NASAs Phoenix spacecraft appeared Sunday to have made a safe, flawless landing on Mars. In the mission support room during the final, tense minutes before the landing, long stretches of quiet were punctuated by cheers and clapping as confirmation of crucial events like the deployment of the parachute were confirmed. Then, at 7:53 p.m. Eastern time, Richard Kornfeld, the lead communications officer for entry, descent and landing, announced: Touchdown signal detected. The mission controllers erupted in cheers and began hugging one another in congratulations.

Posted by Zoov on 26 May 2008
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Target Corp. advertised Nintendo Co.’s Wii Fit in its Sun. circular leading into Memorial Day. The retailer features Wii Fit in the electronics section of its weekly ad next to the top seller Mario Kart Wii. The fitness product has held a sold out status at brick and mortar and online retailers due to high demand. Additionally, Wii Fit has made nationwide headlines for introducing fitness to video games by promoting accessible activities for all ages.

Posted by Zoov on 26 May 2008
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Nicholas Negroponte’s presentation at the MIT Media Lab on Tuesday was a crowd-pleasing performance of nearly Steve Jobs-esque proportions. The founder of the One Lap Per Child (OLPC) effort promised to reduce the price of the XO, the $188 PC aimed at the developing world, to $100 and bring back a “Give-One-Get-One” program that allows Americans and Europeans to buy the machine in return for donating one to a needy child. When Negroponte revealed photos of the low-cost laptop’s next generation, a flashy multi-touch upgrade that he says will sell for just $75, the crowd of foreign dignitaries and software developers broke into spontaneous applause. (See “One Laptop per Child–Version 2.0.”)

Posted by Zoov on 26 May 2008
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Sally and Colin Knox paid tribute to their popular 18-year-old son, a young actor who had just finished filming for the new Harry Potter movie, as “an angel on earth without wings”. He was stabbed to death outside a nightclub on Saturday as he tried to protect his younger brother from a man wielding two knives, after an apparent argument about mobile phones. Mrs Knox said that he was “always the first person to stand up against wrong”.

Posted by Zoov on 26 May 2008
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