Pedro Vera’s Web Log

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Retail gas prices set a record high for the 26th time in the past 27 days, motorist group AAA’s Web site showed Tuesday.

AAA reports the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose to $3.978. That was up 0.3 cent from the $3.975 mark set Sunday and matched Monday, the first time pump prices didn’t rise since May 7.

The AAA survey shows gas prices are up 10% from a month ago and almost 26% higher from year-ago levels.

[From Gas prices set a new record high at $3.978 a gallon - AAA - Jun. 3, 2008]

BANGKOK, Thailand - More than 1 million people still don’t have adequate food, water or shelter a month after a devastating cyclone swept through Myanmar, and it’s not clear what the military junta is doing to help them, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Humanitarian groups say they continue to face hurdles from Myanmar’s military government in sending disaster experts and vital equipment into the country. As a result, only a trickle of aid is reaching the storm’s estimated 2.4 million survivors, leaving many without even basic relief.

[From U.N.: 1 million cyclone victims still lack aid - Myanmar cyclone- msnbc.com]

BAGHDAD - Australia ended its combat operations in southern Iraq on Sunday, while the Iraqi government said it has differences with the United States in negotiations over a long-term security agreement.

The official statement by government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh comes amid growing opposition to the deal among Iraqis who see it as a possible violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and are worried about an extended presence of American troops.

[From Australia ends Iraq combat mission - Conflict in Iraq- msnbc.com]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Nineteen U.S. troops were killed in Iraq in May, the fewest killed in any month since the war started.
art.iraq.street.getty.jpg

Baghdad saw a lull in violence in May, as a cease fire agreement has so far been maintained.

The second-lowest month for American deaths was in February 2004, when 20 were killed.

May’s toll was a significant decrease from April, when 50 were killed — the highest monthly figure since September.

[From May sees lowest U.S. troop death toll in Iraq - CNN.com]

Apple has bought a slew of .me domains, the soon-to-be-launched domain suffix for Montenegro that’s scheduled to go live on July 17th. Macworld UK spoke to Predrag Lesic, in charge of the Montenegro’s .me registry, and he thinks the domain will be an international hit:

We think .me can offer a new business around domain names with verbs,” Lesic says, such as drive.me or fly.me

You can imagine what the others might be.

Speculation around the web says Apple may be planning to rebrand its withering-on-the-vine web service, .Mac, as Mobile Me. Daring Fireball points out that there is a new string inside one of iCal’s resource files hinting that .Mac will indeed be getting a new name, although it remains unknown what it will be.

[From Mobile Me: What a New .Mac Might Mean for the iPhone | Gadget Lab from Wired.com]

June 2, 2008 (Computerworld UK) Smart phones are seen as a more of a security risk than laptops and mobile storage devices, according to new research.

Some 94% of senior IT staff fear PDAs present a security risk, just above the 88% who highlighted mobile storage devices as a worry.

Nearly eight in 10 said laptops were an issue. Only four in 10 had encrypted data on their laptops, and the remainder said the information was “not worth” protecting.

The results come from a survey of 300 senior IT staff conducted by endpoint data protection supplier Credant Technologies.

[From Smart phones 'bigger security risk' than laptops]

SAN FRANCISCO - June has arrived and for Apple fans and investors that means just one thing — a new iPhone.

The encore to the original iPhone, which launched nearly a year ago amid unprecedented industry buzz, is widely expected to be the main attraction when Chief Executive Steve Jobs takes the stage at Apple’s developers’ conference next Monday.

The new iPhone will be accompanied by support for corporate e-mail and a slate of new programs that could help boost sales of the devices, which sport a touch-sensitive screen, wireless Internet access and iPod-style media functions.

[From New Apple iPhone expected next week - Wireless- msnbc.com]

Filed under: iPod Family, Rumors, iPhone

iLounge has the scoop about a leaked iPhone template rumored to have been sent to iPhone “launch partners.” According to iLounge, the screen size would be 3.5″ (inches) instead of a speculated 2.8″. It’s no doubt that an iPhone redesign (or at least update) looms in the not-so-distant future, but is this template what we’ll be seeing?

According to the template, the (new?) iPhone has a slightly different taper and appears to come in different colors, namely white, black, and (possibly) red. iLounge also posted an image of the template for your viewing pleasure.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A children’s advocacy group wants to keep a children’s hospital from putting clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch’s name on a new emergency room.
art.hospital.ap.jpg

The children’s hospital in Columbus, Ohio, is named for Nationwide Insurance Co.

Abercrombie, known for its racy marketing campaigns aimed at teenagers, has pledged $10 million toward the

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Apple, MacBook Air

Apple doesn’t just loan review units to anyone who asks. No, you have to be pretty high up on the tech journalism foodchain in order to be entrusted with review gear from Apple (you will note that TUAW does not receive any review units from our favorite fruit company). Steven Levy is decidedly amongst those who have no problems getting their hands on Apple’s latest, with lots of help from the company itself (he was one of the 4 journalists who get an iPhone ahead of everyone else). Therefore, it is not surprising that Levy would have a MacBook Air on loan from Apple, but it is surprising what happened to said loaner MacBook Air.

All was well with the MacBook Air, until Levy experienced a panic that anyone borrowing something from a huge multinational corporation never wants to feel: he couldn’t find the darned thing. He feverishly traced his whereabouts and quickly ruled out thievery (he still had the powercord, so that didn’t seem likely). Finally, he hit upon a theory: the MacBook Air was accidentally tossed out with the Sunday paper (if you read the Sunday New York Times you know that it often weighs in at much more than the MacBook Air’s 3 pounds). One wonders if he was using one of the many Manilla envelope cases for his MacBook Air.

Luckily for Steven, Newsweek will be footing the $1800 bill for the MacBook Air, but chances are should the same thing happen to you, you won’t be so fortunate. Make sure to keep an eye on that tiny laptop from Apple, there is no telling where it might end up!

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