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Geneva, 24 February 2012. Skyguide adopted two new functions at its control centre in Dübendorf near Zurich on 23 February to support its controllers in their radar work. Switzerland`s air navigation service provider had already introduced these innovations at its Geneva control centre on 9 February.

The first of the new functions adopted is the Cleared Level Adherence Monitoring tool, or CLAM. This tool constantly monitors whether a flight actually keeps to the flight level it has been assigned by air traffic control. If the flight leaves this altitude, the controller responsible for it will be alerted to this immediately by a visual alarm. The second innovation is a tool which automatically calculates the precise separation between two aircraft that are on converging flight tracks. The tool thus shows the controller immediately whether they will need to issue any instructions to either flight - such as corrections to their speed or heading - to ensure that the requisite minimum separation is maintained.   

As is customary with operational changes of this kind, the capacity of the airspace concerned (i.e. above Eastern Switzerland) has been reduced as a safety precaution, and will gradually be restored over the next days. Skyguide has also taken steps to alleviate the impact of this short-term capacity reduction, including temporarily assigning more controllers than usual to the Dübendorf control centre to minimise any delays.

Skyguide is responsible for providing air navigation services within Swiss airspace and in the airspace of certain adjoining regions in neighbouring countries. The company guides the civil and military aircraft entrusted to its care - around 3,270 flights a day or 1.2 million a year - through the busiest and most complex airspace in Europe. Skyguide is a non-profit limited company which has its head office in Geneva. The majority of its shares are held by the Swiss Confederation. The company generated total operating revenue of over CHF 365 million in 2010, and employs some 1,400 people at 14 locations in Switzerland. Skyguide is also a member, together with its partner organizations in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, of the FABEC initiative to create a common functional airspace block that will bring greater efficiency to Central Europe`s air traffic management services and activities.

The media release can be downloaded from the following link:

Media release (PDF)
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.

Source: skyguide via Thomson Reuters ONE
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skyguide: New functions to assist radar controllers at skyguide's Dübendorf control centre

To borrow a presidential debate catch-phrase, there you go again.

As GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum noted after Wednesday’s debate, the media’s game of late has been to 1) ask repeated questions of him and the other Republicans about their stance on birth control and 2) ask them why they’re talking so much about birth control.

Why do that? In an attempt to make Republicans look extreme and anti-woman. CNN commentator David Gergen even openly alleged it after the debate.

It has become clear that your main job as a voter in 2012 will be to not be fooled by the national media.

First things first: Despite their well-founded reservations regarding the birth control pill, none of the Republican candidates has any intent to make it less available. Period. End of report. They simply object to the Obama administration’s attempt to force people and institutions that are opposed to birth control and abortion-inducing “abortifacients” to offer such services to employees.

The Obama administration also has, with the help of a frothy lapdog media, somehow convinced some Americans that free birth control is now a civil right.

Meanwhile, as Newt Gingrich eloquently pointed out at the CNN debate, “Not once (in 2008) did anyone in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide.”

It was the moment of an otherwise off-kilter debate, earning raucous audience approval – and for good reason: It’s true. However bluntly put, it’s true.

While a member of the Illinois state Senate in the early 2000s, Obama actually voted against a bill that would have prohibited the outright killing of infants born as a result of botched abortions.

Mr. Obama since has claimed the bill didn’t protect abortion rights under Roe v. Wade. But the truth is, it did: Abortion-preserving language similar to that in a federal law on the issue was inserted into the Illinois bill, and Obama still opposed it. Even though he claimed to support the similar federal law.

Even the liberal-leaning Factcheck.org has to admit it, writing, “Obama voted in committee against the 2003 state bill that was nearly identical to the federal act he says he would have supported ...” (emphasis added).

Likewise, in a RealClearPolitics.com article in 2008, Joel Mowbray concluded, “Mr. Obama contended that he ‘would have been completely in, fully in support of the federal bill that everybody supported,’ but that he voted against the 2003 Illinois bill because ‘that was not the bill that was presented at the state level.’ Except that it was.

“As it turns out ... the National Right to Life Committee wasn’t lying; Mr. Obama was.”

Regardless of whether you want to believe these things, just consider the incongruity of it all: Barack Obama gets a complete pass on actual votes against bills that would’ve protected born-alive babies from failed abortions – but the Republicans are hounded by theoretical questions about access to birth control that they have no plans to change.

Does that not seem a bit odd to you?

If only the media had the moral compass of, say, a high-schooler in Augusta.

Several at Aquinas High School held a “Shave ’em to Save ’em” hair cutting Wednesday – giving up their locks for lent and raising awareness for victims of abortion and a bit of money for the Augusta Care Pregnancy Center. The center provides loving help to women and girls in crisis pregnancies.

Kudos to students Nicholas Scicchitano and Garrett Merz for showing, as our newsroom put it, “sheer conviction.”

They may be boasting less hair for awhile, but at least these kids’ heads are on straight.

The national media could learn a thing or two from them.

Perspective being one of them.

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Don't be fooled

AMERICANS pride themselves on a sense of fairness. When one side of a controversy gets to articulate a point of view to the public and the other side doesn't because of lack of resources or access to media, we conclude that the "marketplace of ideas" has broken down. On the other hand, we also believe that government should not intervene to control public debate over the issues of the day. This is particularly critical in the realm of elections, both local and national.

This past August, the "Fairness Doctrine" was expunged from the Federal Register. From 1949 to 1987, the Fairness Doctrine required radio and television stations to offer a "range of opinion" on public matters in their broadcasts. Although no station ever lost its license for failing to comply with this regulation, broadcasters perpetually claimed that the doctrine was burdensome and restricted their First Amendment rights.

Television and radio are still the primary sources of news for most Americans, and it is vital that the broadcasters who enjoy the license of this public resource — the radio spectrum — serve the public with news coverage of the critical issues of the day. Because the spectrum is licensed on a geographic basis, more than 1,700 television and 14,000 radio stations serve the U.S. population.

These stations both compete and cooperate with cable- and satellite-television networks, which are required to retransmit local television programming to their local service areas. Most TV viewers don't know that their local ABC station pays a license fee to use the airwaves, while CNN does not, because both pure cable and old-fashioned broadcast stations appear equally on their cable or satellite TV menus.

In the changing media landscape created by the explosion of 24-hour cable networks and millions of websites since the 1990s, the Fairness Doctrine went the way of the dodo bird. With saturation coverage of presidential elections and national issues on the Internet and news networks, it became harder to argue that the public wasn't exposed to a wide range of views.

Yet, the gaping hole in the new media universe is coverage of local controversies, elections and mundane matters such as the activities of city and county governments.

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of daily newspapers declined from 1,800 to 1,600 in the two decades between 1990 and 2010. Pew further reports that this 20-year view shows a steady slide in paid circulation. Daily circulation, which stood at 62.3 million in 1990, fell to 43.4 million in 2010, a decline of 30 percent. Sunday circulation held up slightly better, declining by only 26 percent.

With fewer newspapers serving communities and broadcasters freed of responsibility to cover civic affairs, how will people keep up to speed with salient topics facing their communities? While the cost of local transit projects or waste-treatment plants is not as entertaining as the peccadilloes of presidential candidates, one could argue that local projects, funded by local tax dollars, have a more immediate impact on people's lives than a national candidate's vision for moon colonies. Although a few promising local websites have emerged to cover local matters, they reach only a small fraction of the regular radio or TV audience.

I propose that we bring back the Fairness Doctrine, specifically for local matters defined by the service areas of licensed radio and television stations. Local broadcasters, for example, should be required to devote at least five hours of programming per week to areas such as public education, city and county services and taxes. Citizens deserve to know where their tax dollars are going and how local agencies are managed. Local elections deserve more coverage than 500 word statements printed in voter guides.

While broadcasters will complain about the "unfairness" of this new Fairness Doctrine, it would be a small price to pay for coverage of local issues and elections. Public-affairs programming, as evidenced by first-rate local programs like KIRO's daily radio program, "The Newsmakers," and King 5's "Up Front," can make for engaging programming when addressing topics that impact Seattle and King County. In the age of global communication, it's time to reestablish the primacy of issues that are close to home.

Alex Alben has worked in broadcast journalism and the high-tech industry. He is writing a book about digital culture. His email is alexalben99@yahoo.com

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Media and democracy: It's time for a new Fairness Doctrine

First came the wax cylinder, followed by the LP, eight-track, cassette, CD, MP3, and now the digital stream. While most of the types of media on that list have dedicated players, the last two have sort of floundered when it comes to dedicated "in-home" players. USB DACs and iPod docks have been a stopgap solution, but they added unnecessary steps between your music and your ears.

Digital music players such as the Logitech Squeezebox Touch and now the Pioneer Elite N-30 Network Audio Player aim to make your music accessible, whether it's your own or from one of your favorite streaming-music services. The Squeezebox is not inexpensive at $299, but the Pioneer ups the ante by coming in at $499, and the step-up model, the Pioneer N-50, is even dearer at $699.

It's rarefied air the N-30 breathes, competing with hi-fi players such as the Cambridge Audio NP30 and Marantz NA7004. Does the Pioneer do enough to justify the expense?

Design
When you're listening to an audio device, how much of an issue is industrial design? In most cases, none; it could look like a busted UFO and still work fine. But with the Pioneer N-30, the design of the case actually detracts from its usability in a meaningful way. While the blocky casing is a little on the boring side, the brushed-aluminum finish does add a small touch of class.

It's the screen that's the letdown here, as it's only 2.5 inches across. Anyone remember Microsoft's "social" phone, the Kin? Silly question, no one does. This short-lived phone had a too-small screen that was--you guessed it--2.5 inches, but at least this was meant to be held close to your face. The Pioneer is designed to sit in your home theater about 8 feet away! But help is at hand: if you have a smartphone (not a Kin!) you'll be able to control the N-30 through a dedicated application, though as you'll soon see, not that successfully.

Is a 2.5-inch screen too small?

The N-30 comes with a brushed remote that is reassuringly heavy, as an audiophile might say. However, it's the same model that's used for the N-50, and so buttons such as "DIG IN 1" remain tantalizingly dormant. (The N-50 includes digital inputs, while the N-30 does not.)

Features
The N-30 is a music-focused network streamer with an Internet radio app. Last year, I wrote a manifesto on the 10 "must-have" features of a media player, and the Pioneer is one of the few players that comes close to fulfilling this vision, with six of the boxes ticked. Some of these pluses include simple navigation via the front panel, USB playback of mobile devices, and excellent format support--at least on paper. The N-30 supports most file types, which includes support for most music types up to 24-bit/192KHz, and this includes WAV, FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, and Ogg Vorbis.

I'm also disappointed to note the lack of streaming services, the provision of Net radio notwithstanding, and think that the smart consumer will at least want access to Pandora or Spotify. The days of downloading and keeping your music stored at home are coming to a close, and with recent changes to Spotify, entire swathes of 320Kbps MP3s are available over the Interwebs.

However, the N-30 does include Apple's AirPlay, and as such it streams not only your iTunes library via Wi-Fi but also compatible apps such as Spotify. Internet connection down? Spotify now lets you store Starred songs on your PC or mobile device.

The proprietary Wi-Fi adapter costs $150.

The device also comes with a dedicated iOS and Android controller app you can use to turn the device on and to pick content from the various network sources. It's free to download.

Of course, to use the streaming functions you will need an Internet connection of some sort, and the N-30 uses an Ethernet port. If, like the rest of the modernized world, you use a wireless router then you will need to plump down an extra $150 for the proprietary AS-WL300 wireless adapter. Bluetooth too is optional and costs an additional $99. To put it into perspective, the Wi-Fi adapter alone costs $50 more than the excellent WD TV Live and the BT adaptor and Wi-Fi together cost as much as the Logitech Squeezebox Touch.

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Pioneer N-30

Brent Bozell, the founder and president of the right-leaning Media Research Center, has decided to cancel the contraception coverage currently included in the company's employee health insurance plan after reportedly being "horrified" to discover those benefits were included in the wake of the debate surrounding President Obama's recent healthcare mandate.

In a staff-wide e-mail acquired by the Web site The Jane Dough, Bozell allegedly wrote that the company is working with BlueCross, its insurance provider, so as not to comply with the "disgusting mandate."

"[We] are working to change our insurance policy so as not to have to comply with this administration's disgusting mandate to provide contraceptive, sterilization and abortifacient services," wrote Bozell, who said he would have never approved the insurance policy in question if he had known that coverage was included.

Bozell then encouraged employees to refrain from using their birth control coverage until he is able to sort through the necessary paperwork to institute the policy changes with BlueCross, although he acknowledged he cannot force them to comply with his request. However, he added that not complying with it "is to commit a mortal sin."

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"Do not avail yourselves to these ... services, not through the MRC. They are evil, and I am unequivocal about this," Bozell wrote.

The birth control mandate, a provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, requires all employers to provide contraception coverage as part of their health insurance coverage. Although churches and church-sponsored organizations were exempt from the rule, religiously-affiliated organizations -- such as hospitals, universities and charities -- initially were not.

After an uproar from conservative Republicans and Catholic Church leaders who claimed the mandate violated those organizations' religious liberty, the Obama administration consented to a compromise. Now, employees who work for religious institutions that object to contraception coverage can obtain it, still free of charge, directly from their insurer.

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Media Research Center to Eliminate "Evil" Birth Control Services from Company Health Plan