California 'mystery missile' ignites debate: Friend, foe, or faux? - Christian Science Monitor

A mysterious missile launch from California or an optical illusion?

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That's a question the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is trying to resolve – and the blogosphere is hotly debating – after CBS News in Los Angeles aired what appeared to be a rocket launch from the Pacific Ocean just north of Santa Catalina Island, taken at sunset Nov. 8.

The "mystery missile" video, shot from a helicopter operated by local CBS affiliate KCBS, shows what appears to be an arcing plume of engine exhaust rising into the sky west of Los Angeles. Speculation about its source ranges from an airliner, whose contrail is giving the illusion of rocketry, or a missile itself.

About the only thing unambiguous about the event is that the go-to agencies either with jurisdiction over launches or with fingers poised over launch buttons – the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Defense Department – said, in effect, "It wasn't us."

Despite the official uncertainty behind the vapor trail, NORAD and the US Northern Command, which oversees the defense of the continental US, Alaska, and Hawaii, issued a statement aimed at reassuring the country that the event represents no threat.

"We can confirm that there is no threat to our nation, and from all indications this was not a launch by a foreign military," they said. "We will provide more information as it becomes available."

Coastal southern California is no stranger to rocket launches. The US Air Force launches military and commercial rockets from Vandenberg Air Force base north of Santa Barbara; NASA occasionally launches sounding rockets from San Nicholas Island, some 80 miles west of Los Angeles. Nor is it stranger to spectacular sunsets and odd aircraft contrails.

At contrailscience.com, a Santa Monica-based private pilot who operates the cite has posted several sunset contrails that look similar to the vapor trail the CBS news crew recorded.

David Wright, co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Mass., notes that his initial speculation about what happened leaned toward the rocket-launch explanation, given NASA's launches from San Nicholas Island.

The CBS report suggested the plume was rising from some 35 miles offshore, but Dr. Wright adds that evening lighting and atmospheric moisture could have conspired to make a launch contrail look larger and closer than it actually is.

But after reviewing photos on contrailscience.com, he adds, he's reconsidering a jet contrail as an explanation – one he tended to dismiss early on.

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Apple iOS 4.2 may launch Friday for iPad, iPhone - IntoMobile

This one’s a rumor folks, but it looks like iOS 4.2 could be hitting your Apple iPhone and iPad this Friday at 10 a.m. PST and it will bring all sorts of goodies like multitasking to the iPad and Airplay.

The time makes a lot of sense because the iOS 4.2 gold master was sent out to developers last week and this means the software should be ready for prime time. The rumor also says we can look forward to an iTunes 10.1 update tomorrow in advance of the iOS 4.2 update.

So, what’s the big fudging deal? Well, as an iPad owner, I can’t wait for iOS 4.2 to actually bring all of the capabilities of the iPhone 4 to the tablet. The multitasking that came with 4.0 (or, quick app switching if you want to call it that) should turn this iPad into something more than a toy. Yes, you can install iOS 4.2 by looking at our walk through but that could be too much of a hassle for many people.

Another cool feature of the 4.2 version for the iPhone and iPad is that it will enable users to print content off their devices through AirPrint. This will send your documents, photos or other contents wirelessly to a compatible printer.

I’m also really looking forward to the AirPlay feature with iOS 4.2 because this will enable you to share content between your iOS devices. So, let’s say you have a video on your iPad, you should just be able to click a button or two and have it appear on your Apple TV.

While this appears to just handle multimedia files right now, there are some apps which will be able to take advantage of AirPlay like YouTube and the MLB app. If you hack it – an official jailbreak will come shortly – I’m sure all those limitations will be removed.

[Via MacStories]

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'Superstar Manager' to Succeed Klein - Wall Street Journal

When Cathie Black takes the helm of the country's largest school system sometime next month, she'll be equipped with at least one high-level offer of assistance: from Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers.

Rob Bennett for The Wall Street Journal Cathie Black at a press conference on Tuesday with Chancellor Joel Klein, left, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"I'm a teacher and I'll help her," Mr. Mulgrew said Tuesday after Ms. Black was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to succeed Joel Klein. "We help people learn so that we can make lives better for children. I look forward to working with her."

Ms. Black, who will be the first woman to hold the position, declined interview requests and the Department of Education said she won't be available before she starts her new job. Among her biggest challenges is hammering out with Mr. Mulgrew a new teachers contract. The contract expired more than a year ago, and talks hit an impasse under Mr. Klein.

In addition to a shrinking revenue stream from the state, another big challenge Ms. Black faces is that she'll take over just months after the state changed proficiency scores for public-school students, a move that resulted in tens of thousands more students being deemed not proficient in math and English than the year before.

In New York City, the number of students scoring proficient in English was 42% this year; in math, it was 54%.

In Ms. Black, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he chose a manager that he believes can help New York City students prepare for college and beyond. He said Ms. Black "is a superstar manager who has succeeded spectacularly in the private sector. She is brilliant, she is innovative, she is driven."

Ms. Black attended private schools while growing up in Chicago, and her children attended private boarding school in Connecticut.

Her move to public service ends a four-decade run in publishing during which she helped launch what became the largest U.S. newspaper, USA Today; was the first female publisher of a weekly consumer magazine; and became known as the "First Lady" of magazines.

Ms. Black, 66 years old, began her publishing career as a sales assistant for Holiday magazine in New York. She later moved to New York magazine, where she was elevated to publisher in 1979.

In 1983, Al Neuharth, who had just launched Gannett Co.'s USA Today, tapped Ms. Black to oversee advertising sales for the national daily. As president and then publisher, Ms. Black was one of four or five people who transformed USA Today from a drain on Gannett's finances to one of the country's most profitable papers and, until recently, its largest.

"Without her, I doubt we would have made it," Mr. Neuharth said in an interview. The Wall Street Journal last year overtook USA Today in daily circulation.

Some questioned whether Ms. Black has the right experience to run nearly 1,600 schools with a $23 billion budget and the education of 1.1 million children at stake. Like Mr. Klein, she has no education-administration experience upon entering the job, but she has managed more than 2,000 employees while overseeing the financial performance and development of major magazines at Hearst.

"I am questioning the logic in appointing someone that has no experience in education—we need someone with experience in education to know how to guide this ship," said Council Member Robert Jackson, a Manhattan Democrat who is chairman of the council's education committee. "I would not put as the captain of the ship someone who has not navigated the waters to be in charge to take us across the ocean, especially in rough weather," he said.

Mr. Jackson, an opponent of mayoral control of the school system, also criticized City Hall for failing to discuss Mr. Klein's successor with him.

Ms. Black's book, "Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)," was a business-book best seller. In it, she offers advice from how to behave at an office party ("Don't get drunk") to firing employees ("Do it quickly!").

Filled with examples of where she went wrong and right over her 40-year career, the book shows a woman driven to succeed despite obstacles.

"Of course, I've also worked with my fair share of jerks, which makes for some fun stories in this book" she writes. "I learned on the fly, making lots of mistakes and more than once inserting my foot firmly in my mouth."

Write to Barbara Martinez at Barbara.Martinez@wsj.com, Michael Howard Saul at michael.saul@wsj.com and Russell Adams at russell.adams@wsj.com

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