On-line Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Vietnam Wall) : Footnote.com:
"Leave a tribute, a story or photograph about any of the 58,256 veterans killed or missing in the Vietnam War."

Here's the note Kim Kommando sent about this:

"March 29, 2008—Vol. 12, No. 13
A DIGITAL TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO FELL IN VIETNAM
More than 30 years have passed since the Vietnam War ended. Perhaps you knew someone who died in the war. Maybe you've visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. With 58,320 names on the wall, one person could be difficult to locate.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has gone digital. The digital version is stitched together from more than 6,000 photographs. You can search for a name on the wall quickly and easily using the search box. It will take you to the name instantly."

P/R Disaster @ Heathrow Airport

If you've ever been frustrated at spending weeks training to implement a new system or open a new facility - this is why we do it. This is also why our Best Buy had approximately 3 employees per customer the first week, and why there were actually managers in sight. When a local chain store chain can get it right, an international airline ought to have a clue.

Heathrow Horror Show | Autopia from Wired.com:
"Two hour waits, broken elevators, and 15,000 misplaced bags. It's just another day at London's Heathrow Airport.

Last week, amidst much hoopla and self-congratulation, British Airways opened it's glittering new $8.6 billion Terminal 5 at Heathrow. The size of 50 football fields and capable of handling 30 million passengers a year, the modern, airy glass and steel extravaganza was supposed to be the answer to the chronic congestion that has made Heathrow one of the most detested airports in the world.
. . .
Many of the early shift baggage handlers reporting for work on opening day couldn't find parking spaces at the new terminal or got stuck at security checkpoints, creating a huge staffing shortage. Those who did make it in either couldn't log into the computerized baggage sorting system or didn't know how it worked (not good news if you handle baggage for a living). As a result belts began jamming up, and the first three flights of the morning took off without any luggage on board at all. Instead, those bags piled up at the terminal.

While the baggage handlers were struggling to get luggage from the terminal onto outbound flights, they also had to figure out how to deal with bags coming in on arriving flights. This didn't go so well, with some passengers waiting 90 minutes for luggage to arrive at baggage claim. Front line employees trying to manage the chaos claim that their desperate calls to supervisors went unanswered.

But wait, it gets better. Planes were forced to sit idle at the T5 gates while British Airways baggage handlers struggled to get them loaded and unloaded, which meant arriving flights had no place to park and began piling up on the tarmac. This made getting the right bag onto the right plane still more complicated, creating more delays, which in turn meant that even more bags piled up inside the sorting system. Lather, rinse, repeat.
. . .
Baggage was the main issue, but plenty of other stuff went wrong at Terminal 5, too. Check in desks were closed when the first passengers arrived on opening day. Escalators and elevators didn't work. Self pay kiosks in the parking garages malfunctioned. And as icing on the cake, a flashmob of "Stop Airport Expansion" protesters descended on the terminal that morning, forming the occasional conga line and further annoying passengers who were undoubtedly already wanting to kill someone.

The final tally at the end of the weekend: 15,000 bags sitting somewhere in the bowels of Terminal 5, hundreds of flights canceled, and a complete public relations disaster for British Airways."

Emphasis added.

American Express Buys GE Money's corporate-payment services

This is of interest to folks in Phoenix & Salt Lake City where American Express has many employees ... Acquiring GE as a Corporate Card customer is a big plus in this deal.

UPDATE: American Express To Buy GE Money Unit For $1.1 Billion:
"American Express Co. (AXP) agreed to purchase General Electric Co.'s (GE) GE Money's corporate-payment services, which provides commercial payment and purchasing cards to corporations, for $1.1 billion.
. . .
GE created corporate-payment services in 1992 to issue corporate travel and entertainment cards and purchasing cards to employees. The unit, which now caters to more than 300 large corporate clients, generated more than $14 billion in 2007 global purchase volume and maintained $1.1 billion in receivables at Dec. 31, the companies said. Its billed business has grown at a compounded rate of 18% over the last five years. It employs about 350 people, largely in Salt Lake City.

The transaction calls for GE, the unit's largest client, to become a client of American Express under a multiyear pact, the companies said.

For American Express, the deal is part of an ongoing strategy to focus on the payments sector and follows the sale last month of its international banking subsidiary. Corporate-payment products are similar to those offered by American Express' commercial card business, which handles the travel, entertainment and purchasing spending by employees of large corporations and mid-sized companies. Accounts typically are paid in full at the end of each month, rather than through a revolving credit account.

The sale also includes the purchase of GE's vPayment technology, which permits the processing of large payments with fraud controls.

Mark Begor, president and chief executive of GE Money's operations in the Americas, said the unit "has been a terrific GE growth story, and today's announcement underscores the value we've created from a business that essentially had a single client only about a decade ago. This transaction meets GE's strategy of redeploying assets in financial services and is a win for GE, our shareowners, and our customers."

American Express expects the acquisition to slightly cut per-share earnings and return on equity in the early years following the transaction."

American Express buying GE Money unit - Forbes.com:
"The acquisition is part of American Express' strategy to grow its payments business. The unit being acquired is similar to American Express' commercial card business, which handles work expenses by employees of mid- and large-sized companies.

American Express said the deal will add to revenue immediately, but reduce earnings slightly in the first few years after the deal is completed. The expectation for a small decline in earnings is based on an expectation the cash used to buy the unit would have otherwise been used to repurchase common stock.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the month."

GE reaches a pair of deals with American Express, Santander - MarketWatch:
"'American Express is hoping to increase its value proposition to corporate clients by complementing its market-leading corporate card program with a robust purchasing card program -- all for a 'one-stop shop' approach,' said Red Gillen, senior analyst with Celent, a Boston-based financial research and consulting firm.

GE, which has signed a multiyear contact with American Express, said the deal will allow it to put assets in financial services to different use.

'GE Money has traditionally been more focused on the consumer space and, given the current economic crisis, a capital infusion from selling a business unit of secondary importance comes at an opportune time,' Gillen said."

Emphasis added.

Welfare Reform: Reduced Poverty & Unwed Childbirth

When what you've been doing isn't working, it is time to try something new. In 1996 Congress enacted a welfare reform program that many forecast was doomed to fail. It has actually been very successful.

Welfare Reform Turns Ten: Evidence Shows Reduced Dependence, Poverty:
". . . President Johnson’s War on Poverty had failed to reduce welfare dependence. From 1965 to 1994, AFDC caseloads rose steadily, reaching a height of 5 million families on the rolls. Because prolonged welfare dependence has negative effects on the development of children, welfare reform was intended to disrupt inter-generational dependence by moving families off the welfare rolls through increased work and marriage. Welfare caseloads began to decline in earnest after 1996 and have fallen by 56 percent since then.President Johnson’s War on Poverty had failed to reduce welfare dependence. From 1965 to 1994, AFDC caseloads rose steadily, reaching a height of 5 million families on the rolls. Because prolonged welfare dependence has negative effects on the development of children, welfare reform was intended to disrupt inter-generational dependence by moving families off the welfare rolls through increased work and marriage. Welfare caseloads began to decline in earnest after 1996 and have fallen by 56 percent since then.

This decline in welfare dependence coincided with the increase in the employment of single mothers. These trends have been particularly dramatic among those who have the greatest tendency to long-term dependence: younger never-married mothers with little education. During the late 1990s, employment of never-married mothers increased by nearly 50 percent, of single mothers who are high school dropouts by 66 percent, and of young single mothers (ages 18 to 24) by nearly 100 percent. Welfare reform impacted the whole welfare caseload, not just the most employable.

Not surprisingly, as families left welfare and single mothers transitioned into work, the child poverty rate fell, from 20.8 percent in 1995 to 17.8 percent in 2004, lifting 1.6 million children out of poverty. The declines in poverty among black children and children from single-mother families were unprecedented. Neither poverty level had changed much between 1971 and 1995. By contrast, six years after PRWORA was enacted, these two poverty rates had fallen to their lowest levels in national history, from 41.5 percent to 30 percent for black children and from 53.1 percent to 39.8 percent for children from single-mother families.

Since welfare reform, the once explosive growth of unwed childbearing has ended. The unwed birthrate was 7.7 percent in 1965 and increased about one percentage point per year for the next thirty years. Had this rate of increase been sustained, the unwed childbearing rate would have hit 41.6 percent by 2003, but welfare reform interrupted this process. Between 1995 and 2003, overall unwed childbearing inched upward by only 2.4 percentage points, a fourth of the pre-reform rate of increase. The black unwed childbearing rate actually fell from 69.9 percent in 1995 to 68.2 percent in 2003.

Opponents of reform would like to credit many of these positive changes to a good economy, but the evidence for this interpretation is not strong. While a healthy economy did contribute to the progress charted in welfare dependence, employment, and poverty, good economic conditions alone would not have produced the striking changes that occurred in the late 1990s.

Historically, periods of economic growth have not resulted in lower welfare dependence. Indeed, during two episodes of economic expansion, the late 1960s and the early 1970s, welfare caseloads actually grew substantially. Only during the 1990s boom did caseloads drop appreciably. While a slowed economy may have affected the rate of caseload reduction since 2001, it is important to note the vast difference in trends before and after welfare reform. In the days of AFDC, welfare rolls remained flat or rose during periods of economic growth and rose substantially during recessions. Since PRWORA, caseloads have plummeted in a robust economy and declined slowly during a recession.
. . .
Welfare reform has been successful. However, that success has been limited by several factors. First, welfare reform in 1996 addressed only one of the more than fifty means-tested federal welfare programs, AFDC. Second, the federal work requirements that pushed the states to promote work and reduce welfare dependence have always been too lenient, resulting in lax state work programs once the minimum federal standards have been met. Third, while the law set clear goals to reduce out-of-wedlock childbearing and strengthen marriages, nearly all states’ bureaucracies simply ignored these goals.

To continue and extend the success of welfare reform, future efforts should focus on the following goals: 1) strengthen TANF work requirements; 2) establish work requirements in parallel welfare programs; and 3) fortify the Healthy Marriage Initiative."

More music options at work

This morning I'm listening to a couple of CDs from home, but the CDs are still there. I was surprised how easy Windows Media Player 9 made it to rip music from the CDs and Synch it to a little USB thumbdrive.

Once I got to work, I inserted the thumbdrive, and windows offered to play the music right away. The sound quality seems nearly as good as when I play CDs on the work computer.

The ripped music takes less space than I imagined - I have 2 albums on my Memorex 1Gb TravelDrive, and I still have over 800 Mb left for files, pictures, etc.

I realize I'm not breaking any new ground here - I've known this could be done for years, but it was always easy enough to bring in CDs. Now that I'm in the habit of carrying a thumbdrive everywhere, I decided to give it a try.

I realize 1/2 the world carries iPODs or other MP3 players, but that is just one more thing to add to the pile in my pockets. The thumbdrive fits on a keyring and is always with me (it is on a ring with a Swiss Army knife and a Red Cross CPR Key Chain).

If a post-middle-aged babyboomer can do it, you can to - give it a try . . .

IRS Investigates UCC

This inquiry is in regard to the national organization and I believe it shouldn't affect local congregations.

IRS grants three-week extension for UCC's response: "The UCC has been granted a three-week extension to respond to the Internal Revenue Service's inquiry of Sen. Barack Obama's June 2007 speech at the UCC's General Synod in Hartford, Conn. The deadline is now set for March 27.
. . .
Even as the IRS continues its investigation, the Rev. John H. Thomas said the UCC will not shirk from its longstanding tradition of advocating for justice as a fundamental tenet of UCC faith and witness.

"When the church speaks out on issues of justice and peace it is continuing a prophetic witness rooted in the Bible and at the heart of the traditions in American church history that have shaped the United Church of Christ," Thomas said. "Labeling this as partisan or political represents a profound misunderstanding of the moral responsibility of the church and its members to be involved in the great and pressing public issues of the day."

The UCC's legal team is being headed by former U.S. Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman from the prestigious law firm WilmerHale of Washington, D.C."

Arthur C. Clarke - R.I.P.

One of my favorite authors - he lived a long life and although Earth-bound, Clark was able to live in the style he chose & crafted for himself.

Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke dies aged 90 - Times Online:
"Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer, has died aged 90 in his adopted home of Sri Lanka
. . .
The visionary author of more than 70 books, who was nominated for a Nobel Prize after predicting the existence of satellites, was most famous for his short story "The Sentinel", which was expanded into the novel that was later adapted for Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey".

He was also credited with inventing the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality.

Clarke was the last surviving member of what was sometimes known as the "Big Three" of science fiction, alongside Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov."

If you've never read Arthur C. Clarke, you're missing out on some great science fiction that is both technically accurate and quite entertaining.

Technology finds your lost objects

Wow - talk about just-in-time engineering! Some of us baby-boomers could use these now. There should be a large & growing market through the next several decades.

Smart Goggle tracks your gear so you don't have to : Gina Hughes : Yahoo! Tech:
"The good professors over at the University of Tokyo have developed a pair of intelligent glasses that can remember where you last saw your gadgets, keys, or wallet, says the Daily Mail. The current Smart Goggles prototype is far from being trendy. A small camera mounted above the left eye and a viewfinder over the right eye connect to a mini-computer users carry on their back; but Professor Kuniyoshi said within a few years, the camera and viewfinder will be smaller and more fashionable.

To program the system, the user walks around the house looking at objects they want to keep track of. Once focused on the item, they'll need to say the name of the object aloud, so the system can store the name and shape of the object in its memory. The next time the user loses an item they programmed, the system will search its video archives and display its last known location on the viewfinder."

NRCC Defrauded for up to $1 Million

A national organization like this should have had better controls in place - with all the government oversight of the political process how did someone make off with hundreds of thousands of dollars?

NRCC Says Ex-Treasurer Diverted Up to $1 Million - washingtonpost.com:
"The former treasurer for the National Republican Congressional Committee diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and possibly as much as $1 million -- of the organization's funds into his personal accounts, GOP officials said yesterday, describing an alleged scheme that could become one of the largest political frauds in recent history.

For at least four years, Christopher J. Ward, who is under investigation by the FBI, allegedly used wire transfers to funnel money out of NRCC coffers and into other political committee accounts he controlled as treasurer, NRCC leaders and lawyers said in their first public statement since they turned the matter over to the FBI six weeks ago.

"The evidence we have today indicated we have been deceived and betrayed for a number of years by a highly respected and trusted individual," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the NRCC chairman.

The committee also announced that it has submitted to banks five years' worth of audits and financial documents allegedly faked by Ward, some of which were used to secure multimillion-dollar loans. It is a violation of federal laws to obtain loans through false statements; the crime is punishable by up to $1 million in fines and 30 years in prison.

Before yesterday, the committee, which raised $49 million in 2007, had not acknowledged that any money was missing. It announced on Feb. 1 that it had discovered "irregularities" that might involve fraud, dismissed Ward and called in federal investigators."

Technology helps seniors live independently

One of our neighbors has a doctor prescribed scale that phones an office every time she weighs herself. The office calls her or notifies others (as required) if she fails to weigh-in according to the daily schedule or if there are significant weight changes. An Internet connection & a PC or Mac could reduce the cost of this service considerably in addition to performing more services as described in this article.

Aging under a high-tech eye -- chicagotribune.com:
"Carol Roberts' 77-year-old mother is active and mentally sharp, but she suffers from a seizure disorder that requires close monitoring. 'She didn't want to lose her independence, but she was apprehensive about living alone,' Roberts says.

One option was assisted living, but then Roberts heard of an alternative: new technology called the GrandCare System, which uses strategically placed home sensors to record motion in key spots such as the bathroom, entryway and bedroom. 'She can live in her own space, and I don't worry,' says Roberts, who can monitor motion via computer and notice if, say, her mother, who lives in Daytona Beach, Fla., has wandered out the front door, possibly disoriented.

Such technology is just one example of the so-called 'aging in place' movement driven by Baby Boomers who are growing older.
. . .
When Olga Zaffos left her front door wide open, her daughter and son-in-law knew immediately. A video camera strategically positioned in the 87-year-old Oklahoma City woman's living room transmitted an image of the door to a dedicated computer in the couple's nearby home. And if Olga wants to see her loved ones, she doesn't need to be computer literate - - all she has to do is sit in front of the camera if she wants to chat.

Reminders to take her medication are flashed periodically on a computer screen that sits in her living room. If Olga's family wants to check in, or a message is displayed, a distinctive ring that is recognizable even to people suffering from severe dementia sounds.

When Olga's daughter and son-in-law, Deidre and Steve Downham, send photos of family outings, they're displayed on the monitor, which keeps her in touch with grandkids and other family members.
. . .
AT&T's Remote Monitor uses webcams to watch over the living room, kitchen or front door, and motion sensors to register when a door to a room opens. The system, which some use for home security, can even turn lights on and off in the house and check to see if someone left a coffee pot on the stove. If a senior wants some privacy, he or she can turn the cameras off.

"But most people feel the sense of security is a worthwhile trade-off for the loss of privacy," says Steve Loop, executive director of business development for AT&T in San Antonio.

Another system called QuietCare uses five to 10 sensors positioned throughout the home - - near the bedroom door, bathroom, refrigerator door or family room - - to track movement. Sophisticated computer systems are used to establish a person's behavior patterns. If there is a change in habits of daily living, such as when a person gets out of bed or how much time he or she spends in the kitchen or bathroom, the system will send out an alarm to alert caregivers.

In addition to using sensors to monitor daily activities, the GrandCare system that Carol Roberts uses has a small computer that connects to the Internet and plugs into the TV. Family members can share photos, fire off e-mails and send reminders about taking medicine or doctor's appointments on a dedicated TV channel."

See the article for links to these products.

Music to work by

Today I'm listening to KYOT Radio (Jazz) on the Internet. It is much less distracting than talk radio when I need to get some work done. Normally I would listen to a CD, but today the CDs are at home.

Cell phone as boarding pass

There are obviously things that can go wrong here, but a printed boarding pass is no more secure than your phone, and you're less likely to forget the phone. This is one more reason to keep your phone charged - a good thing.

Cell phone as boarding pass | Crave : The gadget blog:
"Continental is testing a new system that allows people checking in via their cell phone to get their boarding pass sent directly to their phones. The electronic boarding pass, which has an encrypted two-dimensional bar code, can be used instead of a paper boarding pass to get through airport security and to board planes, according to a story published Tuesday in The New York Times.

Several U.S. airlines, including American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, and Alaska, have already been allowing people to check-in for flights via their cell phones. But they still have to print out the tickets at a kiosk at the airport or a computer printer before they arrive at the airport. Continental is the first airline in the U.S. to test the new electronic passes.
. . .
The Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency that oversees security for airports, likes the electronic boarding passes too, because the two-dimensional bar codes are harder to forge than the one-dimensional bar codes that are used today on many tickets printed online.

The TSA has been working with Continental since December to test the new electronic boarding pass, the Times said. Continental is only using the new boarding pass technology on nonstop domestic flights out of its hub in Houston. But the airline will likely expand the service to other airports later this spring.

Harteveldt told the Times that a mobile check-in system also has other benefits. For example, airlines can communicate directly with passengers about on-board services, provide information about baggage pickup, allow passengers to upgrade or change seating, check standby status, and help rebook canceled or delayed flights directly from their cell phones.

All this sounds terrific for a busy traveler such as myself. But for all these services to work as advertised, indoor cell phone coverage will have to be beefed up in many airports. It also wouldn't hurt if airports added more power outlets."

MacBook Airs are Cleared for Takeoff

Some of the media is making a fuss because TSA agents saw something different on an X-Ray and investigated it. I think this shows that the system is working properly. Sometimes folks in the media assume that everyone in the public is watching & reading the same things they are - which of course is just silly.

Evolution of Security: Apple MacBook Airs are Cleared for Takeoff:
". . . a gentleman was traveling with his new MacBook Air. To make a long story short, it turns out the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) gave some special attention to his new MacBook. Mac fans would tell you the TSOs simply couldn't resist getting a closer look at a fine piece of machinery. PC fans would tell you the TSOs are all PC fans and flagged the computer just to hassle the Mac guy. As a security fan, I can tell you that TSOs are trained to look for anomalies. Each TSO X-ray operator sees hundreds of laptops a day and some have been doing this for 6 years. They know what laptops are supposed to look like.

Here is my theory. Along comes the new MacBook Air. The thing is as thin as a potato chip, and looks completely different than any other laptop the TSOs have ever seen. They are seldom seen at TSA checkpoints due to their newness and the fact that they can be hard to find sometimes.

To help prove my theory, I've contacted Apple to see if I can process a MacBook Air through an X-ray and see how it looks. If it does indeed look odd, I'm going to take a picture and send it to TSA Training to help avoid future issues with MacBooks. The jury is out for now, but I'll post an update as soon as I can get my hands on the MacBook Air.

One thing is for sure though. This was just a case of diligent TSOs paying special attention to something that caught their eye. Exactly what they are trained to do."

Here is the original story.
Quoting Hill Street Blues - "Stay safe out there ..."

Users no longer waiting on IT solutions

One problem with the approach described below, can be the comparison of apples & oranges - when the developer of a solution has moved on to another job or company, users may not be able to reconcile reports they produce with the "official" reports that IT produces. Many years ago, we had to repeatedly explain that the "production" reports represented reality when the database was last copied (usually midnight) to people who were trying to defend different numbers they produced from the database in real-time (right now).

Who needs IT experts? Workers take control - Yahoo! News:
"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Savvy office workers frustrated that their on-the-job computer tools don't function as smoothly as, say, an Apple iPod are taking matters into their own hands.

No longer are they relying on company technicians, or information technology (IT) administrators, to choose the software needed to get the job done. They know how to pluck tools right off the Web.

Industry observers use the term 'consumerization' to describe the phenomenon whereby office workers are less likely to wait for the IT folks to equip them.

Analyst Rebecca Wettemann of software research firm Nucleus Research says her company's surveys of corporate technology users frequently turn up the question: 'Why can't I do what I want without getting an OK from IT?'

All of this poses a challenge to Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) business software franchise, and may be one of the under-appreciated reasons it's trying to acquire Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) with its 500-million-strong base of Web consumers.

'Individual people, not IT organizations, are driving the next wave of (technology) adoption,' Forrester Research said in a recent report.

Forrester refers to the movement toward user control and individual empowerment as "Technology Populism," others refer to it as "Office 2.0." Less sympathetically, consulting firm Yankee Group, in a 2007 report entitled "Zen and the Art of Rogue Employee Management," sees it as a threat for IT managers.
. . .
"Established software companies like Microsoft have less ability to promise a product in the future and have customers wait for it," Wettemann says. "When something I can find on the Web does 70 percent of what I want, today, why should I wait?"

Microsoft and rival Google Inc (GOOG.O) have come to represent polar opposites in this debate over how to handle employees who want more say over their office technology.

Google has targeted individual business users by appealing directly to their frustrated consumer impulses.

But Yahoo's similarities to Google in terms of Web delivery, consumer focus and use of open standards technology could speed Microsoft's own belated moves in this direction if it can succeed in acquiring Yahoo and keep its loyal audience. "

ISS: Europe Picks Up Some Slack

With our Shuttle due to be phased out in 2010, with no replacement in sight, the Europeans have come up with technology to keep the International Space Station supplied. This means we won't be ceding ownership to the Russians (at least not right away).

From Earth to the Station: Europe's First Space Cargo Ship - Yahoo! News: "A European cargo ship the size of a double-decker bus is primed for its maiden flight to haul fresh supplies toward the International Space Station (ISS).

Jules Verne, a massive unmanned cargo ship built for the European Space Agency (ESA), is set to launch toward the station late Saturday at 11:03:06 p.m. EST (0403:06 GMT) from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. A modified European Ariane 5 rocket will loft the nearly 21-ton Jules Verne into orbit from its equatorial launch site on the northern coast of South America.
. . .
Jules Verne is the first of a new fleet of unmanned spacecraft, called Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs), to launch fresh supplies to station crews through at least 2015. The 32-foot (10-meter) long cylinder with a diameter of about 14.7 feet (4.5 meters) and a roomy cargo hold for food, clothes, new equipment and rocket fuel for the ISS.

It is the first new spacecraft in nine years to join the flotilla of U.S space shuttles, Russia's manned Soyuz and unmanned Progress spacecraft that make station-bound flights, NASA officials have said.

"The ATV, as a logistics vehicle, carries almost three times the hardware, fuel, water and oxygen that a Russian Progress carries," said NASA's ISS program manager Mike Suffredini. "It is a major contribution to the program."
. . .
Built by France's EADS-Astrium, Jules Verne and its fellow ATV spacecraft are Europe's first spacecraft to launch and rendezvous with a crewed orbital outpost. ESA partner nations have spent 1.3 billion euros ($1.9 billion) developing the spacecraft as part of a barter system to send future European astronauts and experiments to the ISS.

"It's an extremely exciting vehicle for us," said ESA station program manager Alan Thirkettle, adding that the spacecraft has been under development since 1998. "It contains a number of new technologies."

Chief among those new technologies is the ATV's videometers, a visual-based navigation system that relies on lasers to home in on the ISS.

Jules Verne and other ATVs will use a global positioning satellite (GPS) system to maneuver within about 816 feet (249 meters) of an aft docking port on the station's Russian-built Zvezda service module, then activate the videometer to beam laser pulses at a set of reflectors near the berth. By analyzing the light patterns reflected back, the videometer should be able determine precisely how far the ATV is from its docking port.

The spacecraft is also equipped with a secondary, radar-like sensor - called a telegoniometer - to monitor its position, mission managers said.
. . .
Unlike Russia's unmanned Progress ships, which can be remotely guided in by astronauts from a console inside the station, Jules Verne and other ATVs are fully autonomous.

"They cannot drive us in like they can a Russian Progress," Ellwood said. "All they can do is essentially press a red button if they feel we're being unsafe, and send us away."
. . .
Thirkettle said ESA plans to launch five ATVs to the ISS by 2015 in order to secure a six-month slot aboard the ISS for a European astronaut every other year. Astronauts recently delivered Europe's other major contribution, the Columbus laboratory module, to the station last month.

The interior of each ATV can be loaded with up to eight racks worth of equipment for astronauts to retrieve once the spacecraft reaches the ISS. They are also designed to use their rocket engines to boost the station into a higher orbit and transfer new fuel into tanks inside outpost's Russian-built thrusters.

Each unmanned cargo ship is designed to stay docked at the station for about six months, then be filled with trash and other unneeded items for disposal in the Earth's atmosphere. "

"Airbus" Wins Air Force Tanker Contract

Lots of folks are upset about this, but Boeing shouldn't have assumed the contract was theirs for the asking. We have competitive bidding for good reasons, and sometimes the underdog wins.

The Associated Press: Air Force: Foreign Tanker Bests US Rival:
"The European refueling tanker that won a $35 billion Pentagon contract last week 'was clearly a better performer' than its U.S. rival, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers Wednesday.

Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Wynne said the plane offered by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., was determined to be less expensive and less risky than the plane offered by Chicago-based Boeing Co.

The planes were judged on nine key criteria, he said, and 'across the spectrum, all evaluated, the Northrop Grumman airplane was clearly a better performer.'
. . .
The contract calls for the Air Force to buy 179 in-flight tanker aircraft over the next 15 years as it replaces its Boeing-built KC-135 tankers, which are on average 47 years old.

Boeing had been heavily favored to win the new contract, and the Air Force's decision helps EADS — maker of Airbus — break into the world's largest military market and opens the door to possible follow-up contracts.

The EADS/Northrop Grumman team plans to perform its final assembly work in Mobile, Ala., although the underlying plane would mostly be built in Europe. And it would use General Electric engines built in North Carolina and Ohio.

The contract award could still be challenged by Boeing or members of Congress."

It is important to read the RFP you're bidding on, and even to use your contacts to get an idea of what the customer wants. The article below indicates that Boeing made a fatal assumption, that suited their desire to keep profiting on the 767 airframe. On the other hand, if Boeing read the RFP correctly, then the Air Force has some explaining to do.

Boeing Had Different Tanker Contract View From US Air Force:
"CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- Boeing Co. (BA) expects to get a debriefing on Friday from the U.S. Air Force on why the defense giant lost a major contract award that it was widely expected to win, Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems unit, said Wednesday.

After that, Boeing will decide whether to make a formal protest.

On Friday, the Air Force awarded a contract worth up to $40 billion for new refueling tankers to a team of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and EADS (5730.FR), the European parent of Airbus.

Boeing's reading of the Air Force request for proposals was different from that of the Air Force, Albaugh said at the Citigroup Global Industrial Manufacturing conference, webcast from New York. 'We didn't think they wanted a bigger plane. We thought they wanted a replacement for the KC-135,' the current Boeing-made fleet. That's why Boeing based its offering on a similarly-sized aircraft, the 767, he said.
. . .
Albaugh said Boeing believes its tanker, based on the 767 commercial aircraft, would be more flexible in flying to smaller airports, more reliable, since it would be built by one company, and lower cost. He said the Boeing bid came in below the final price tag announced by the Air Force. As well, "we were discouraged from offering the 777," a bigger aircraft which would have been more comparable to the winning bid. Albaugh added that "the requirements were pretty clear, in our view," saying he couldn't go into further detail."