Late apologies and new systems

The British government has apologised to people in Cornwall affected by the Camelford water poisoning in 1988. When 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate were tipped into the wrong tank at Lowermoor treatment works, it contaminated the water to 20,000 homes. Health Minister Anna Soubry and Environment Minister Richard Benyon said they apologised "unreservedly" on the government's behalf. Local MP Dan Rogerson said the apology was welcome but 25 years late. You won't have to wait nearly as long, however, for a planned alternative to the Android mobile operating system that just got a huge funding boost. That's right, a team of Android programmers has raised a US$7m investment to turn their hobby project into a rival to Google's phone operating system. The CyanogenMod lets phone users swap the official version of Android for one that gives them more control over their phone or tablet. It has reportedly been installed on over seven million Android devices. The investment has helped found a company to employ the coders, who have been working on the project unpaid. I'm sure it will all be worth it when the final project starts to become more popular than the Android.