US public offered prizes for python hunt

 PEOPLE in Florida will have their mettle tested as the wildlife service seeks help in eradicating the giant Burmese python. 
 
The public has been asked to join in a month-long hunt for the invasive species, which, lacking natural predators, snacks on native birds, deer, bobcats and other large animals, some of them protected.
Cash prizes up to $US1,500 ($A1,400) will be up for grabs in the January program of "harvesting" the giant snakes, organised by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"Increasing public awareness about Burmese pythons and how this invasive species is a threat to the Everglades ecosystem, including native wildlife, is the goal of the 2013 Python Challenge," a statement said.
The environmental challenge is open not only to "python permit holders" but also ordinary members of the public.

A Burmese python was found for the first time in Florida's Everglades swamp in 1979, where it may have been abandoned by a pet owner. It has taken 21 years to become an established species there.
There are now hundreds of thousands of the snakes slithering across southern Florida. In August, University of Florida scientists examined a record 5.36-metre specimen that had 87 eggs.

Source: US public offered prizes for python hunt

Seattle marijuana advocates mark Washington's new cannabis laws

• Washington state first in US where it is legal to smoke pot
• Legislation approved by voters in the US general election
• Marijuana use for any purpose still a federal crime

MARIJUANA advocates have rejoiced by lighting joints under Seattle's iconic Space Needle as Washington became the first state in the US where it is legal to smoke pot for recreational purposes. Washington state had been among 20 US states to allow the uses of marijuana for physician-approved medicinal purposes.

A voter approved law legalising same sex marriage also came into force on Thursday, with some 300 licences issued to gay couples in the first hours after the law went into effect at midnight.

Supporters of gay marriage were equally jubilant about their new law with many lining up for hours to be among the first to get same sex marriage licences at midnight.

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.
Washington was one of three states, along with Maine and Maryland, to approve same-sex marriage in the November elections.

They joined New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia that have previously enacted laws or issued court rulings permitting same-sex marriage.

Source : Seattle marijuana advocates mark Washington's new cannabis laws

Head to the moon for a mere $700m

A TEAM of former NASA executives is launching a private venture to send people to the moon for a price that is definitely out of this world.

 

For $US1.5 billion ($1.4 billion), the newly formed business is offering countries a two-person trip to the moon, either for research or national prestige.

NASA's last trip to the moon was 40 years ago. The United States was the only country that landed people there, beating the Soviet Union in a space race to the moon that transfixed the world.

But once the race ended, there has been only sporadic interest in the moon. US President Barack Obama cancelled NASA's planned return to the moon, saying America had already been there.

But the firm has talked to other countries, which are showing interest in going, said former NASA associate administrator Alan Stern, who is president of the new Golden Spike Company. Mr Stern said he's looking at countries like South Africa, South Korea, and Japan.

"It's not about being first. It's about joining the club," Mr Stern said.

 

Soure: Head to the moon for a mere $700m

Wave hits Japan after Pacific quake

A ONE-metre-high tsunami has hit Japan's northeast coast, the country's meteorological agency says. 
 
The wave was recorded in Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi prefecture that was badly hit by the tsunami of March 2011, which killed thousands.

Earlier, a strong earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan in the same region that was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 and struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. The epicentre was 10km beneath the seabed.
Initial warnings said the tsunami could be as high as 2m.

There is no tsunami warning current for Australia or neighbouring nations.
NHK television broke off regular programming to warn that a strong quake was due to hit shortly before the earthquake struck. Afterward, the announcer repeatedly urged all near the coast to flee to higher ground.

YouTube video has begun to appear showing the streets flooded with worried residents.

Full Story :  Wave hits Japan after Pacific quake

If technology is so important, why are IT wages flat?

Unemployment for IT is well below national rates, but average wages have increased less than a half percent a year over the past decade

Despite information technology's ever increasing role in the economy, IT wages remain persistently flat. This may be tech's inconvenient truth.

A still sluggish U.S. economy gets most of the blame for this wage stagnation, but outsourcing and automation all have a role, say analysts.

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"IT salaries have not really kept pace with inflation," said Victor Janulaitis, the CEO of Janco Associates, which reports on IT wage compensation.
In 2000, the average hourly wage was $37.27 in computer and math occupations for workers with at least a bachelor's degree. In 2011, it was $39.24, adjusted for inflation, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute.

[See related: In a symbolic shift, IBM's India workforce likely exceeds U.S.]

That translates to an average wage increase of less than a half percent a year. In real terms, IT wages overall have gone up by $1.97 an hour in just over 10 years, according to the EPI. It gathered data from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of households conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But here's another data point. Yoh Services, a professional staffing firm for skilled IT workers, keeps a running index of hourly technology wages. In its latest measure for week 12 of 2012, the hourly wages were $31.45 and in 2010, for the same week, at $31.78.

The worker who earned $31.78 in 2010 would need to make $33.71 today to stay even with inflation, according to the government's Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator. Yoh has data going back over 10 years, and in most years hourly wages have run in the $30 to $32 dollar range.
Joel Capperella, vice president of marketing for Yoh, said companies are making more use of contracted labor, allowing organizations to source during periods of high demand, "and run virtual just-in-time talent supply chains."

Capperella said there is a correlation between temporary professional wages and salaried wage workers "because historically temporary demand increases have preceded an increase in permanent employee demand," he said.

"However this recovery period has been so sluggish that the industry has not seen the correlation between an increase in contracted labor indicating that an increase in permanent jobs is imminent," said Capperella.
Analysts say high-demand skills will have rising wages. Capperella, for instance, said the supply of IT pros that also know the agile development methodology is very low compared to the demand, and those workers will "command a very high hourly and salary rate."

John Longwell, vice president of research at Computer Economics, said that "it would be fair to say that the globalization of markets for goods and services is helping restrain wages across many sectors, including the IT sector."
But Longwell also cautions against overstating the impact of IT offshoring.

Source :  If technology is so important, why are IT wages flat?