IPhone 4上市遭批: Customers who received the Apple iPhone 4 early have begun complaining that simply picking up the iPhone 4 and holding it can send the phone's signal indicator plunging, by several bars. Gizmodo also assembled a number of reader responses that apparently confirmed the signal loss. The issue, according to industry executives, is that the iPhone 4 places its antenna on the outside of the case, where merely touching it can theoretically limit its ability to pick up a signal. A slight drop in signal信号稍微不好, say from four bars to three, wouldn't be enough to affect a cell-phone call or data coverage, Rogers said. But a sharp drop to a single bar of coverage could be enough to lose the signal altogether. Enough margin is built in with data coverage that users may not see a dramatic effect in an area with a strong signal. "But if you're in a fringe area(信号接收的边缘区域), anything like this means you'll drop more calls," Rogers said. However, in an experiment conducted by PCMag.com Thursday, the iPhone 4 reception problem could indeed be replicated再现, with the so-called "death grip" – where the iPhone 4 was held with fingers touching the three antenna "lines" circling the device – causing the signal to drop. To Apple's credit(do sb credit; do credit to sb; be to sb's credit[deserving praise and respect] show sb's good qualities; make sb deserve praise为某人增光, 使值得赞扬 The event was arranged with a speed and efficiency that does you credit这项活动组织得快捷有效, 给你添了光彩 Their manager, to her credit, was always strongly opposed to the pay cuts他们的经理一向反对减薪, 这使得她很有威望 ), all phones have weaker signal strength信号强度 when you cover their antennas. The iPhone seems to have become a cause celebre(著名的讼案(尤指刑事案件),闹得满城风雨的事件, 轰动一时的大案) because the three points showing where you can touch to reduce signal strength are so visually clear.
Melbourne要为新总理建总统宅邸: Ousted prime minister Kevin Rudd used the Lodge as his principal residence, while former Liberal leader John Howard took in the breathtaking harbour views at Kirribilli House. But Melbourne's movers and shakers(有权势的人, 权力阶层 the powers that be统治者, 当局) want Ms Gillard to set up her official residence in Melbourne to boost the city's political status and lure world leaders to Victoria rather than Sydney and Canberra. Collingwood president and Victorian Major Events Company board member Eddie McGuire said: "Flopping down(flop down一屁股坐下去 to sit down heavily or awkwardly. Be graceful. Don't just flop down! When I reached the chair, all I could do was flop down. flop something down on(to) something and flop something down to drop or slap something down on something. She flopped the liver down on the cutting board. She flopped down the raw meat.) in a hotel, feeling like a stranger in her own city, just doesn't do it for Ms Gillard or for us, the people of Melbourne."
Gillard shuts door on 'big Australia' Prime Minister Julia Gillard is breaking free from( break something free (from something) 决裂, 摆脱 to force something to detach from something; to get something out of the hold of something else I broke the gun free from her grasp. Someone broke the light fixture free from its mounting.) one of her predecessor's main policy stances立场 by announcing she is not interested in a "big Australia". Ms Gillard has indicated she will be putting the brakes on刹车 immigration in order to develop a more sustainable nation. "Australia should not hurtle down( hurtle through something to travel through something at great speed or with great force, possibly causing breakage. A brick hurtled through the window and fell on the floor. The rocket hurtled through space toward Mars. hurtle To move with or as if with great speed and a rushing noise: an express train that hurtled past. ) the track towards a big population," she told Fairfax. "I don't support the idea of a big Australia with arbitrary targets武断的随心所欲的目标 of, say, a 40 million-strong Australia or a 36 million-strong Australia. We need to stop, take a breath and develop policies for a sustainable Australia. But Ms Gillard says that does not mean putting a stop to immigration all together. "I don't want business to be held back because they couldn't find the right workers," she said. "When the Coalition said a few months ago that the population had to be sustainable we were pilloried( 使示众, 使受公众嘲笑 ) up hill and down dale(up hill and down dale 上山下乡地, 四处跑 (literary) if you travel up hill and down dale, you travel all over an area. The man carried his basket of goods up hill and down dale. dale A valley: galloped over hill and dale. not be worth a hill of beans (American informal) to have very little or no value. None of those guys is worth a hill of beans, so don't worry about what they say. ) by Julia Gillard," he said. "I think what we're also going to see from Julia Gillard is an attempt on all the controversial issues where the Opposition is making the running( 带头 ), to adopt a kind of 'me too' strategy." Australian businessman Dick Smith has been a vocal advocate for a more sustainable approach to population growth and has applauded Ms Gillard's announcement. But he acknowledges it will not be welcomed by everyone. "The business community, my wealthy mates are completely addicted to growth because of greed," he said. "So they're going to fight her every inch彻底地 of the way. They just want growth, growth, growth, even though it's obvious that it's not sustainable. "I think she's a brave lady, I reckon she will stand up to勇敢面对, 对抗 them."
Grisly恐怖可怕的 thud( 怦然下落 n. vi. ) of kneecapped(n. =knee pad护膝 vi. 用枪击穿膝盖骨, 射击腿部 [as noun kneecapping] petty crimes are punished by kneecapping 轻罪用射穿膝盖骨来惩罚) Rudd: Australians woke up yesterday with a political hangover宿醉, in disbelief难以置信 at the upheaval大变动, 大动荡 that had replaced the prime minister they had elected less than three years ago. One minute Kevin Rudd was on his way to the G20 in Canada, the next he was "blubbering痛哭" his way through a farewell press conference, his stricken wife and children by his side. There may be euphoria( 极度愉快的心情; 过度兴奋的情绪 )津津乐道于 that the new leader is the straight-talking说话直率的 charmer, Julia Gillard, and that she is the history-making first female prime minister. But it is overlaid( overlay 覆盖 ) with a sickening sense that something very wrong has happened, that an elected first-term prime minister has been treated shamefully, assassinated by a cabal阴谋 of unionists and ALP machine men, using media leaks to accelerate a murderous frenzy that may in years to come be seen as a colossal mistake. The accidental Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, had suddenly acquired an awesome menace 威胁, 非常讨厌的人或事( He spoke with menace他带着威胁的口气讲话 The big hole outside the house is a menace to children's safety房子外面的大窟窿对孩子们的安全是个威胁 ). He has claimed his first scalp( I. 头皮 II. 象征胜利的战利品, 胜利的象征. ), and with it, a newfound authority, bestowed by the ALP. All hail the first female PM but you only need to look at the disaster of NSW to see the consequences of factional heavies((informal) an important person(非正式)重要人物, 要员 music business heavies音乐界的重要人物) installing unelected leaders. For all Kevin Rudd's annoying quirks(怪癖 One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行, 奇事巧合 a strange quirk of fate had led her to working for Nathan) and policy failures, voters didn't hate him. And they are not happy at being cheated out of the right to vote out - or not - the man they voted in, judging by hundreds of grassroots comments posted on the Labor Party website. "To humiliate a good and decent prime minister in this way, after all that he HAS achieved in the past 2? years is an act of complete bastardry恶行暴行," wrote Janeb62 from Elwood, ACT. "NSW Labor have … misjudged the depth of our disdain轻蔑鄙视 for bullies who abuse their power滥用权力," wrote "Olbod" of Queensland. "I pray that your misguided( 错误思想引导的, 不明智的. ) indulgences don't result in the election of Tony Abbott." Joh Allen of NSW: "This country is now run by union factions that have power in their hearts and on their minds. I hope the people of this great country put you back in your place. How dare you presume放肆, 自作主张 that as a party you can remove the leader of this country. That right is and should always remain the decision of the people of Australia." Monica of Sydney wrote: "I was looking forward to Julia Gillard becoming a PM sometime in the future … I am disgusted with the way Kevin Rudd was treated. I will not be voting for Labor eve … The name 'Labor' will be associated with odious behaviour especially by the NSW Mafia." Monica may, of course, forgive Gillard, with time. Refreshingly direct, with good instincts and a deft touch, the new PM is hard to dislike, and will benefit from a honeymoon with the media even though, as she admits, she shares responsibility for government errors. She has given a passable impression of loyalty to Rudd almost until the end, and seems formidable强大 enough in her own right to shrug off the "puppet" tag that dogs Kristina Keneally in NSW. But she shouldn't have sold her soul to the same amoral无道德的, poll-driven被民意调查驱使的, marketing-obsessed machine men who installed Keneally in the same senseless way. They are the same men who killed off the popularly elected NSW premier Morris Iemma, installed an untested, flailing unknown, Nathan Rees, and, after 15 months, knifed him and replaced him with the more appealing Keneally, who Rees described as a "puppet" in his bitter parting speech. Rudd expressed similar thoughts more elegantly含蓄高雅的 in his parting speech to caucus on Thursday, reportedly saying: ''We can't allow this federal caucus to have embedded in it the same type of culture in NSW where every time you make tough political decisions and polls dip you get up a campaign and cripple the leader. It's not good to bring that NSW culture to Canberra." Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham and former premier Iemma came out of seclusion to say much the same. ''The architects of the wreckage in NSW have rolled out the wrecking ball in Canberra," Iemma said. "Their poor advice and poor tactical decisions saw [Rudd's] reputation trashed to the point of no return." Reports out of the caucus say Rudd effectively blamed the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, and Gillard for the resources super profits tax and for the decision which most diminished贬低 him in the eyes of the chattering classes(好议论时政的知识分子阶级), dumping the emissions trading scheme. The man pushing hardest for its dumping was none other than( (用以加强语气)不是别的, 正是…, 再没有别人. ) Senator Mark Arbib, the media-savvy former general secretary of NSW Labor, fingered(I. (finger someone for)(chiefly N. Amer.)identify or choose someone for (a particular purpose) 为(某目的)选定, 挑定 a research biologist with impeccable无瑕疵的 credentials was fingered for team leader一位资历无可挑剔的生物学研究者被选定为小组领导人. II. (informal, chiefly N. Amer.)inform on (someone) to the police向警方告发 you fingered me for those burglaries你向警方告发那些入室行窃都是我干的) this week as Rudd's chief underminer. The same Arbib who dispatched Iemma and helped finish Rees. The same Arbib who Rudd had entrusted with委托, 委以重任 co-ordinating stimulus spending programs, who had weekly briefings on the disastrous home insulation program but never saw a problem. In the end, perhaps, we should be thankful for the naked demonstration of power for its own sake we have seen exercised this week by the faceless and not so faceless handful of men who provoked their party to dispatch a first-term prime minister, like it was just another game. And we should be thankful for the many failings of the Rudd government over such a short time. They have demonstrated spectacularly, in the home insulation debacle, in the sinful waste of Building the Education Revolution, in the farce闹剧 of the ETS, in the risky and ill-considered欠考虑的, 不妥当的 resources tax, how useless and incompetent big, bureaucratic government really is. We have seen the mindset that drives the central planning and expert bureaucratic interventions of modern progressive-styled government. They make grand promises and spend up big, encouraging all sorts of distortions and rip-offs and rent-seekers, placing naive belief in regulation, showing little concern about mounting debt, and covering up掩盖 problems with spin杜撰 and marketing flim-flam(胡言乱语, 胡扯, 废话). Then, when it all falls in a heap(轰然倒塌), and the polls turn sour, instead of mending their ways, they change leaders, with the aim of staying one step ahead of the electorate, a whole party of artful dodgers. It will backfire on them引火烧身 in spades(肯定地,坦率地). Even if they win, they lose.
