zhoubei

BEIJING (Reuters) - The millionaire stars of the U.S. basketballteam swept past hosts China in the showcase match-up of theOlympics, watched by tens of millions on Chinese television andcheered on by U.S. President George W. Bush. Talismanic giant YaoMing, flag carrier for China at the opening ceremony, could notprotect his colleagues from the speed and power of the NBAprofessionals.
Favorites survive the rain
BEIJING (Reuters) - Heavy rain that made the Olympic beachvolleyball court feel more like a pool failed to stop the so-calledABC countries of the sport, the United States, Brazil and China,from advancing in their group matches on Sunday. Despite theweather, Chinese fans turned up in their thousands wrapped inyellow plastic ponchos to cheer on their first Olympic men's beachvolleyball team and their number two women's pair, screaming in thestands as the wins notched up.
Garcia overhauls Curtis at Oakland Hills
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Michigan (Reuters) - Sergio Garcia, puttingsuperbly on some of the toughest greens in the game, charged oneshot clear midway through Sunday's final round of the U.S. PGAChampionship. Three off the pace after the storm-delayed thirdround was completed earlier in the day, the 28-year-old Spaniardraced to the turn in four-under-par 31 in his bid for a maidenmajor title.
Tampa outfielder Crawford on DL with finger injury
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tampa Bay All-Star outfielder Carl Crawfordhas been put on the 15-day disabled list with an injured finger onhis right hand, baseball website mlb.com reported on Sunday.Crawford, 27, injured a tendon in his right middle finger whilechecking his swing during a 10th-inning at-bat in Saturday's gameagainst the Seattle Mariners.

Maybe now Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and their big-hittingfriends will think twice before swinging for the heavens.
Golf officials announced a long-expected rules change Tuesday,reducing the size and shape of grooves in most clubs - a decisionlikely to place more of a premium on accuracy off the tee. The newrules take effect in 2010 and are expected to have little impact onrecreational players.
But the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient,joint stewards of the game's rules, felt compelled to address asimmering issue on the professional tours, where players routinelyuse deep-grooved irons to put spin on the ball and control approachshots from the rough.
"Our research shows the rough has become less of a challenge forthe highly skilled pro, and driving accuracy is now less of a keyfactor for success," USGA senior technical director Dick Ruggesaid. "We believe these changes will increase the challenge of thegame at the tour level, while having a very small effect on theplay of most golfers."
The world's top players, gathered at Oakland Hills for this week'sPGA Championship, mostly endorsed the decision. The PGA Tour andLPGA Tour will enforce the new rules as of Jan. 1, 2010.
"I'm all for it," said Jim Furyk, one of the shorter hitters amongelite players. "They can't keep making courses longer and theycan't keep us from hitting the ball far. So if you can limit theamount of spin on the ball and make guys play from the fairway,that's probably a good avenue."
Mickelson, the No. 2-ranked player in the world (yet still prone towayward tee shots), also put a positive spin on Tuesday's decision,suggesting it will require more skill to hit shots from the rough.
"I have no problem with it," Mickelson said of the rules change,"because I feel like it will be more challenging for a player tojudge shots out of the rough: Is the ball going to spin, how is itgoing to come out? I like that challenge and feel like it gives mea better chance."
In this era of titanium-laced drivers and 350-yard tee shots, therealso had been talk about the USGA and R&A needing to "roll back"the golf ball. But the new rules on grooves might prompt more tourpros to use a ball that doesn't travel as far.
"If you're not getting as much spin, then you're probably going tohave to start using a softer golf ball," Masters champion TrevorImmelman said.

LG Electronics reported Tuesday that it sold 27.7 million mobilephones at home and abroad in the second quarter, up 14 percent fromthe previous three months, making the sales figure the world'sfourth-largest.
Motorola, once the global industry leader, disclosed Thursday thatits second-quarter shipments of handsets grew only 2 percent fromthe previous quarter to 28.1 million units, retaining its status asthe world's No. 3 mobile phone seller.
According to market researcher IDC, LG has a global market share of9.1 percent, a hair behind Motorola's 9.2 percent. Nokia Corp. ofFinland was the top seller with about 40 percent, followed by SouthKorea's Samsung Electronics Co. with 21 percent.
Industry watchers say LG Electronics has a strong chance oftrumping Motorola in the July-September period, as its models havebeen gaining popularity in overseas markets -- a marked contrast toMotorola's prolonged slump.
"Given the current pace of sales, LG is most likely to outperformMotorola in the third quarter," said Park Won-jae, an analyst atDaewoo Securities.
Although a more detailed data analysis is required, Motorola'sbetter-than-expected performance in the June-April period seems tohave stemmed from non-fundamental business activities, such asincreased restructuring efforts, he said. The positive forecast isbacked by LG's high growth rates of shipments and turnover, whichtowered above those of larger rivals.
LG's 14-percent quarterly gain in sales was much higher than a9-percent increase posted by dominant industry player Nokia.Samsung's handset shipments fell 1 percent in the second quarter.
LG's second-quarter turnover soared 18 percent from three monthsearlier to 3.75 trillion won (US$3.7 billion), the highest amongmajor handset players. Samsung and Sony Ericsson recorded 5 percentand 4 percent gains, respectively, while Nokia's sales slumped 2percent. Joo Sang-shin, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, said thatLG has posted stellar performances thanks to its ability to meetthe changing needs of customers. "LG seems to be adapting itselfquickly to the latest 'touch screen' trend in handsets, sparked byApple Inc.'s iPhone, and is expected to put up a good fight in theupcoming quarter as well," Joo said.
LG's presence in North America, Motorola's home turf, is becomingan increasing threat to the U.S. company. LG recently beat Samsungto become the No. 2 mobile phone seller in the U.S. and releasedits latest touch-screen model, nicknamed "Dare," last month tocompete with the third-generation iPhone.
"Our sales are growing sharply throughout the world, with ourstrategic products showing continued success," an LG official said.
The company aspires to become the leader of the global handsetmarket by introducing products that fulfill various customer needs,he added.

F or lots of folks anywhere near Beaverton, news of Paul Hessick'straffic accident hit hard.
Hessick, the local hardware guy, was family, an old friend,somebody who could talk you through any project.
On those Sunday afternoons when the bathroom door was falling off,and all you needed was three little wood screws -- not 10, not avariety pack with five sizes no one but a carpenter ever uses --you knew where to go.
Aisle 19 at Falk hardware.
If you couldn't find what you needed, there's a good chance PaulHessick was lurking nearby. From the days back when he was 13 andsweeping up floors at the hardware store in Lake Havasu City,Ariz., the aisle with the dozens of jumbled drawers filled withsteel screws, fasteners and bolts has always been his favoritehangout.
In the past 13 years since he bought Falk hardware, Paul's familyhas been right there -- his wife, Debbie, his partner; his two kidsrunning in the aisles; as teens, working them.
Paul's dream was the kids would learn the ropes and take over whenhe and Debbie were done. But their son, Steve, took a job at atruck accessory shop. Their daughter, Nichole, worked in the storea couple of years. But needing to make her own way, she took a jobwith Kohler, the fixture company.
She was soon promoted to Southern California, where she lived intrendy Dana Point and managed million-dollar contracts.
Then came the Nov. 26 phone call about the traffic accident. Allbut one bone in Paul's left leg was broken. There was a tear in hisheart. There was lots of brain damage, forcing doctors to put himinto a medically induced coma.
As the oldest child, Nichole, 29, went to her mom and asked whatshe needed. Debbie said she needed her to come home and run thestore. Steve would soon join his sister.

Three solar power stations in Australia’s Northern Territoryare benefiting from the use of Semikron’s SKiiP intelligentpower modules (IPMs).
Improvements in photovoltaic (PV) technology have resulted inincreased power output from the stations’ arrays. Thisadditional power has been easily handled by the systems’inverters, by means of a straightforward upgrade of the SKiiPmodules.
Until recently, the solar power stations used a total of 3014m-wide parabolic mirrors to focus the sun’s energy ontopanels of silicon PV cells. This allowed the three stations togenerate a total of 720kW, allowing local communities to switch offtheir costly diesel generators. This had been calculated to save420,000 litres of diesel oil and 1550 tonnes of greenhouseemissions in a year.
The stations’ generating capacity was recently increased from24kW per generator to 35kW by simply replacing the PV cells withnew technology – water-cooled, germanium-based multijunctionPV cells that offer an industry-leading 30 percent efficiency.Output of the dishes is paired, delivering 260VDC into invertersusing water-cooled 600V SKiiP power stages. By upgrading the SKiiPmodules, it was a simple matter to upgrade the inverters to handlethe increased power from the generators. A new 154MW station beingplanned for the state of Victoria has a target efficiency of 40percent. This will require voltages to be increased to a moreefficient 600-700VDC, using 1200V IGBT chips in the inverters.
SKiiP integrates perfectly-matched cooling, gate driver,current sensors and protective functions. High load and temperaturecycling capability is ensured with the patented SKiiPpressure contact technology. With power handling into the MW range,this IGBT-based subsystem offers the highest power handlingcapability of any IPM on the market.
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