Britain's Queen Elizabeth bestowed an honorary knighthood on Bill Gates Wednesday but confessed to the Microsoft chairman and philanthropist that she wasn't much of a computer buff.

"She said all the kids do (use computers) and they are very useful ... but typing is not as natural for her as it is for young people," Gates told reporters from beneath a black umbrella sheltering him from the London rain.

Gates, who is one of the world's richest men, said outside Buckingham Palace that the title KBE (Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) had been awarded in recognition of his contributions to both business and charity.

Jef Raskin, head of the team behind the first Macintosh computer, has died.

Mr Raskin was one of the first employees at Apple and made many of the design decisions that made the Mac so distinctive when it was first released.

He led the team that decided to use a graphical interface and mouse that let people navigate around the computer by pointing and clicking.

The 1984 release of the Mac reflected Mr Raskin's belief that good design should make computers easy to use.

 View: Full Article
 News source: BBC

The Tsunami, Satellite Images, BEFORE AND AFTER



A satellite image taken Dec. 29, 2004, shows an overview of Aceh province in the western Indonesian island of Sumatra. The area absorbed the double shock of the world's worst earthquake in 40 years coupled with the resulting catastrophic tsunami



BEFORE: This detailed view of the northern tip of the island was taken on Jan 10, 2003



AFTER: A photo taken of the same area on Dec. 29, 2004, shows the extreme destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami. On Thursday, Indonesian officials issued a new death toll of nearly 80,000 for that country alone.



BEFORE: This detailed view of northern Banda Aceh was taken on Jan. 10, 2003



AFTER: News services on Thursday reported that pilots in Sumatra had discovered about 28,000
more dead in Banda Aceh while dropping food to remote villages still unreachable by rescue workers.



BEFORE: This detailed view of the island was taken by the IKONOS satellite on Jan. 10, 2003



AFTER: Some officials said there was dismal coordination among the Indonesian military, civilians and foreign governments. "We haven't gotten any help at all, nothing, said a resident who was camped out five miles from the airport in Banda Aceh.



BEFORE: This detailed view of the west of the island was taken on Jan. 10, 2003



AFTER: As of Thursday, several governments had pledged $500 million in emergency aid for stricken areas.



BEFORE: This detailed view of the west of the island was taken on Jan. 10, 2003



AFTER: On Wednesday, the Indonesian military finally reached the Sumatra town of Meulaboh, closest to the epicenter on the massive earthquake. A bulldozer dug a mass grave the size of a
swimming pool in which to pile corpses covered only by plastic sheets.