa’s 800 million citizens. Any opportunity to prepare for and mitigate the effects of extreme changes in climate can help nations prevent droughts from becoming famines, heavy rains from becoming floods, and an outbreak of disease from becoming an epidemic.

“We are at the confluence of a number of events,” says Vice Adm. (ret.) Conrad Lautenbacher, the U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and one of GEO’s co-chairs. “We have computing capabilities to produce worldwide models,” he says. “We can observe what’s happening with sensors on the ground and in space. And communication technology has opened up the world, so that we can move this information around quickly.”

With the expansion of GEO, the U.S. and other developed countries have agreed to share satellite imagery and computer modeling to suggest what may happen up to three months into the future. The data and computer models would cover not just weather patterns, but also likely conditions for the spread of diseases such as malaria, for shifts in human population, and even for changes in air quality.

Africa’s contribution, for the time being, will be to share ground data with GEO member countries while they build their capacity to conduct more sophisticated weather forecasting and analysis.

“Capacity building is so crucial,” says Daniel Irwin, a NASA scientist and project director of SERVIR (the Spanish acronym for Regional Visualization and Monitoring System). Satellites cannot do the work alone, he adds. “This is a genuine partnership. We provide satellite data, and they go out and collect field data, and we create a value-added product. Now we get information to be part of the decision-making process.”

Building on a successful model

For all its potential wealth in minerals, oil, and other natural resources, Africa remains a continent highly dependent on subsistence agriculture. In many countries, more than half the citizens survive literally on what they grow. Any extreme change in weather can be devastating. In the two decades before 2000, according to GEO, more than 2 million people died because of drought in three countries alone: Ethiopia, Sudan, and Mozambique.

“We in the U.S. lose about $6 to $8 billion a year because of drought,” says Admiral Lautenbacher. Improved use of satellite imagery and computer models for tracking weather patterns are helping farmers and state governments to prepare for dry seasons and wet seasons.

A model for helping developing countries benefit from the same technology to prepare for changing weather patterns already exists. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico already share weather data through their North American Drought Monitor, and in February 2005, they expanded operations to include Central America.

In November 2006, after just one year of the system being in place, Central American meteorologists were able to use satellite imagery and ground observations to predict the effects of major a tropical storm in northern Panama. The system allowed Panama’s president to intervene early by issuing an alert, which helped avert a wider disaster.

Competition from China and Brazil

While the GEO process is motivated by the spirit of scientific information-sharing and partnership, there is also a touch of cold war-style competition for African hearts and minds - and their attendant deals for natural resources.

On Wednesday, China and Brazil announced a separate contribution to the GEO effort, which they call the Chinese Brazilian Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS). They are offering real-time, high-resolution satellite imagery to developing countries for free. The two countries will also offer on-demand geographic information system tools and training for those who need it.

“This new service forms a major contribution to international efforts to build the Global Earth Observation System of Systems,” said Zheng Guoguang, head of the China Meteorological Administration at a press conference in Cape Town. “It will strengthen sustainable development and risk management throughout Africa.”

Phil Mjwara, director general of the South African Department of Science and Technology, insists that African nations have no intention of merely taking handouts. They have the capacity and will to contribute their own data and analysis to the GEO process. On the planning boards right now is a continent-wide “constellation” of low-orbit microsatellites that will allow African member nations to provide nearly 24-hour coverage, at a fraction of the cost of geostationary satellites.

“I think everyone realizes that environmental changes are happening, and affecting everyone,” says Dr. Mjwara. “There is not a single nation that can live alone…. People are realizing it’s through a collective that we can solve our problems.”

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s top maker of large-size liquid crystal display panels, said on Thursday it was countersuing Japan’s Sharp Corp (6753.T: Quote, Profile, Research) for patent infringement.

“We are countersuing Sharp in Delaware in the United States and in Tokyo,” Samsung spokesman James Chung said.

“We have also requested the U.S. International Trade Commission to launch an investigation in this case,” Chung said.

Sharp, the world’s third-largest LCD TV maker behind Samsung and Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research), sued Samsung earlier this month in the Seoul Central District Court for patent infringement. It also filed suit against Samsung in the United States in August.

(Reporting by Marie-France Han; Editing by Sei Chong)

 ’ZACK & WIKI’ Score: 10 stars (out of 10) Best for ages: 8 and up Platform: Nintendo Wii Publisher: Capcom Price: $40
Every once in a while, a video game developer does everything right. That’s the case with Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure from Capcom, this year’s sleeper hit for the Nintendo Wii.

What makes this game so special is that it combines a quirky cartoon adventure, featuring a young pirate boy and his whirly-gig sidekick, with outstanding environmental puzzles that get your creative juices flowing. Plus, to keep children from getting frustrated, the game builds in a hint system and the ability to redo fatal mistakes. And, as icing on this video game cake, the game is loaded with hilarious dialogue.

The story’s premise is simple: Zack, a candy-bar munching pirate boy, wants to become the greatest pirate in the world. To do that, he needs your help in finding treasure. In the game’s 24 environmental puzzles, the goal in most is for Zack to get to the treasure. Standing in your way are a variety of goons or monsters, mysterious objects and physical barriers. Each puzzle starts with a flyover, giving you a bird’s-eye view of the landscape and the location of the treasure. Helping you is Wiki, a magical creature with a tail that can spin like a helicopter. Wiki hovers near Zack and has the magical power to turn ordinary items into useful tools.

For example, in one puzzle, you arrive at a location that looks like an exotic water park. A treasure chest is hiding in an underwater cave. To get there, you need to slide down a water slide, knock out the guardian goon by having Wiki turn a frog into a bomb, find a worm to put on a hook of a fishing pole, catch a big, toothy fish by casting with the Wii remote, and then pull up a stopper at the bottom of the pool of water to drain it so you can reach the key to the treasure chest room. Finally, you must replace the stopper to refill the pool so you can swim under water into the cave housing the treasure chest.

The key to solving these puzzles is to figure out what you can manipulate in the environment and in which order you must do things. If, in the example above, you slide down the water slide before sending the frog bomb down to stun the guardian goon, the goon will grab you, truss you up, and you “die” (nothing bad is shown, just that the puzzle is over). The good news is you can restart a puzzle as many times as you want.

You solve each puzzle by using the Wii remote in a variety of creative ways. To move Zack, you point and click. Clicking on things around you will reveal money and hidden objects. As you work your way through the game’s progressively difficult puzzles, you will use the remote to twist open doors, fish for gigantic fish, play the piccolo, shake animals to morph them into tools or weapons, and so much more. Some actions require timing, others require finesse. In the higher levels, you will do some fighting.

With more than 30 hours of game play, the puzzles can be played slowly over time. There are also minigames to explore. Plus, the game allows others to get involved as advisers who can draw circles around areas to investigate. This is a fun way for a parent and child to play together.

Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids magazine (www.ComputingWithKids.com). Contact her at gnstech@gns.gannett.com.