iPad1 still a good choice

iPad1 still a good choice
Magnus Nystedt
Now that Apple’s iPad 2 has been released and is set to arrive in the Middle East at some point soon, the question is whether you really need it?

The answer is, for most of us, pretty obviously “no, we don’t”. But I’m specifically talking about the choice between Apple’s new iPad and all its bells and whistles and the original iPad, released just a year ago. Perhaps you own an iPad 1, and you’re considering whether to upgrade or perhaps you are thinking about buying your first iPad; let’s look at your choices

With iPad 2, you get mainly three things: cameras, more speed, and a slimmer design. The slimmer design is the point that is most subjective, although there’s no denying that Apple did an amazing job packing more into a smaller space while keeping battery life the same.

Cameras are no doubt a great attraction, and an obvious reason to get the latest model. The camera on the rear may shoot 720 HD video but it takes stills only at 960x540 pixels, not even a megapixel worth. The front-facing camera only supports 640x480 and is good only for video conferencing. If you plan on use FaceTime for video conferencing you should be aware that in the UAE, that service is blocked and the application will most likely not installed on official iPads sold here.

The added speed in iPad 2 is probably where you would see most difference in everyday use. Apple’s dual core A5 processor adds significant boost in processing power and better graphics also helps to make iPad 2 really fast. If you like to play games, especially graphics-intensive 3D games, you will definitely see a difference. What also matters is double the RAM in iPad 2; 512MB up from 256 in the original model.

One important thing to remember is that the software is the same on the two iPads. Currently the latest version is iOS 4.3.1 and it runs just as well on both. With Apple’s track record of keeping older products running on the latest software, there’s no need to worry about the original iPad becoming obsolete anytime soon.

With all what’s new in iPad 2 you’re wondering why should you even look at buying the old model? Well, the truth is for most of what you would do with the tablet, like browsing the Web, e-mail, social networking, reading a book, etc. you will not see any difference. So then you’re left with whether you need the cameras and I would put it to you that most users may say they want cameras but will hardly, if ever, use them.

The bottom line is this: you can save some money by going for Apple’s first-generation iPad and it can do almost everything the new one can and just as well. So, why not look beyond the “latest and greatest?” Even if you buy the original iPad, I’m sure you’ll be very happy with it as it is still quite simply a stunning product.

from - http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle09.asp?section=technology&xfile=data/technology/2011/April/technology_April30.xml

Osama Bin Laden history

Who Is Osama Bin Laden?

by Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa

A few hours after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, the Bush administration concluded without supporting evidence, that "Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organisation were prime suspects". CIA Director George Tenet stated that bin Laden has the capacity to plan ``multiple attacks with little or no warning.'' Secretary of State Colin Powell called the attacks "an act of war" and President Bush confirmed in an evening televised address to the Nation that he would "make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them". Former CIA Director James Woolsey pointed his finger at "state sponsorship," implying the complicity of one or more foreign governments. In the words of former National Security Adviser, Lawrence Eagleburger, "I think we will show when we get attacked like this, we are terrible in our strength and in our retribution."

Meanwhile, parroting official statements, the Western media mantra has approved the launching of "punitive actions" directed against civilian targets in the Middle East. In the words of William Saffire writing in the New York Times: "When we reasonably determine our attackers' bases and camps, we must pulverize them -- minimizing but accepting the risk of collateral damage" -- and act overtly or covertly to destabilize terror's national hosts".

The following text outlines the history of Osama Bin Laden and the links of the Islamic "Jihad" to the formulation of US foreign policy during the Cold War and its aftermath

In the Wake of the Cold War
In the wake of the Cold War, the Central Asian region is not only strategic for its extensive oil reserves, it also produces three quarters of the World's opium representing multibillion dollar revenues to business syndicates, financial institutions, intelligence agencies and organized crime. The annual proceeds of the Golden Crescent drug trade (between 100 and 200 billion dollars) represents approximately one third of the Worldwide annual turnover of narcotics, estimated by the United Nations to be of the order of $500 billion.14
With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a new surge in opium production has unfolded. (According to UN estimates, the production of opium in Afghanistan in 1998-99 -- coinciding with the build up of armed insurgencies in the former Soviet republics-- reached a record high of 4600 metric tons.15 Powerful business syndicates in the former Soviet Union allied with organized crime are competing for the strategic control over the heroin routes.
The ISI's extensive intelligence military-network was not dismantled in the wake of the Cold War. The CIA continued to support the Islamic "jihad" out of Pakistan. New undercover initiatives were set in motion in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus essentially "served as a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of six new Muslim republics in Central Asia." 16.
Meanwhile, Islamic missionaries of the Wahhabi sect from Saudi Arabia had established themselves in the Muslim republics as well as within the Russian federation encroaching upon the institutions of the secular State. Despite its anti-American ideology, Islamic fundamentalism was largely serving Washington's strategic interests in the former Soviet Union.
Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, the civil war in Afghanistan continued unabated. The Taliban were being supported by the Pakistani Deobandis and their political party the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). In 1993, JUI entered the government coalition of Prime Minister Benazzir Bhutto. Ties between JUI, the Army and ISI were established. In 1995, with the downfall of the Hezb-I-Islami Hektmatyar government in Kabul, the Taliban not only instated a hardline Islamic government, they also "handed control of training camps in Afghanistan over to JUI factions..." 17
And the JUI with the support of the Saudi Wahhabi movements played a key role in recruiting volunteers to fight in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union.
Jane Defense Weekly confirms in this regard that "half of Taliban manpower and equipment originate[d] in Pakistan under the ISI" 18
In fact, it would appear that following the Soviet withdrawal both sides in the Afghan civil war continued to receive covert support through Pakistan's ISI. 19
In other words, backed by Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) which in turn was controlled by the CIA, the Taliban Islamic State was largely serving American geopolitical interests. The Golden Crescent drug trade was also being used to finance and equip the Bosnian Muslim Army (starting in the early 1990s) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In last few months there is evidence that Mujahideen mercenaries are fighting in the ranks of KLA-NLA terrorists in their assaults into Macedonia.
No doubt, this explains why Washington has closed its eyes on the reign of terror imposed by the Taliban including the blatant derogation of women's rights, the closing down of schools for girls, the dismissal of women employees from government offices and the enforcement of "the Sharia laws of punishment".20

from - http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html