Nokia N95 Wireless Adventure Indonesia

Jakarta – Pada Sabtu (26/5) lalu, Nokia menggelar acara bertajuk Nokia N95 Wireless Adventure yang digelar secara serentak di enam negara di kawasan Asia Pasifik yaitu Malaysia, Indonesia, Filipina, Singapura, Thailand dan Vietnam. Melalui acara tersebut, Nokia memberikan pengalaman sempurna dalam memaksimalkan multimedia komputer Nokia yang sudah dilengkapi dengan sistemGlobal Positioning System (GPS) dan Maps, Nokia N95.

Nokia N95 Wireless Adventure Indonesia merupakan sebuah kompetisi menemukan keunikan kota Jakarta melalui kepintaran menerjemahkan petunjuk yang telah disediakan, yang diikuti oleh 16 tim yang masing-masing beranggotakan dua orang. Ke-16 tim tersebut dipilih melalui seleksi ketat dari 1.200 pendaftar.

“Melalui kompetisi ini, Nokia menjawab kebutuhan pengguna ponsel di tanah air atas perangkat multifungsi yang cocok dengan segala kondisi”, jelas Hasan Aula, General Manager, Nokia Indonesia. “Untuk membuktikannya, kami mengajak anda berkeliling kota Jakarta menggunakan multimedia komputar Nokia N95 yang dilengkapi sistem GPS, Maps, kamera 5 MP dengan lensa Carl Zeiss dan konektifitas lengkap”, sambung Hasan.

Kompetisi ini memiliki sembilan petunjuk yang harus dipecahkan untuk tiba di lokasi yang dimaksud. Masing-masing petunjuk mewakili ciri khas kota Jakarta yaitu arsitektur, orang, hiburan, makanan, olahraga, musik, kesenian, fesyen dan selebriti.

Dimulai dengan mencari meriam kuno yang terletak di sebuah bangunan peninggalan Belanda yang di dalamnya terdapat penjara bawah tanah. Peserta harus dapat menebak tempat yang dimaksud; yaitu meriam kuno museum Fatahilah yang mewakili kategori arsitektur, hingga tempat-tempat terpilih lainnya.

Untuk sampai ke sana, peserta yang tidak mengenal pasti lokasinya bisa memaksimalkan fasilitas GPS dan Maps serta mendapatkan kemudahan dari fasilitas lokasi posisi berbasis satelit tersebut. Setelah menemukan lokasi yang dimaksud, setiap peserta diwajibkan mengirimkan jawaban menggunakan Nokia N95.

Selain pintar dalam memecahkan petunjuk yang diberikan, variabel penting untuk menemukan keunikan Jakarta adalah tahu bagaimana cara memaksimalkan fitur Nokia N95. Sebut saja cara untuk memaksimalkan fitur GPS dan Maps. Tidak cukup dengan tahu bagaimana cara membaca peta ataupun mencari rute tersingkat untuk sampai ke tujuan, tapi juga tahu bagaimana cara mengirimkan koordinat lokasi tertentu dan mengirimkannya melalui SMS ke nomor yang telah ditentukan.

Acara Nokia Wireless Adventure Indonesia akan disiarkan pada tanggal 10, 17 dan 24 Juni di Trans TV pada pukul. 15:30-16:00.

Nokia Wireless Adventure Party
Menutup acara Nokia N95 Wireless Adventure Indonesia yang dimulai dari pagi hingga petang, Nokia mengadakan pesta untuk mengumumkan pemenang hasil kompetisi. Diiringi DJ-DJ ternama, pesta ini menggunakan multimedia komputer Nokia N95 sebagai unjuk kebolehan para DJ mengolah musik.

Terpilih sebagai pemenang, Anandita Witoelar dan Rekian Ratri Amaraviti dari Tim 004 (Ikan Hiu di Lemari…Yu…Mari!!!) memenangkan hadiah utama senilai 50 juta rupiah, dua unit Nokia N95, satu unit Nokia Carkit CK-20W dan dua unit Nokia Speaker MD-5W. Tim tersebut berhasil melalui semua rintangan, mulai dari berfoto dengan meriam, mencari toko tua, berfoto bersama ikan pari, patung, hingga akhirnya menemukan orang yang membimbingnya membuat kerajinan tangan dari tanah liat.

Setelah melalui petualangan yang cukup melelahkan, dua tim lain juga terpilih sebagai pemenang kedua dan ketiga. Tim 005 (d’Affa) Vina Cahya Farhani dan Zidni Aulia sebagai pemenang kedua berhak atas hadiah uang sebesar Rp 15 juta, dua unit Nokia N73 Music Edition, satu unit Nokia Carkit CK-20W dan dua unit Nokia Speaker MD-3. Sementara tim 013 (Cap Cuus) Irma Pratiwi dan Tenny Meliandini yang mengisi posisi ketiga berhak atas hadiah uang Rp 5 juta, dua unit Nokia N70 Music Edition, satu unit Nokia PnP Carkit HF-33W dan dua unit Nokia Speaker MD-4.

Pesta tersebut sekaligus mengakhiri keceriaan berpetualang bersama Nokia N95.

San Antonio 83, Cleveland 82

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Once again, the San Antonio Spurs walked the hallways in champagne-soaked T-shirts.

Bruce Bowen carried the Larry O'Brien trophy, one he had cradled before.

Tony Parker, wrapped in France's flag, squeezed an MVP award he richly deserved.

And Tim Duncan, always the center of everything for his team, recorded every precious moment with a camcorder.

This wasn't their first NBA title. But for the Spurs, it's maybe the one that means the most.

Champions for a fourth time in nine years, they're now a dynasty.

"I don't care where we fall in history," Parker said. "I just feel blessed, honored and privileged to play on a team like this."

And what a team it is.

True roundball royalty, the Spurs again wear the crown.

LeBron James, Cleveland's preordained king, isn't quite ready for his.

Parker scored 24 points, Manu Ginobili had 27 -- 13 in the fourth quarter -- and the Spurs moved in among the NBA's greatest franchises with an 83-82 victory Thursday night for a sweep of the Cavaliers -- court jesters through much of their first finals.

With their fourth championship since 1999 -- and third in five years -- the Spurs joined the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls as the only teams in NBA history to win four titles.

"It never gets old, it never gets old," Duncan said. "Unbelievable. Such a great run, a great journey, a great bunch of guys."

And No. 5 might not be far away either with Parker, Ginobili and Duncan leading this Texas-oiled machine. Coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, now a perfect 4-for-4 together in finals appearances, spent most of the postseason dismissing talk that they should be considered a dynasty.

But with titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, there's no more reason to pretend they aren't one.

As the final seconds ticked off on Cleveland's finest season, Duncan stood at center court with both arms raised triumphantly as the rest of the Spurs danced around their quiet superstar in a huddle. San Antonio's star sought out Cleveland's Eric Snow, but was unable to find James, who had walked off, amid the pandemonium.

"I didn't want to turn around at all and look at it," James said.

Moments later, the Spurs, who moved over from the ABA in 1976, put on champions baseball caps, which has almost become a June ritual for them.

Their road to a championship was bumpier than in previous years.

The Spurs weren't the Spurs earlier this season, and Popovich, ever the task master, criticized his squad, calling it the worst defensive one he had coached. San Antonio was 33-18 at the time, "struggling" for by its lofty standards, but it wasn't long before they started playing Spurs basketball.

They beat Denver, Phoenix and Utah to win the Western Conference title and then stormed through the Cavs, who were exposed during four games that looked competitive on the scoreboard but were hardly even close.

"This one's sweeter," Duncan said. "The road that we took to get here was as tough as we ever had it. Guys persevered, we had great performances from one to 12."

The final moments were hectic as the Spurs needed every last free throw to hold off the Cavaliers, who made a last stand at home in a season of seasons for their once downtrodden franchise.

Cleveland went on an 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter, taking its first lead in any second half of the series on James' drive with 7:55 left. Cleveland went up 63-60 on Daniel Gibson's drive, but that's when Duncan and Co. showed why they're champions.

Ginobili scored inside, was fouled and missed his free throw. But Duncan muscled into the lane and tipped in the miss to make it 66-63. The Cavs tied it, but Ginobili, who didn't make a field goal in Game 3, dropped a 3-pointer, and when James missed a 3, the Spurs regained control by outworking Cleveland.

Duncan and Fabricio Oberto scrapped for offensive rebounds as the Spurs kept the ball for nearly two minutes before Oberto's three-point play made it 72-66 with 2:29 remaining. Duncan then poked the ball away from James and Oberto scored underneath to give San Antonio a 74-66 lead.

James, possibly a little tired following the early morning birth of his second son, hit another 3-pointer but Ginobili responded again with a tough runner in the lane to make it 76-69.

Damon Jones made three free throws and James made another 3-pointer, but Ginobili made four free throws in the final seven seconds and immediately began celebrating a title that was all but inevitable.

"We're an old team. We've been there," Parker said. "We knew Cleveland was going to make a run, so we just let the storm go by and refocus, and we never had panic on our team, never."

San Antonio's four-game sweep was the eighth since the finals began in 1947.

Parker, who averaged 24.5 points on 57 percent shooting, became the first European-born player to be honored as MVP. Until now, he was mostly viewed as a pretty decent player with a prettier fiance, TV actress Eva Longoria.

When Parker was handed his trophy, his soon-to-be-bride wiped away tears.

The 25-year-old, though, was an unstoppable, silver-and-black blur against the Cavs, who had no one who could contain him and who looked like they stumbled into their first finals by accident.

Later, with his country's tri-colored flag draped over his shoulders, Parker walked the hallways carrying his MVP trophy and shook his head in disbelief.

"This is like a dream," he said. "I don't want to wake up."

James had Cleveland fans believing the city's 43-year championship drought was about to end. However, he had a rough introduction to the league's climactic event, one he figures to reach again.

He shot just 10-of-30 in Game 4 -- and only 36 percent in the series -- and never figured out how to rise above or get around the Spurs, whose defensive schemes were designed to make the other Cavaliers beat them.

James scored 24 points, and while he took the Cavaliers as far as they've ever gone, he failed to give them new life in this series on the same day his second son, Bryce Maximus James, was born.

Duncan, an MVP in his first three finals, had only 12 points but grabbed 15 rebounds.

But the 31-year-old, whose arrival in 1997 in San Antonio is the launching point for the Spurs' ascension, he got his fourth ring and helped others like Michael Finley and Jacque Vaughn win their first.

Finley cradled the game ball during the postgame celebration.

"I might just put it in the bed between me and my wife," he said.

Spurs forward Robert Horry got another one, too, his seventh -- the most by a non-Celtics player.

"As a kid, you dream about winning one championship," he said. "Getting seven his unreal."

Notes

With four titles, Popovich trails only Red Auerbach (9), Phil Jackson (9), John Kundla (5) and Pat Riley (5) for the most in league history. ... Cleveland's 322 points in the series was the lowest total for four games. ... The Spurs' .727 winning percentage (16-6) is the highest in finals history. ... New England quarterback Tom Brady and Browns rookie Brady Quinn were among the celebrities on hand, along with Dallas wide receiver Terrell Owens and Hall of Famer Franco Harris.

Nokia N91

Frekuensi pengoperasian

EGSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz + WCDMA, EDGETransfer data: WCDMA kecepatan hingga 384 kbps, EGPRS/GPRS (class B/multislot 10) hingga 236,8 kbps

Catatan: Kecepatan aktualnya mungkin bervariasi tergantung dukungan jaringan

Dimensi:

Berat: 160 g

Panjang: 113,1 mm

Lebar (maks): 55,2 mm

Tebal (maks): 22 mm

Layar dan User Interface:

Layar warna (176 x 208, 262 ribu warna)

User interface Platform Series 60

Tombol kontrol kecerahan otomatis untuk layar dan keypad

Tombol musik: Play/Pause, Forward, Back, Stop. Alihkan dengan mudah antara music player dengan aplikasi yang terakhir kali digunakan dengan tombol khusus.

Tombol: Dua soft key yang dapat dikonfigurasikan, Send & End, tombol navigasi 5-arah yang dapat dikonfigurasikan, tombol S60 (Menu, Edit, Clear), tombol ITU-T (angka/teks), Volume (naik & turun), Power, Device lock switch

Musik :

Format audio (decoding)

MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, Real V8, WAV, WMA, M4A, AWB, SP-Midi, AMR, WB-AMR, Nokia Ring Tones, AMR-NB, AWB

Music Player

Music player yang didesain dengan pintar – dioptimalkan untuk mendengarkan alunan musik

Tombol playback khusus dan pengatur volume

Pengaturan daftar lagu ketika bepergian yang canggih – edit daftar lagu, tambah lagu baru

Dapatkan meta data

Fitur-fitur musik yang canggih: mixer, 8-band equalizer, stereo widening, loudness, stereo balance, music DRC (Dynamic Range Compression)

Lihat apa yang sedang diputar saat Nokia N91 pada keadaan siaga

Jawab panggilan saat mendengarkan musik dan musik akan berhenti lalu berputar kembali waktu panggilan berakhir

Integrasi yang pintar dengan layanan musik (akses yang mudah ke toko musik)

Profil pengguna musik atau pengoperasian tanpa SIM card memungkinkan Anda mendengarkan alunan musik tanpa gangguan

Sinkronisasi dengan PC

Download musik baru over the air ke Nokia N91 Anda

Visual Radio

Aktifkan mode Visual Radio. Tambahkan dimensi baru yang kaya pada saat mendengarkan radio. Anda dapat dengan mudah beralih dan rasakan pengalaman yang benar-benar baru.

www.visualradio.com

Suara berkualitas Hi-Fi

Gunakan Nokia Music Headset HS-28 dengan remote control atau gunakan headphone kualitas tinggi Anda sendiri dan hubungkan langsung ke jack audio 3,5mm pada Nokia N91

Hubungkan Nokia N91 ke speaker eksternal

Merekam musik

Musik stereo melalui saluran masuk (line-in) dari stereo Anda

Dari radio FM

Buatlah rekaman Anda sendiri menggunakan aplikasi perekam suara

Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DRM 2.0

Untuk proteksi/digital right management untuk file-file musik

Memori

Memori dinamis internal hingga 4GB untuk content musik, pesan multimedia, ringtone, gambar, klip video, dan aplikasi

Tambahan memori sebesar 30MB untuk kontak, catatan kalender dan acara, pesan teks.

Video dan Kamera:

Format video (decoding)

Streaming dan perekaman video: H.263, MPEG4, Real Video 8

Penampil gambar (Image viewer): JPEG, GIF 87a/89a, WBMP, BMP, PNG

Download dan putar file-file multimedia (video dan musik)Stream file-file media dari portal media yang kompatibel

Pemutaran video dengan layar penuh pada ponsel untuk melihat klip-klip video yang sudah di-download, di-stream atau direkam dengan ukuran besar.

Kamera

2 Megapiksel

Resolusi gambar diam: 1600 x 1200 (standar 640 x 480)

Format file gambar diam: JPEG, YUV, RGBModus kamera canggih: still, burst, video dan pilihan-pilihan untuk di malam hari, pengaturan tingkat kecerahan, mutu gambar, self-timer dan macro-mode.

Zoom digital hingga 8x

Konektivitas:

3G

Mendekati kecepatan broadband untuk men-download secara cepat dan lebih responsif.

WLAN 802.11b/g

WLAN untuk konektivitas hot spot di ruang rapat atau café favorit Anda.

USB

Interface kecepatan penuh USB 2.0 dengan profil penyimpanan masal (USB mini)

Nokia PC Suite

Konektivitas dengan USB atau teknologi nirkabel Bluetooth

Sinkronisasi

Sinkronisasi lokal untuk kontak, kalender dan file-file musik ke PC yang kompatibel menggunakan koneksi yang kompatibel.

Sinkronisasi nirkabel untuk kontak dan kalender melalui Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Teknologi nirkabel Bluetooth terpadu v.1.2

Kirim dan terima gambar, klip video, grafik dan kartu nama via teknologi nirkabel Bluetooth

Profil dengan konektivitas Bluetooth: Basic Printing Profile (BPP) menggunakan aplikasi Image Print atau Info Print, Human Interface Device Profile (HID) menggunakan aplikasi Nokia Wireless Keyboard

Pesan:

Client email yang mudah digunakan

Kompatibel dengan Nokia Wireless Keyboard (dijual terpisah)

Pesan multimedia: kombinasikan gambar, video, teks, dan klip suara lalu kirimkan sebagai MMS ke ponsel atau PC yang kompatibel

Mengubah ukuran gambar megapiksel Anda secara otomatis agar sesuai dengan MMS (ukuran attachment maks. 300 KB, tergantung jaringan)

Pesan teks: mendukung pesan SMS berantai (concatenated), picture message, daftar distribusi SMS

Input teks prediksi: mendukung semua bahasa utama di Eropa dan Asia Pasifik

Instant Messaging

Browsing:

Browser xHTML

Kompatibilitas Web yang lebih baik dengan dukungan untuk HTML 4.01, termasuk dukungan untuk elemen-elemen seperti image map, gambar latar belakang dan frame

Dukungan untuk subset JavaScript 1.5 yang mencakup fungsi-fungsi yang paling umum digunakan yang ada di Internet

Upload file melalui HTTP menggunakan form HTML standar

Pilihan rendering layar kecil termasuk page-up/page-down scrolling style yang lebih cepat

Mode full screen, download progress bar dan daftar historis yang dapat disesuaikan

Streaming video 3GPP

OMA DRM 1.0 - termasuk forward lock untuk melindungi content, kombinasi pengiriman, pemisahan pengiriman serta super distribusi

Wallet: penggunaan secara online yang nyaman dan penyimpanan nomor dan password Anda

Pengaturan Panggilan:

Kontak: database kontak yang canggih dengan dukungan untuk berbagai ponsel dan informasi email per entri, juga mendukung gambar thumbnail dan grup

Panggilan cepat

Log: berisi daftar panggilan keluar, panggilan masuk dan panggilan tak terjawab Anda

Panggil ulang otomatis

Jawab otomatis (hanya berfungsi dengan headset atau car kit yang kompatibel)

Mendukung Nomor Panggilan Tetap yang memungkinkan panggilan hanya dilakukan ke nomor-nomor yang telah ditentukan

Panggilan konferensi

Aplikasi Java:

Java™ MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1 (Connected Limited Device Configuration (J2ME)), JTWI 1.0

Download aplikasi dan game berbasis Java™ over-the-air

Aplikasi-aplikasi Lain:

Personal Information Management (PIM):

Fitur Advanced Series 60 PIM mencakup kalender, kontak, to-do list dan cetak PIM

Fitur Suara:

Panggilan melalui suara

Perintah suara

Perekam suara (voice recorder)

Handsfree speaker terpadu

Layanan Digital:

Aplikasi Java™ dan Symbian tersedia di Nokia Software Market

www.softwaremarket.nokia.com

Grafik, ikon, animasi, logo

Game: Download game baru

Ringtone: True Tones, polifonik tone

Theme: Download theme baru

Power Management:

Waktu Siaga: hingga 190 jam (7 hari)

Waktu Bicara: hingga 3-4 jam

Baterai: BL-5C, 900, mAh, Li-Ion

SIARAN PERS : GO!LYMPIC 2007

S I A R A N P E R S

Go fun! Go fit! Go healthy! - GO! LYMPIC 2007

Jakarta, 4 Juni 2007, B-EYE Communication.

Sebuah ajang kompetisi, kontes serta festival palinginovatif, obyektif dan bergengsi tahun ini, kolaborasikreatif antara olahraga, seni, musik danentertainment, bertajuk “GO! LYMPIC 2007” akan digelarselama 5 hari penuh, 4 – 8 Juli 2007, diadakan di mainhall Mal Cinere dengan memberlakukan sistem penjurianobyektif serta menghadirkan juri-juri ternama dankompeten, terdiri dari staf ahli Menpora, pakarkesehatan, instruktur-instruktur beken, koreograferhandal, atlit nasional, selebritis top dan model larisIndonesia. Untuk penyelenggaraan tahun pertama, GO!LYMPIC 2007 mengambil tema “go fun! go fit! gohealthy!”.

GO! daNce T-val 2007, festival tari hip-hopdiperlombakan dengan kategori solo dan group.Membedakan dengan acara sejenis, melalui event ini,untuk pertama kali akan memberikan penghargaan bagikoreografi terbaik. Pelaksanaan melalui tahap Audisi 4juli 2007 dan Final 7 Juli 2007.

GO! Ideal Body Contest 2007, kontes mencari priametroseksual bertubuh paling ideal, atletis dengansix-pack yang tegas, berusia antara 17-35 tahun,berpenampilan menarik, berwawasan luas, serta bergayahidup sehat, melalui Audisi 5 Juli 2007 dan Final 6Juli 2007. Event ini juga dimaksudkan sebagai contohmenentukan tubuh yang termasuk dalam kategori idealmelalui system penilaian berkadar obyektifitas tinggiberdasar pada ilmu olahraga dan kebugaran sertapengukuran yang akurat.

GO! Aerobic Competition - sunDJuly 8th 2007, kompetisiaerobic terunik pertama di Indonesia yangmempertandingkan beberapa kategori, bersama parainstruktur senam nasional, Vicky Burky, Jinoth, Koco,Raymond dan Moniq, dimana masing-masing instrukturakan tampil bersama dengan DJ performance pada hari Minggu, 8 Juli 2007.

Para peserta kompetisi, kontes serta festival GO!LYMPIC 2007 akan memperebutkan Piala KantorKementerian Negara Pemuda & Olahraga RI, Piala KONI,Piala ASKI serta sejumlah uang tunai dan hadiah produk sponsor.

Sehubungan dengan hal tersebut, panitia mengundangmasyarakat luas khususnya bagi yang di JABODETABEKuntuk ambil bagian dalam kemeriahan event GO! LYMPIC2007 tahun pertama dengan mengikuti kompetisi aerobic,kontes tubuh ideal atau festival tari modern. Untukmempermudah para calon peserta untuk mendaftarkandiri, panitia telah bekerjasama dengan sejumlah HealthClub, Fitness Centre, Gym, Studio dan Sanggar diJabodetabek untuk menjadi titik penjualan formulirlomba dan kompetisi. Tawaran menarik juga diberikanpada para calon peserta perorangan kompetisi erobikdengan hanya membayar Rp.25.000,- per kategori. AYO!JADILAH YANG PERTAMA - Be the first @ the 1st GO!LYMPIC 2007. Pendaftaran ditutup tanggal 24 Juni 2007.

Disponsori oleh BANK NIAGA, MIZONE, CIMORY Fresh Milk,ICE WORLD Pantai Carnaval Ancol, JAZZ YOGA by RedhaHajir, INDOSAT, PAPA RON’S Cibubur, SEA WORLDIndonesia, ATLANTIS Water Adventures, CUSHY Mie Ceker& Bakwan dan YOU-C1000 Health Drink.

Media partner acara adalah Majalah Bulanan NIRMALAHidup Sehat Alami, Majalah Bulanan HEALTHY LIFE SolusiGaya Hidup Sehat, Radio ARH Global, Majalah BulananREPS Fitness & Healthy Lifestyle Magazine, WOMENRadio, Harian Umum BATAK POS, Majalah Bulanan GOODHOUSEKEEPING Indonesia, Harian Umum Sore SINARHARAPAN, KAFEGAUL.com, Radio DANGDUT TPI, ASTAGA!com,Tabloid PASARINFO.COM at its best, Free Mags CRUSH!, Majalah Bulanan Remaja SPICE!, UTAN KAYU 89.2 Radioyang Mendengar Anda, Kantor Berita KBR68H Terpercaya,Menjangkau Nusantara, Radio 104.6 FM TRIJAYA Jakarta,Radio MUSIC CITY 107.50FM, Tabloid Kawasan MEDIACINERE dan Free Magazine MAJA Women’s Journal.

Didukung oleh Kementerian Negara Pemuda & Olahraga RI,Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia - KONI -, FederasiOlahraga Masyarakat Indonesia - FOMI -, dan AsosiasiKebugaran Indonesia - ASKI -.

Penggagas acara adalah MAL CINERE, NT Dance StyleProduction, ARENA Health Studio dan the STUDIO 23Fitness Spa Art.

GO! LYMPIC 2007 diselenggarakan oleh B-EYECOMMUNICATION.

Info lebih lanjut, dapat hubungi bagian informasi dinomor telpon 021 – 754 50 79 dan 021 – 76 55 277.

Salam hormat kami,

A/n Panitia GO! LYMPIC 2007

WALLY W.H. SUDARMAN

Marketing & Communication Manager

Cellphone : 0856 97 23 66 82

E-mail : whsudarman@mailcity.com

Phone : + 62 - 21 - 985 217 24 atau 754 73 60

Fax : + 62 - 21 - 754 73 60

Job Vacancy - Vue Palace Hotel, Bandung

VUE PALACE HOTEL BANDUNG

(100 rooms, 2 F&B Outlets,4 Meeting Rooms, Fitness Centre, Swimming Pool, Pub & Karaoke), will be established as 4 stars hotel,

is currently welcoming applications for following positions :

1. General Manager (M)
2. All Department Heads (M/F)
3. Night Manager (M)
4. Cost Control (M/F)
5. IT Officer (M)
6. Sales & Marketing Manager (F)
7. Sales & Marketing Executive (F)
8. Security Coordinator (M)
9. Personnel Officer (M/F)
10. Reservation & Receptionist (M/F)
11. Cashier (M/F)
12. Cook (M/F)
13. Bartender (M/F)
14. Waiter/Waitress (M/F)

General Requirements:

• Min 2 years experience in similar positions. However, for Department Head positions, we welcome those who seek promotions
• Min Bachelor, and or at least Diploma III Graduate
• Customer Oriented, team player, hard worker
• Good command in English both written & oral
• Good Personality
• Highly motivated, energetic and enthusiastic
• Good communication skills
• Familiar with Network administrator (5)

Please send your application letter, latest photo, and full resume, or directly visit for a walk-in interview, to :
aw1804@yahoo.com
Or :
Mr. Eki Kurniawan
Human Resources Departemnt
Vue Palace Hotel Bandung
Jl Otista No. 3 Bandung 40117
West Java Indonesia

Profescipta is an IT solution company whose client ranges from local and International market

We have been in the industry for 7 years; always update in our methodology and keep up to date with the latest technology in web industries, delivering various Web applications from corporate website, portals, advergaming, HR, until Accounting.

1. Technical Project Manager

• Requirements:
• More than 5 years of IT Project Management implementation experience
• Monitor and control every technical task of the project
• Manage weekly progress report to Business Project Manager and Information Technology Management.
• Detail in managing all project documentations as according to SDLC
• Ensuring implementation within specified time, schedules, and budgets
• Providing information to users as per requirements
• Managing all related parties involved in the project
• Good Communication Skills (verbal/written)
• Optional Requirement
• Payment Systems with Financial background or
• HR systems (back office support systems background)
• or having skills with PBX or Call center backround

2. Senior Systems Analyst

Requirements:

• Detail Analysis capability within Financial Accounting area
• More than 5 years experience in business system analysis related to Financial Accounting area
• More than 3 years IT System Analyst experience
• Understand standard SDLC Methodology
• Good Communication Skills (verbal/written)

3. Technical Writer

Requirements:

We are looking for 2 position for Technical Writer with these requirement:

First position:

Having knowledge in writing SOP, Windows, UNIX, AS/400 platform, knowledge in MS Office and good English (Grammar/Speaking), fresh graduate are welcome.

Second Position:

IT Backroundhave 2 years experience as technical writer or any document creation related to Project or procedure

4. Account Manager

Responsibilities:

• To present company web services to prospective customers, secure new customers while maintaining current customer.
• To assist in the analysis, evaluation, and portal/web concept creation for the prospect project (team work with creative department)
• Provide on going support regarding current and future customer needs
• To develop internet marketing model for advertising industry

Requirements:

• Requires someone that is highly creative and has analytical skills, motivated, can work under minimum supervision, has presentation and communication skills.
• Knowledge on internet industry
• Background in advertising industry is a plus
• Microsoft Words, Power Point and Excel is a must (Adobe Photoshop is a plus)

5. Web Designer

Responsibilities:

• Produce design from mockup design to HTML template
• Support marketing on creating kick ass proposals
• Material support for existing web portals

Requirements:

• High aesthetic skill with general User Interface layout understanding
• Can think out of the box, creating design and concept that can break the conventional web boundaries
• High interest in web design/business
• Proficiency in design software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator/Freehand, Flash
• Understand web design concept in general
• Flash Actionscript mastering is a plus
• Proficiency in Dynamic HTML is a plus
• Hand drawing skill is a plus
• Fresh Graduates are welcome to apply

Please Submit your CV by email to:

Julius.rachmantio@profescipta.com or kusrini@profescipta.com

For webdesigner: Krisno.wisnuadi@profescipta.com

Or via post:

PT. Profescipta WahanatehnikTitan Building 3rd FloorJl. Slamet Riyadi No.7Jakarta 13150

10 Universitas Terbaik di Indonesia

Dunia kerja memilih sepuluh kampus ini sebagai kampus terbaik karena lulusannya memiliki karakter juara. Berikut ini peta persepsi dunia kerja tentang karakter lulusan 10 perguruan tinggi itu.

Sepuluh kampus terbaik di negeri ini menurut kalangan dunia kerja. Peringkat ini hasil surveyPusat Data dan Analisa Tempo sepanjang Desember 2006-Januari 2007:

1. Universitas Indonesia 14,54%
2. Institut Teknologi Bandung 13,27%
3. Universitas Gajahmada 11,59%
4. Institut Pertanian Bogor 11,37%
5. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh November 9,46%
6. Universitas Airlangga 7,61%
7. Universitas Trisakti 7,55%
8. Universitas Padjajaran 6,51%
9. Universitas Atmajaya 5,37%
10. Universitas Diponegoro 4,41%

Karakter JuaraMengapa karakter juara penting di dunia kerja? Jawabannya sederhana: dunia kerja butuhpekerja super. Berikut ini pekerja super yang diinginkan responden Tempo:

1. Mau bekerja keras 9,03%
2. Kepercayaan diri tinggi 8,75%
3. Mempunyai visi ke depan 8,37%
4. Bisa bekerja dalam tim 8,07%
5. Memiliki perencanaan yang matang 7,91%
6. Mampu berpikir analitis 7,82%
7. Mudah beradaptasi 7,12%
8. Mampu bekerja dalam tekanan 5,91%
9. Cakap berbahasa Inggris 5,27%
10. Mampu mengorganisasi pekerjaan 5,26%

Agar lulus berkualitasTekun belajar bukan satu satunya cara untuk menjadi lulusan berkualitas. Anda perlu kegiatantambahan. Inilah tips dari dunia kerja:

1. Aktif berorganisasi 20,32%
2. Mengasah bahasa Inggris 18,60%
3. Tekun belajar 17,70%
4. Mengikuti perkembangan informasi 15,98%
5. Memiliki pergaulan luas 15,07%
6. Mempelajari aplikasi computer 12,32%

(dikutip dari Edisi Khusus Perguruan Tinggi/Infografik, Majalah Tempo edisi 20 Mei 2007)

Cuaca Buruk-Aneh di Australia, Kapal Batubara Tenggelam; Pantai Selatan Mulai Normal

Sehari setelah isu tsunami tak terbukti, kehidupan pantai selatan kembali semarak, Jumat (8/6). Mayoritas nelayan Pantai Baron Gunungkidul, mulai melaut seperti biasa. Hal yang sama juga terlihat di kawasan pantai di wilayah Bantul.
”Meski kami tetap waspada, tetapi warga mulai menjalani rutinitas kehidupan biasa”, kata Wisnu, ketua tim SAR Baron kepada KR tadi malam. Bahkan wisatawan juga tetap datang, meski tidak hari libur.

Sementara itu cuaca buruk dan aneh kemarin melanda Australia. Akibatnya, kapal batubara tenggelam dihajar gelombang. Kapal MV Pasha Bulker yang memiliki 21 awak berkebangsaan Filipina itu mengalami masalah di lepas pantai Newcastle, utara Sydney dan akhirnya tenggelam di dekat Pantai Nobby’s.

Seluruh awak kapal berhasil diselamatkan dengan helikopter. Cuaca buruk juga menyebabkan sejumlah kapal yang berlayar di perairan Australia mengirimkan isyarat bahaya. Tindakan seperti ini dilakukan oleh awak kapal The Sea Confidence dan Beetus yang juga membawa batubara. Pasha Bulker memiliki 700 ton bahan bakar dan 34 ton diesel.

The Newcastle Port Corporation cemas jika kapal MV Pasha Bulker pecah dan isinya tumpah, sehingga menyebabkan bencana lingkungan. Shah bandar Newcastle Tim Turner mengatakan, pihaknya telah mengirim peringatan cuaca buruk Kamis malam, namun kapal-kapal itu mengabaikannya.

Akibat cuaca buruk itu banyak kapal yang terganggu. Hari Jumat saja, ada 54 kapal yang terpaksa ditolong. Pejabat NSW Joe Tripodi mengatakan, kapal Sea Confidence mengalami kerusakan 1,3 kilometer dari Newcastle. Situasi di Newcastle sangat genting, karena terjadi gelombang besar yang tingginya mencapai 17 meter.

Cuaca buruk menyebabkan transportasi di pelabuhan terganggu. Di Bandara Sydney, banyak penerbangan yang terpaksa dibatalkan atau ditunda. Pasokan listrik untuk 3.000 rumah di Sydney putus.

Operasi penyelamatan awak Pasha Bulker sendiri berlangsung dramatis. Helikopter terbang di atas kapal berbobot 40.000 ton itu, sambil menahan angin kencang dan hujan lebat. Sesudah dievakuasi, awak kapal tersebut dibawa ke pos kesehatan untuk diperiksa. Anggota Parlemen dari Partai Hijau Ian Cohen cemas, pecahnya kapal MV Pasha Bulker akan menumpahkan minyak yang mencemari laut.

Newcastle merupakan pelabuhan ekspor batubara yang penting. Batubara tersebut dikirim ke berbagai wilayah Asia, seperti Jepang, Korsel dan Taiwan. Buruknya cuaca membuat kegiatan memuat barang ke dalam kapal terganggu. Sedikitnya 70 kapal terpaksa menunda loading.

Cuaca buruk berupa angin kencang dan hujan lebat menyebabkan beberapa tempat di Australia dilanda banjir. Kapal Sea Confidence berlayar hanya dalam jarak 1,6 kilometer dari Pantai Stockton. Sedangkan Beetus sekitar 2 kilometer dari Swansea. Kapal-kapal ini meminta bantuan kapal pandu untuk mendarat. Selain itu masih ada kapal Corald Emerald yang perlu mendapat perhatian.

Pantai di Gunungkidul

Untuk mengantisipasi hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan, Kapolres Gunungkidul AKBP Heri Purwanto SH menjelaskan, pihaknya tetap melakukan pengamanan lokasi pantai dan berkoordinasi dengan tim SAR dan Muspika Kecamatan Tanjungsari, Girisubo, Rongkop, Panggang dan Kecamatan Purwosari. Kepada seluruh kapolsek di wilayah sekitar pantai agar selalu berkoordinasi dengan warga dan melaporkan setiap terjadi perkembangan.

Di Pantai Baron, Tim SAR juga melakukan siaga penuh selama dua puluh empat jam. Selain itu juga mengingatkan kepada seluruh wisatawan untuk tidak mandi maupun bermain air di sekitar pantai. Karena selain angin kencang, gelombang laut pasang dalam beberapa hari terakhir juga sulit ditebak dan cenderung sering terjadi. ”Dengan terjadinya perubahan iklim di kawasan pantai, Tim SAR akan mengoptimalkan pengamanan selama dua puluh empat jam,” ujarnya.

Ditambahkan Kapolres Gunungkidul AKBP Heri Purwanto SH, karena kondisi perairan laut cenderung sulit ditebak, pihaknya minta nelayan selalu mengindahkan imbauan Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika (BMG). Mengacu ramalam BMG bahwa dalam beberapa minggu ini sejumlah perairan laut akan terjadi peningkatan gelombang laut pasang. Berdasarkan ramalan itu hendaknya selalu meningkatkan kewaspadaan dan dapat membaca situasi. Jika memang lautan kurang bersahabat hendaknya tidak melakukan aktivitas.

Secara terpisah Lurah Desa Kemadang Tanjungsari, Ngatno, juga menyatakan, terkait dengan perubahan cuaca di kawasan pantai selatan, pihaknya meminta warganya yang bermukim di sekitar pantai meningkatkan kewaspadaan. Terlebih lagi warning mengisyaratkan bahwa dalam beberapa hari terakhir ini terjadi peningkatan gelombang laut dan angin kencang. Kewaspadaan memang perlu dilakukan sebagai salah satu antisipasi agar terjadinya perubahan fenomena alam tidak menimbulkan korban.

Microsoft's art collection grows up

REDMOND, Wash. - Leah Erickson let out an exasperated growl when she spotted a banner advertising "Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007" crookedly thumbtacked above a row of photographs framed and lit with museumlike care.

Erickson, the archives manager for Microsoft Corp.'s art collection, enlisted a colleague to help yank it from the designated "art wall." Earlier, the two hoisted a cardboard Windows Vista sign from in front of a painting and shoved lobby chairs away from a sculpture.

Hanging in the halls of Microsoft's sprawling corporate campus are 4,500 pieces of contemporary art, some by such artists as Chuck Close, Takashi Murakami and Cindy Sherman. The software company spends just a sliver of its billions on art, so full-time curator Laura Matzer is working with what she's got to gain respect for the collection in the art world, while balancing the quirks — like those ubiquitous posters — of working within a 76,500-person global corporation.

"I know my place here. Microsoft is first and foremost a software company," Matzer said.

Microsoft's art collection began in 1987 to brighten the walls of what was then a six-building campus. Before then, financial institutions that wanted to project a "forward-thinking" image were the main corporate collectors of art, according to Susan Abbott, a consultant and author of "Corporate Art Collecting."

Deutsche Bank AG and Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. have two of the best-known corporate collections today. Among the 50,000 pieces in Deutsche Bank's collection are works by Pablo Picasso and Gerhard Richter; Progressive owns a Mao serigraph by Andy Warhol.

By the late 1970s, companies started buying art to stimulate employees sequestered in office parks. Around the same time, government money for the arts was on the downswing, and museums turned to blockbuster shows with mass appeal to boost attendance, Abbott said.

"Wherever you looked, it became fashionable to be knowledgeable about art," she said. "That's when the whole corporate art collecting really went crazy."

At Microsoft, a committee of employee-volunteers oversaw new acquisitions until 1999, when the company hired its first full-time curator, New York gallery owner Michael Klein.

"It was time to turn the day-to-day operations to a professional team, like every other part of the Microsoft organization," Klein said.

To keep costs down, he chose works by emerging and mid-career artists instead of established stars. To reflect the company's global footprint, he bought objects from around the world, while continuing a tradition of supporting Northwest artists. He acquired photos, prints, paintings and sculpture, but ruled out the overtly political, religious and sexual to avoid offending employees from different cultures.

One highlight of his tenure was the commission of a two-story wall drawing by Sol LeWitt, whose works have been shown in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

When asked why Microsoft collects art, Klein answered, "Because they can. And they should. They are involved in culture. Technology is culture. And the art informs the culture."

Matzer, who joined Microsoft's staff from the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, emphasized that the company doesn't buy art as an investment. She said the collection hasn't been appraised as a whole, but did say prints by Jacob Lawrence, a well-known 20th-century American painter who spent his later years in Seattle, had quadrupled in value since their purchase. Klein said the prints were originally bought for a few thousand dollars.

Microsoft, Matzer said, collects as a benefit to employees. Her aim is to spark creativity and to give workers, who spend so much time in the plastic environment of phones and computers, access to contrasting, tactile objects.

Nicholas Dodge, a software tester on Microsoft's Web search team, said that when he moved into Building 88 in December, there was no art on the walls.

"It felt kind of industrial," he said. "Now it feels more lived in, just kind of more alive."

He strode through the mazelike hallways of the building one recent day, proudly pointing out his favorite works. "This one right here is really cool," he said of "Night Landscape #2," a small painting by William Johnson from 1990. "It's nice and dark."

After succeeding Klein in 2004, Matzer continued to use his guidelines as she sought out new works. She's also interested in artists who use technology in interesting ways. She recently bought "Easeful City," by Japanese artist Satoru Aoyama, who rendered a decaying cityscape with delicate embroidery stitches.

When she's not out scouting new artists, or at home reading about them, Matzer is focused on raising Microsoft's profile in the art world. The collection's first annual report is in the works, and she's hoping to publish a catalog of the objects by 2010. She speaks at museum conferences and joined the year-old International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art.

But working inside Microsoft presents challenges most museum staff won't encounter. For one thing, the geography is daunting: Matzer is in charge of curating mini-exhibitions in 80 buildings around the country plus Japan and Denmark.

Unlike the typical museum, which hangs less than 10 percent of its collection at a time, Microsoft keeps only a small percentage of its works in a climate-controlled vault. As a result, Matzer's budget is constrained by how fast Microsoft expands in any given year. (Matzer declined to give specifics about her budget, but Klein said during his last year he spent about $1.2 million.)

Matzer has also become savvy in arcane technical details — the pros and cons of different types of halogen bulbs, for example. The LED lights she'd prefer to use for conservation reasons cost more up front than Microsoft wants to spend, so she's compromised on a certain halogen bulb to illuminate the art.

Then, of course, there are the employees.

"The main difference is that, when you're in a museum or a gallery, you're interacting with people who have actively sought you out," said Meagan Hatcher-Mays, public programs manager for the collection.

An internal company Web site lists tours, artist lectures and panels on art collecting, but the handful of employees approached on campus for this story didn't know it existed.

Another problem: Only 200 pieces are accompanied by extended background information.

"Some people may come in either not understanding, or feeling antagonistic toward the piece," said Matzer.

A group of employees was particularly grateful for an explanation posted a few weeks after a giant painted plywood hot dog by New York-based artist Cary Liebowitz appeared in their building.

One told Hatcher-Mays that "not everyone liked it, but at least they understood what it was about."

On the Net:

Microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/artcollection

Progressive Casualty Insurance Co.

http://art.progressive.com

Deutsche Bank AG:

http://www.deutsche-bank-art.com

Dell to sell computer at Sam's Club

DALLAS - Dell Inc. will sell a notebook computer model at Sam's Club warehouse stores beginning next week, a company spokesman said Friday.

The announcement follows Dell's decision to begin selling two personal computer models at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. beginning this weekend. Wal-Mart owns Sam's Club.

Dell spokesman David Frink said the Round Rock-based computer maker would sell copies of the Inspiron 1501 at Sam's Club stores.

The 1501 is a general-purpose notebook that usually starts at $649 but was offered Friday for $549 and up on Dell's Web site. Frink called it one of the company's most popular notebooks.

Some analysts panned Dell's decision to offer only two lower-priced desktop models at Wal-Mart stores. They said consumers want to see and touch notebooks before buying.

"This is an additional step in our emerging retail strategy," Frink said of the decision to sell the Inspiron at Sam's Club.

He said Dell will announce deals with other retailers in coming months.

Dell has always relied on selling PCs and other products directly to consumers and business customers over the phone and Internet. Dell appears to be tweaking its strategy since losing its lead in PC shipments last year to Hewlett-Packard Co. and since founder Michael Dell returned to his former role as chief executive in January.

Relief in store for cable TV subscribers

In this photograph provided by Motorola, a 'cable card', used in some applications for cable TV reception, is seen in a Motorola DCH6416 High-Definition Two-Tuner Digital Video Recorder. This is one model of the new set-top boxes cable companies will be required to ship to consumers after July 1. (AP Photo/Motorola)

WASHINGTON - It has been 11 years since Congress voted to break the cable television industry's stranglehold on set-top boxes — the devices that consumers need to receive digital programming and change channels.

So why are you still paying $5 or more a month for that thing on top of your TV?

When Congress rewrote the nation's communications laws in 1996, it envisioned a thriving retail market where subscribers could actually buy their own boxes rather than make monthly payments to the cable company in perpetuity.

Things haven't quite worked out that way. The retail market for the boxes has failed to materialize, and the cable industry has filed numerous appeals and continued to press a furious lobbying and public relations campaign to make sure it never does, foes say.

Come July 1, the gloves come off. After two years of deadline extensions, that's when the

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Federal Communications Commission will require cable companies to make hardware changes in all new set-top boxes that it hopes will lead to a competitive market.

At the center of this melee is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who has opposed cable's requests for another delay. He sees set-top boxes going the way of the black rotary-dial telephone that consumers once rented from the phone company.

When the government opened that market, it "led to more innovation and lower prices and better quality phones," he said. "I think the same thing can be true in this (cable box) market as well."

The cable industry disagrees. David Cohen, executive vice president of cable giant Comcast Corp. in Philadelphia and its top political liaison, said consumers won't benefit from the change.

"I'm not sure it's a piece of technology a consumer needs to own or wants to own," he said. Once a newer set-top box comes out, "Circuit City won't take their old box and give them a refund to get a new model. They have to buy a new box to get the newest and fanciest upgraded technology."

The FCC rules will only affect customers with digital cable, a population that has grown steadily. For the first time last year, there were more digital cable subscribers than analog, according to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the cable trade group.

Of about 65 million cable households nationwide, 33 million have digital cable.

To jump-start competition, the cable industry will be required to separate the security function inside their digital set-top boxes — the hardware that ensures customers can only view channels they are paying for — from the navigation function, which is basically the channel changer.

___

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 included a grab bag of provisions that were meant to spark competition and limit regulation in nearly every area of the industry. The set-top box provision was no exception.

The law ordered the FCC to "adopt regulations to assure the commercial availability to consumers" of "converter boxes, interactive communications equipment, and other equipment" used to access multichannel video programming such as cable. On June 11, 1998, the agency adopted a two-phase plan to do just that.

Set-top boxes distributed by cable companies today contain both security and navigation functions. In the first phase of the plan, the FCC ordered the industry to make the security function separately available by July 1, 2000.

That led to the development of the "cable card."

The credit card-sized devices house the de-scrambling function and plug into competing boxes, such as the new SEARCH
TiVo Series3, and digital cable-ready televisions, which have a card slot.

So far, there's been little competition for competing set-top boxes. Only about 260,000 cable cards have been deployed, according to the NCTA. And they don't always work very well.

The second phase begins July 1, when cable providers are banned from providing new boxes that integrate both the security and navigation functions. Existing subscribers can continue to rent their current boxes.

The new boxes will have to use the same cable card technology as the competition. The FCC is hoping that forcing cable companies to do that will motivate them to make sure the cards work like they're supposed to. The agency hopes it will eliminate some of the problems that have faced customers like Ken Hornstein, a 36-year-old computer programmer from Vienna, Va.

Hornstein rents two cable cards so he can record one show on his TiVo while watching another. But he says one card malfunctioned after installation, requiring a second technician to visit him at home to replace it. The new card stopped working after a month or two, and had to be replaced again. Hornstein said technicians didn't seem to know much about cable cards.

"It wouldn't decrypt anything, wouldn't tune any channels," he said. The technicians "don't expect to see cable cards. If they were used to seeing cable cards we wouldn't have that problem."

Once cable companies have to use the same security technology as their competitors, the hope is that they'll suffer fewer problems because it will be in the cable companies' interest to keep them free of glitches.

___

The cable industry says the new rule will cost it $600 million more a year for new boxes, an expense that will be passed along to customers. One competitor says that figure is vastly overblown.

Cable operators also say customers would rather rent their boxes rather than shell out hundreds of dollars to buy them, according to Dallas Clement, senior vice president of product management at Cox Communications Inc.

"Is there really a market for these? TiVo is $800 and $13 a month for a two-tuner high-definition digital video recorder," he said. "Us, they pay nothing up front and it's a $10 monthly lease."

TiVo, which is now offering a $200 rebate for the Series3, argues that its interface and features are superior to those on digital video recorders offered by cable companies.

The dispute between cable and the FCC has been sharper since Martin became FCC chairman in 2005. But one thing they both agree on is that there is an alternative that makes more sense.

A technology dubbed "downloadable security" would let cable companies send the security function directly to a computer chip in specially enabled TV or other devices, eliminating the need for cable cards or a box.

"I think that kind of a technology is probably feasible and is definitely preferable from a consumer perspective," the FCC's Martin said. "And I think that would be a better result for consumers than having to worry about trying to get a cable card."

The problem, he said, has been getting a commitment from the cable industry.

"I think that downloadable security would have been preferable if we could have actually gotten a commitment by when this would have been rolled out — a commitment with penalties if the cable industry failed to meet that deadline," Martin said.

Kyle McSlarrow, chief executive of the NCTA, said the FCC requirement has delayed work on the software solution.

"Candidly, a lot of that work has been put on hold. There's so much focus now on complying with the integration ban by July 1," he said.

Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, doesn't buy that argument.

"They've had 10 years to solve this problem," he said. "Consumers want a retail marketplace. Retailers want to sell it. Manufacturers want to make it. The cable industry is doing everything they can to preserve their monopoly profits on set-top boxes."

Even with the change, the cable industry will still have a distinct advantage over competitors. Unlike the cable company's set-top box, televisions with cable card slots sold at retail and other devices still won't be able to do interactive functions like deliver on-demand and pay-per-view programming.

An agreement has yet to be reached between cable and consumer electronics makers on technical standards for interactive technology. The digital cable-ready TVs now in circulation can receive but not transmit data, creating a one-way street that limits their appeal to consumers.

Some cable companies have struck agreements individually with manufacturers like Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung is testing a two-way digital TV in Milwaukee with Time Warner Cable Inc. but a wider rollout of similar models won't be available until next year, said Stephen Goldstein, director of business development at Samsung Electronics America.

Martin said the FCC is debating a petition filed by the consumer electronics companies, including Sony, asking for the next step to ensure that two-way technology will come to pass.

"We'll try to move forward on it in a timely basis," he said. "We're trying to get this first deadline in place first."

AP Business Writer Deborah Yao reported from Philadelphia.

On the web:

National Cable and Telecommunications Association: http://www.ncta.com

Consumer Electronics Association: http://www.ce.org

Patched-up Shuttle Atlantis blasts off

The space shuttle Atlantis blasts off from its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, June 8, 2007. The shuttle will dock with the International Space Station on its 11-day mission. REUTERS/Pierre Ducharme (UNITED STATES)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A patched-up Atlantis blasted off with seven astronauts Friday on the first space shuttle flight of 2007, putting

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NASA back on track after a run of bad luck and scandal that included a damaging hailstorm and a lurid love triangle.

Its big orange fuel tank covered with white blotches where the foam insulation had been repaired, the spaceship rose from its seaside launch pad with a roar and climbed into a clear and still-brightly lit sky at 7:38 p.m. EDT, setting a course for the international space station.

"See you in a couple weeks," Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow said shortly before lifting off.

The countdown was nearly flawless, but it appeared that something fell from the tank more than two minutes into the ascent, several seconds after the solid rocket boosters separated from Atlantis. Falling debris from the tank poses the most danger to the shuttle from liftoff to around that point in the ascent.

Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said at a news conference that foam did fall off the tank, as expected, but that it happened too late in the ascent to be a problem. A preliminary analysis showed it didn't strike the shuttle, he said.

"The tank performed in a magnificent way, despite having several thousand repairs to it," Hale said. "(The debris) should not be a hazard that late in the flight."

The shuttle smoothly settled into orbit around the Earth.

Minutes after launch, Atlantis' contrails formed an intricate and unusual knot in the Florida sky, framed by the colors of sunset and with the bright light of Venus peeking through.

Veteran shuttle watchers oohed and aahed at the second sky show of the night.

During the 11-day flight, Atlantis' astronauts will deliver a new segment and a pair of solar panels to the orbiting outpost. They will also swap out a member of the space station's crew.

The mission had been delayed for three months after a freak storm at the launch pad hurled golf-ball-size hail at Atlantis' 154-foot fuel tank, putting thousands of pockmarks in its vital insulating foam and one of the orbiter's wings.

"It took us a while to get to this point, but the ship is in great shape," launch director Mike Leinbach said just before liftoff.

Over the past few months, NASA has also seen the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak in an alleged plot to kidnap her rival for a shuttle pilot's affections; a murder-suicide at the Johnson Space Center in Houston; and the derailment of a train carrying rocket-booster segments for future shuttle launches. More recently, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has come under fire for suggesting that global warming may not be a problem worth wrestling with.

"We've had a tough six months for a number of different reasons," Griffin told The Associated Press hours before the liftoff. "We'd love to have a textbook launch and a textbook mission. It would just make everybody feel good."

NASA has not had a shuttle launch since December.

After the hailstorm, Atlantis was rolled back to the hangar, and the space agency decided to sand down and patch the gouge marks with foam rather than swap out the entire tank.

The foam has been of paramount concern to NASA ever since the Columbia disaster in 2003, when a chunk of the insulating material broke off during liftoff and gashed a wing, allowing fiery gases to penetrate the shuttle during its return to Earth. All seven astronauts aboard were killed.

Although the top of the tank Friday looked like a beat-up old car that had undergone bodywork in someone's garage, officials said it was safe.

"We have done extensive tests and analysis," said LeRoy Cain, launch integration manager.

There was no immediate word from NASA on whether any dangerous pieces of foam fell off the tank during the ascent.

The hailstorm forced NASA to reduce the number of shuttle missions in 2007 from five to four. The space agency hopes to fly at least 12 construction missions besides this one to the space station, and also plans to send a crew to repair the SEARCH
Hubble Space Telescope before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

Atlantis' crew is led by commander Rick Sturckow. The other members are pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, Danny Olivas, James Reilly and Clayton Anderson. It is the first all-male crew at launch since 2002.

Anderson will replace astronaut Sunita Williams as the U.S. representative aboard the space station, and Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. She has spent the past six months in orbit.

Two astronauts will not be assisting in the launch as previously planned.

Nowak had been assigned to the ground team that communicates with the astronauts in flight. But she was fired by NASA in March, a month after her arrest.

And the object of her affections, Bill Oefelein, had been scheduled to fly a weather plane at a shuttle emergency landing site in Europe. But he was dropped from the astronaut corps this month and returned to the Navy.

Shuttle mission:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html