New earthquake stations to open

THE Department of Meteorology and Hydrology plans to open 10 new earthquake monitoring stations during fiscal 2007-2008, doubling the number of such stations throughout the country.
“Three stations will be established with support from the Myanmar government, three with help from the Asia Disaster Preparedness Centre in Bangkok and four with help from China,” said U Tun Lwin, the director general of the department.
The stations will set up in Mandalay, Yangon, Namhsan, Myitkyina, Sittwe, Hpa-an, Nay Pyi Taw, Taunggyi, Kale and Pathein. The stations in Yangon and Mandalay are already under construction.
“The establishment of these new stations represents a definite step forward for the department. When they are all open we will be able to take more accurate earthquake measurements and communicate the results more quickly,” U Tun Lwin said. – Ni Ni Myint

 

Ayeyarwady gets new phone exchanges

EIGHT areas in Ayeyarwady Division will be upgraded from manual to automated telephone exchange systems by the end of the year, said an official from Myanma Posts and Telecommunications.
Ayeyarwady Division is divided into 26 townships and seven sub-townships. Seventeen townships have already been upgraded to use automated exchanges.
The new upgrades will occur in Zalun, Kyonebyaw, Ye-gyi, Athoke, Einme, Dedaye and Bogale townships, and Ngathinechaung sub-township.
The official said the areas were chosen based on their economic development and population, as well as on the ability of their cable lines and other infrastructure to serve as a backbone for improved communication and long-distance calls.
“When townships are upgraded with automated exchanges there are always more applicants for phone lines,” he said. – Yee Yee

 

Myanmar SMS software spread for free

A GROUP of Yangon telecom enthusiasts have released free software that allows mobile phone users to send text messages using Myanmar characters.
The four IT university graduates, calling themselves the SM3 IT Group, last month began distributing CDs with the software to mobile phone shops in Yangon.
The shops will install the software on mobile phones free of charge, said Ko Tin Myo Han, head of the SM3 group.
Cellphones must have Java MIDP Version 2.0 and sufficiently high memory to use the Myanmar script short message service (SMS).
More information is available on the group’s website, www.sm3online.com, or at mobile phone shops in Yangon.
Local company Mobilemate Telecommunications Co., Ltd since late 2006 has been selling Myanmar character SMS software – called MySM – although SM3’s is the only free version on the market. – Zaw Win Than

 

Police form group to fight cyber crime

THE Myanmar Police Force has formed an information technology (IT) unit to combat probable cyber crime in the future, the local Flower News journal reported on September 3.
The weekly paper quoted Police Colonel U Sit Aye as saying that although “cyber crime” is currently not a significant problem in Myanmar, the police were preparing for increased internet-related trouble in the future.
U Sit Aye called on the public, especially commercial internet cafés, to cooperate with the police to expose “crime” by systematically registering internet users’ content and not letting information slip past unawares.

 

Ancient chemical defence fossil found in Myanmar

CORVALLIS, Oregon – US scientists have identified a 100-million-year-old solider beetle, perfectly preserved in amber as it fought an attacker by using a chemical repellant.
Oregon State University zoology Professor George Poinar Jr said the beetle – found in Myanmar – was in the process of using a chemical defence response when an oozing flow of sap preserved its struggle for eternity.
Poinar said the discovery is the earliest fossil record of such a type of protective mechanism that is still common in the insect world and among other animal species.
“The chance of these circumstances all coming together at the exact right second was pretty slim,” said Poinar, an expert on distant life forms preserved in amber. “You have a prehistoric insect being attacked, using its defences to ward off the predator and the whole event becoming captured in action as sap flowed down a tree. It’s quite remarkable.”
The beetle, about one quarter of an inch long, was being attacked by a larger insect, of which only an antenna was found in the amber from the early Cretaceous Period. The amber was retrieved from the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar.
The research appears in the Journal of Chemical Ecology. – AFP