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Microsoft's Got H.264's Back, Releases Plug-in for Chrome Users

Google made waves in the Web geek community last month when it announced that it would bein its Chrome Web browser. While some supported the move, others were concerned that it . But Microsoft hasthat will give you H.264 video support even after Google pulls the plug.

The , as Microsoft calls it, will work with Chrome on Windows 7, though this means that users of older versions of Windows, or Chrome on Linux or Mac OS X, will still be out of luck, but it's better than nothing.

If you're game, hit up Microsoft's site and .

The HTML5 video format situation is still a mess, and it'll be a while until it's all sorted out. But hopefully the main browser vendors can get together and agree on a single format sooner rather than later.

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Johnson tells England to relish 'hostile' Cardiff

BAGSHOT, England (AFP) – Martin Johnson has urged his players to embrace "the most hostile atmosphere in the Six Nations for an Englishman" when they begin their quest to win the tournament away to Wales on Friday.

England's last three visits to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium have all ended in defeat and another reverse will deal a major blow to their hopes of winning a first Six Nations title since the Grand Slam in 2003 -- when team manager Johnson was captain of a side that also lifted the World Cup later that year.

"The Millennium is a great place to play, the stadium being in the middle of Cardiff, and it's the most hostile in the Six Nations for an Englishman," Johnson told reporters at the squad's training base here on Monday.

Johnson said he wanted his men to feed off the anti-English sentiment that is never far from the surface when the men in white shirts arrive in Wales.

"Being an Englishman in Cardiff on that weekend means you aren't the most popular, which is great. I'd rather have that than polite indifference," the former lock added.

"They (Wales) want to beat England at rugby -- that is not a secret and we want to win down there. It is a good occasion. We have to be ready when we do go and play. You want to play in the big games."

Not since Johnson was captain have England won in the Welsh capital and up to a third of the side, including Ben Foden, Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, are in line to be playing their first Test at the Millennium Stadium.

"It is a great occasion for an Englishman to go to Cardiff and play," said Johnson, aiming to lead England to a third successive World Cup final in New Zealand later this year.

"The opening game of the tournament in a World Cup year adds something.

"You have to enjoy it. You want to play in the big games. We have to be ready," Johnson insisted.

Northampton wing Chris Ashton, who also is in line to play his first Test in Cardiff, said it was the prospect of matches such as Friday's clash between two of rugby union's oldest rivals that persuaded him to switch from rugby league back in 2007.

"It was a massive part of it," Ashton explained.

"This doesn't happen in rugby league, you don't get these kind of games. It's massively exciting, I can't wait," added Ashton, whose dramatic length of the field try against Australia at Twickenham in November was named Monday as the International Rugby Players' Association's try of the year for 2010.

New Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive John Steele has effectively set England a target -- or "realistic expectation" -- of a top-two finish in the Six Nations.

England's failure to win the Championship since 2003 has rankled their fans and delighted their opponents as, with the exception of title-holders France, no other European nation can match their playing resources

"In that time (since England won it last) not many favourites have gone on to win it," Johnson reflected.

"In 2003 the opening game was England v France and everyone said it was the only game in town -- why are you playing it first?

"But we ended up with a grand slam decider in the final game. Wales twice and Ireland once have won the grand slam since then, as have France.

"The field has come together quite a bit and Scotland are in the mix. In terms of picking a favourite right now -- who knows?"

England, in the absence of injured flanker Lewis Moody, are set to be captained by Mike Tindall although Johnson will not confirm either his skipper or his side until Wednesday's team announcement.

Tindall's thigh problem forced him to return home early from last week's training camp in Portugal but the World Cup winning centre resumed training Monday and is expected to be fit to face Wales.

U.N. maritime body launches anti-piracy drive

LONDON (Reuters) – The U.N.'s maritime agency called for a new drive against piracy Thursday as officials and ship-owners voiced fears that the growing scourge of Somali pirates was outpacing international efforts to deal with them.

The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) action plan, which calls for closer international coordination of military and civilian efforts against piracy, comes at a time of growing concern over the expanding reach, ambition and firepower of Somali-based pirates.

"Piracy seems to be outpacing the efforts of the international community to stem it," United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told delegates at the launch of the plan at the London headquarters of the IMO.

Ransom payments of hundreds of millions of dollars had created a "pirate economy" in some areas of Somalia and insurance premiums were on the rise, Ban said.

"The threat to international trade routes is clear," he said, calling for action to support alternative jobs to piracy for Somalis, including rehabilitating coastal fisheries.

The IMO's plan called for efforts to build up the capacity of states in pirate-infested regions to bring pirates to justice, but is short on specifics.

FRUSTRATION

Speakers at the launch reflected frustration in the shipping community at the growing threat the pirates pose to key shipping lanes and vital oil supply arteries in the Indian Ocean despite the deployment of international naval ships there.

"The situation has worsened during the past years with fiercer and increasing attacks on ships. The increased use of so-called 'mother' ships has enabled the pirates to operate at a vastly greater range," said Robert Lorenz-Meyer, president of BIMCO, the world's largest private ship-owners' association.

"Today there are more than 700 seafarers held hostage for ransom on 32 ships ... This does not speak well for the effectiveness of the measures taken by the international community," he said.

Separately, the owners of the "Beluga Nomination," a cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates on January 22, said this week Somali pirates had shot dead a crew member.

Lorenz-Meyer appealed to the U.N. Security Council to increase the naval presence in the Indian Ocean and to make it easier to prosecute detained pirates.

"Without robust and effective counter-measures, piracy will ... make the use of this important sea lane an unacceptable risk to ship owners," he said.

David Cockroft, general secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation, a union grouping representing seafarers, said many crew members were at breaking point because of the stress of passing through the area frequented by pirates.

"If the risks cannot be eliminated, then seafarers will demand not to sail into the area at all and responsible ship owners will support them," he said.

There would never be enough navy ships to counter the pirates in the vast ocean, he said, calling for "robust political and military intervention" onshore in Somalia, led by the key states in the region.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Arab Pundits Cheer the Tunisia, Egypt Protests

NEW YORK – Whether the unrest from Tunisia to Egypt will result in democracy is unclear, but the Arab media is celebrating nonetheless—and taking away a few key lessons about entrenched regimes across the region.

Following the political earthquake that removedfrom power nearly two weeks ago, seismic waves have been shaking ruling regimes from Algeria to Egypt, and from Jordan to . But if political earthquakes could somehow be measured on a “political” Richter scale, the question would be: Is this a magnitude 3 mild tremor that will pass, leaving behind little damage to the region’s authoritarian regimes and dictatorships? Or will it prove to be a magnitude 7 shocker, causing serious damage to a number of regimes?

Watching and reading Arab pundits and political analysts offers no conclusive answer. Most of the pan-Arab press appears to be celebrating the “Jasmine Revolution” that brought down the Tunisian dictator, cheering on t, Algeria, Yemen, and Jordan and the rest of the Arab world. Meanwhile, Arab leaders have been at pains not to appear opposed to “the will of the Tunisian people” while at the same time trying not to encourage the spread of the “democracy virus” to their own countries.

The other myth now being seriously questioned throughout the Arab media is that Islamists are the only alternative to these secular or apparently secular regimes.

It is anybody’s guess how events will ultimately unfold in Tunisia, where a transitional government made up of remnants of the “ancien regime” and a group of opposition and independent figures is trying to appease the disorganized and still angry masses, promising sweeping political reforms and democratic elections within months. But so far Tunisia’s revolution has only gone halfway, removing a president and shaking the establishment but not gutting the entrenched regime that still holds considerable power. That regime includes a military-security establishment that might decide, at any moment, to take things into its own hands and decide the future of the country, for better or worse.

It would be naive to assume that Tunisia has already made the y before the current standoff unfolds, a process that may take several months and could turn bloody at any moment.

But the events in the region have certainly dispelled a number of myths and offered a few lessons for governments and observers. Perhaps the most important myth is that the Arab regimes, most of which have been ruling for decades, are too resilient and cannot be toppled, except through foreign military intervention or an inside coup or seizure of powerThe other myth now being seriously questioned throughout the Arab media is that Islamists are the only alternative to these secular or apparently secular regimes. In Tunisia, the Islamists appeared to have little visible influence in the popular uprising, while the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has deliberately kept a low profile, perhaps for tactical reasons, leaving the disorganized popular masses of protesters of various political shades to take the lead.

Elaph.com, the Arab world’s most popular online newspaper, argues that the recent events in the region have demonstrated that “people are capable of breaking the fear barrier,” despite the ruthlessness of the ruling regimes. The paper quoted Burhan Ghalyoun, the director of a Middle East research center, as expressing surprise that the Tunisians “have achieved massive change at lightning speed, which goes to prove that change is not as difficult as we previously thought.”

Understandably, most of the official and semi-official Arab media have recognized people’s “right to peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression,” echoing calls from Washington and the West, but warned, at the same time, against actions that may undermine stability and security. Wisely, many governments in the region, including that of Jordan, have moved quickly to reduce the prices of consumer goods and promise political reforms to preempt an escalation of popular anger.

But unlike previous protests in Egypt and other Arab countries, this time the region’s leaders and their governments have not rushed to blame “foreign forces,” namely the U.S. and other Western countries, for instigating the riots. Tunisia’s government had always adopted a pro-Western stance, but today the West, which had turned a blind eye to human rights violations in that country for decades, is now almost silently watching as that regime crumbles, without any sign of wanting to do anything to save it.

However, one might argue that this month’s protests are not only the product of worsening living conditions resulting from the global economic crisis and homegrown corruption and mismanagement. They are also the product of decades of political oppression and humiliation by regimes that are now beginning to realize they can no longer oppress their own people with impunity. Social media and other modern and widely accessible communications tools have stripped these regimes of their monopoly on information. And since knowledge is power, the power is now shifting from the ruling few to the unruly masses, and these masses, in turn, are challenging the status quo throughout the region. But it is certainly too early for pro-democracy advocates in the region and beyond to bring out the Champagne glasses. It isn’t over till it’s over, and it is definitely not over yet.

Salameh Nematt is an international writer for The Daily Beast. He is the former Washington bureau chief for the international Arab daily Al Hayat, where he reported on U.S. foreign policy, the war in Iraq, and the U.S. drive for democratization in the broader Middle East. He has also written extensively on regional and global energy issues and their political implications.

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BlueCielo ECM Solutions Names New CEO

Veteran software industry executive and current Managing Director of company's Finnish subsidiary Rainer Puittinen to become CEO on March 1, 2011.

Rijswijk, The Netherlands (PRWEB) January 26, 2011

BlueCielo ECM Solutions, a leading global software company offering Engineering Content Management (ECM) solutions, announced today the appointment of Rainer Puittinen as the company's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) following Luuth van der Scheer's interim CEO appointment that came to an end on December 31, 2010.

Puittinen will assume his new role at corporate headquarters in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, on March 1, 2011. BlueCielo ECM Solutions supervisory board member Bas Wiersma is serving as acting CEO in the interim. Martijn Janmaat remains as President.

Puittinen is being promoted to CEO of the global organization from his current role as Managing Director of BlueCielo ECM Solutions Oy (the company's Finnish subsidiary that was acquired in March last year), in which he is responsible for the global business around the BlueCielo Kronodoc product line. Puittinen has 15 years' hands-on management and leadership experience in the software industry. Among other achievements, he successfully led BlueCielo ECM Solutions Oy through a complete turn-around during 2007-2010 to a respected enterprise-level Project Document Control solutions supplier to global industrial customers.

"BlueCielo ECM Solutions has a very strong, established role as an Engineering Content Management solutions supplier to owners and operators of production assets worldwide. We have an extraordinary customer base that testifies of the value that we create daily for our customers," says Puittinen. "I am excited about the opportunity to develop our products and services offering together with our customers and partners to streamline and improve the efficiency of engineering content-intensive processes across the entire lifecycle of production facilities. The business value that we are able to provide to our customers fundamentally drives our growth."

About BlueCielo ECM Solutions BlueCielo ECM Solutions is a world leader in sophisticated software solutions in asset information management (AIM) and engineering content management (ECM) for capital-intensive owner/operators and engineering, procurement and construction or architectural (EPC/AEC) projects. With over 300,000 satisfied users worldwide, BlueCielo's independent AIM and ECM solutions integrate with virtually all mainstream document or content management systems and operational business control systems. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands and has offices in America, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Russia and the UK, together with an international network of well-established vending solution partners, ensuring global service and support for its best-of-breed software solutions BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise, BlueCielo ImandrA, BlueCielo Kronodoc, BlueCielo ProjectForce and BlueCielo TeamWork. One of the first to develop software to manage engineering data, BlueCielo has been a software technology pioneer since 1983, with unparalleled knowledge in the field of ECM. For more information, please visit .

BlueCielo is a registered trademark of BlueCielo ECM Solutions. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2011 BlueCielo ECM Solutions. All rights reserved.

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