Really, they shouldn't have given Obama the Nobel Prize

It slipped out as I gazed upon the news -- Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

A strange reaction, since I like the guy, generally, voted for him, think he's doing an OK job in the face of strong, sometimes crazy opposition.

But I'm not a foaming devotee, not the false stereotype those who hate him like to conjure up to give themselves something to sneer at. Obama's too political for my liking, too cautious, deferential to his party, timid on gay rights.

But he's trying, and his job just got harder with this goofy prize. Not just because the Nobel Peace Prize will churn up his foes like piranhas in bloody water. Anything involving him sets them off.

But here they have a point -- the Nobel Peace Prize is tainted fruit. The Swedes give out the real Nobels -- in chemistry, in physics. The Peace Prize is given out by the Norwegians, and they are famous for doing a botch job. Three names: Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter.

Which leads to the obvious question: "Where has Obama brought peace in nine months in office?" The award cites "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." That speech in Cairo? A masterful job, but worth the Nobel Peace Prize?

If he's indeed going to eventually accomplish something in the area of peace -- and I hope he might -- then they should have saved it. What happens if he actually brokers peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians? Will they give him the Mega Nobel Peace Prize? Nobody wants an honor they didn't deserve, and I would think that being elected president of the United States is honor aplenty for one year. This is just premature, at best, and weird at worst.

NASA to launch moon-crash rocket

BEIJING, Oct. 9 -- The American space agency says it's to crash a rocket into a crater near the moon's south pole - in the hope of finding water.

NASA scientists say they want to "kick up the dust" of the lunar surface in order to analyze material blasted into the atmosphere.

An observation satellite will follow the two ton rocket down to the moon's surface. It will sample the debris and do a quick analysis of the material.

Scientists hope to find out whether there's enough water or other minerals on the moon to sustain a small party of explorers.

BlackBerry Buzz — Widgets, Messenger and Flash, Oh My!

It’s Tuesday and that can only mean it’s time for our new weekly feature, BlackBerry Buzz. The Buzz is where you’ll find out what’s been going on in the BlackBerry brambles. You’ll hear about everything that’s worth knowing in the awesome world of the BlackBerry.

Widgets are all the rage these days. You know, those little utilities that sit on the home screen and only do one thing. They will tell you the current weather so you don’t have to look out the window. They can show you what time it is in another city. The beauty of widgets is they can be used to customize a phone’s home screen to reflect the utility the owner desires. RIM has been threatening to provide a developer environment for building widgets, and they have come through on that threat. The beta release of the widget SDK can create widgets that can be distributed through the App World.

A new version of the BlackBerry Messenger, 5.0, launches tomorrow. This new version adds new features to the standard BlackBerry Messenger app. These new features include advanced SMS, avatars, large media file transfers, group messaging, contact info trading via bar code and the ability to backup contacts OTA without the need for the BlackBerry Desktop Software.

Flash 10 is coming to the BlackBerry. Adobe has been all over the news touting the new Flash player that will hit most smartphones this year and next. The BlackBerry is on the list for the future version of the latest flash player. This version of flash will go a long way to enhancing the mobile browsing experience, something the ‘Berry has been lacking.

Two out of three is just right for Barras

Tom Barras successfully defended his Bermuda Grand Prix title, winning two of the three races of this weekend's event.

The UK rider won Saturday's Criterium at Morgan's Point, and then out-sprinted Jason White in a thrilling finish to yesterday's Time Trial in Hamilton. In-between he picked up third-place at yesterday morning's first race at Clearwater Beach.

Barras was pushed hard by Garth Thomson, and the HotTubes development team from the US, but with World Championships silver medalist Tony Gibb in his corner, the Brit managed to take the title for a second year running.

In the closing stages of yesterday's race it was Gibb who led the lead pack around the course, and he managed to hold them up long enough that when the last lap came around Barras could make a clean break.

It was the last race of the professional rider's season, and he was delighted to go out having won on a Hamilton course that was the same as the one used for the IBC Front Street criterium.

The start/finish line was in front of Butterfield Bank and took competitors to the Birdcage, made a 180-degree turn back along Front Street, up Burnaby Street, right on Reid Street, another right on Court Street and back onto Front Street.

"It was a tough race, the HotTube guys, and Garth Thomson, pushed us all the way, but with Tony Gibb had the power to hold them back all day," said Barras.

"The (weekend) was very challenging, there's only 30 guys in the race, but every year it's hard to win."

The Bermuda Grand Prix presents three very different challenges for the competitors, and Barras was thankful to have a full season of riding behind him coming into the weekend.

"You've got a hilly road race, a short time trial, and then a criterium, it's challenging stuff.

"I've been racing since March, and was in a professional team until they went bankrupt in May, and then I've been an elite rider with MSTina, myself and Tony Gibb, so I've done a full season of racing, so I'm about in peak fitness at the moment."

While Barras was taking the title, Bermuda Bicycle Association president Peter Dunne was watching the race to see how the local riders faired.

"We are also in the final week of selection of our squad for the Caribbean Cycling Championships that will be held in Barbados.

"All of our considered riders will be testing themselves with the overseas competition to demonstrate that they should be selected to represent Bermuda."

In yesterday's first race at Clearwater Garth Thomson took first place to add to the fourth he had in the first race, while White was third. HotTubes young-gun Lawson Craddock lived up to his biling as a talent for the future finishing sixth.

12 Media Professionals on Twitter Who Rock The Planet

If you're a media observer like myself, you not only follow the hot trends, and follow the new and emerging technologies, but, you also follow the people whose name, presence, and body of work permeate the social landscape. People like the twelve media professionals below. Your simple curiosity will be more than satisfied, as I'm sure you'll come to admire and respect their work, and their work ethic, as much as I do. This list is in no particular order of significance or accomplishments. Just twelve media professionals making a difference all over our planet, and undeniably making Twitter a great place to be.

Three Win Nobel for Ribosome Research

Three researchers whose work delves into how information encoded on strands of DNA is translated by the chemical complexes known as ribosomes into the thousands of proteins that make up living matter will share the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Swedish Academy of Sciences said Wednesday.

The trio are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England; Thomas A. Steitz of Yale University; and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Each scientist will get a third of the prize, worth 10 million Swedish kronors in total, or $1.4 million, in a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

If the sequence of lettered nucleic acids in DNA forms the blueprint for life, ribosomes are the factory floor. In a press release, the Swedish academy said the three, who worked independently, were being honored “for having showed what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at the atomic level.”

Some antibiotics work by gumming up the ribosomes of bacteria, allowing those bacteria to be stopped at no danger to their host. The ribosome research, the academy said, is being used to develop new antibiotics.

Dr. Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, in 1952 and obtained his Ph.D. at Ohio University, and holds American citizenship. Dr. Steitz was born in Milwaukee in 1940 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1966.

Dr. Yonath was born in Jerusalem in 1939 and received her Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute in 1968. She said on Wednesday that she was both surprised and not surprised at being awarded a Nobel Prize. Speaking by telephone, she said people had long been telling her that her project was a potential winner. But at the same time, she said, there were “many, many people with fantastic work standing in line.”

Ashley Jewell’s DEATH

Atlanta Housewives and fans are still reaching to the death of of Kandi’s ex fiance Ashley Jewell (aka AJ Jewell). Ashley Jewell’s death resulted in Fredrick Richardson’s arrest last weekend.

Lisa Wu Hartwell, to Kim Zolciak, and Kandi herself are left without words over the tragic death of Jewell who appears on screen with Kandi in the current season of Atlanta Housewives. Outside the show, the couple would split just weeks before its season premiere.

On Friday night, Ashley Jewell suffered head trauma in the parking lot of Body Tap. He is survived by six children.

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Bravo issued the following statement to Jewell’s family on Saturday: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Kandi and her family,

While some reports claimed Jewell owned Body Tap, others say he did not, while additional reports say Richardson was employed at the establishment.

Hartwell tells press:

“I’m still in shock. [My husband] Ed used to talk to A.J. often and we’ve grown fond of him. I was deeply saddened to hear what happened to A.J. A.J. was a nice guy and he will be missed.”

Kim Zolciak says she adored Jewell:

“I adored A.J. [and] he will definitely be missed. My heart and prayers are with Kandi, A.J.’s children and family. I can’t imagine the loss they’re feeling. I’ll be there for my dear friend Kandi.”

Burruss thanked fans for their support.

“im bout 2 giv my swollen eyes sum rest now. i just wanted to say thanks 2 every1 for their prayers.”

Burruss had twittered of Jewell’s death:

“I could never in a million years imagine this happening.
“im just in one of those moods where i dont wanna talk,”
“i dont wanna b held & told its gonna b ok. i just wanna cry myself 2 sleep, alone,”