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By Jude Sheerin
BBC News
After 90 years, one of Canada's oldest magazines, The Beaver, is changing its name.
Its publishers say it was only natural that a Canadian history journal should have been named in honour of the industrious dam-building creature which is the country's national emblem.
But in recent times the magazine's attempts to reach a new online audience kept falling foul of spam filters - particularly in schools - because beaver is also a slang term for female genitalia.
The publishers of the magazine - now to be known as Canada's History - also noticed that most of the 30,000 or so visitors to their website per month stayed for less than 10 seconds.
More here
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
News:Masdar: Abu Dhabi's carbon-neutral city
By Tom Heap
Presenter, Radio 4's Costing The Earth
The world's first zero-carbon city is being built in Abu Dhabi and is designed to be not only free of cars and skyscrapers but also powered by the sun.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is the last place you would expect to learn lessons on low-carbon living, but the emerging eco-city of Masdar could teach the world.
At first glance, the parched landscape of Abu Dhabi looks like the craziest place to build any city, let alone a sustainable one.
The inhospitable terrain suggests that the only way to survive here is with the maximum of technological support, a bit like living on the moon.
The genius of Masdar - if it works - will be combining 21st Century engineering with traditional desert architecture to deliver zero-carbon comfort. And it is being built now. Masdar
Presenter, Radio 4's Costing The Earth
The world's first zero-carbon city is being built in Abu Dhabi and is designed to be not only free of cars and skyscrapers but also powered by the sun.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is the last place you would expect to learn lessons on low-carbon living, but the emerging eco-city of Masdar could teach the world.
At first glance, the parched landscape of Abu Dhabi looks like the craziest place to build any city, let alone a sustainable one.
The inhospitable terrain suggests that the only way to survive here is with the maximum of technological support, a bit like living on the moon.
The genius of Masdar - if it works - will be combining 21st Century engineering with traditional desert architecture to deliver zero-carbon comfort. And it is being built now. Masdar
Friday, March 26, 2010
News:Sensors turn skin into gadget control pad
Mark Ward
Technology correspondent, BBC News
Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets.
US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players.
Coupled with a tiny projector the system can use the skin as a surface on which to display menu choices, a number pad or a screen.
Early work suggests the system, called Skinput, can be learned with about 20 minutes of training.
"The human body is the ultimate input device," Chris Harrison, Skinput's creator, told BBC News.
Skinput
Technology correspondent, BBC News
Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets.
US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players.
Coupled with a tiny projector the system can use the skin as a surface on which to display menu choices, a number pad or a screen.
Early work suggests the system, called Skinput, can be learned with about 20 minutes of training.
"The human body is the ultimate input device," Chris Harrison, Skinput's creator, told BBC News.
Skinput
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Article:The rise of the app entrepreneur
By Mark Gregory
Technology correspondent, BBC News
The soaring popularity of smart phones has created a new type of entrepreneur - the "app developer".
Whether it is finding ladies toilets on the London underground, identifying bird songs, forecasting snow conditions at ski resorts or just buying stuff online, somebody, somewhere has come up with a clever little computer programme that lets you do the task from your handset.
More here
Technology correspondent, BBC News
The soaring popularity of smart phones has created a new type of entrepreneur - the "app developer".
Whether it is finding ladies toilets on the London underground, identifying bird songs, forecasting snow conditions at ski resorts or just buying stuff online, somebody, somewhere has come up with a clever little computer programme that lets you do the task from your handset.
More here
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
News:O2 condemns lawyers targeting alleged file-sharers
By Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter, BBC News
Mobile firm O2 has stepped into the row over thousands of controversial letters that are being sent to alleged illegal file-sharers in the UK.
It condemned the attempts "by rights holders and their lawyers to bully or threaten our customers".
The row centres around UK law firm ACS:Law and its client DigiProtect, a anti-piracy firm which represents a series of content owners.
More here: Targeting alleged file sharers
Technology reporter, BBC News
Mobile firm O2 has stepped into the row over thousands of controversial letters that are being sent to alleged illegal file-sharers in the UK.
It condemned the attempts "by rights holders and their lawyers to bully or threaten our customers".
The row centres around UK law firm ACS:Law and its client DigiProtect, a anti-piracy firm which represents a series of content owners.
More here: Targeting alleged file sharers
Monday, March 15, 2010
News:Dotcom web address celebrates silver anniversary
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
The internet celebrates a landmark event on the 15 March - the 25th birthday of the day the first dotcom name was registered.
In March 1985, Symbolics computers of Cambridge, Massachusetts entered the history books with an internet address ending in dotcom.
That same year another five companies jumped on a very slow bandwagon.
It took until 1997, well into the internet boom, before the one millionth dotcom was registered.
Dotcom aniversary
Dotcom web address celebrates silver anniversary
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The internet billionaire rich list
The internet has created some of the world's youngest billionaires, possibly in the shortest possible time scale, ever.
The richest are Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the pair who set up Google in the late 1990s. They went from PhD students to (paper) billionaires in about five years.
The youngest is 25-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking site Facebook, who has returned to the billionaire list in 2010 after dropping out in 2009 amid the economic downturn.
As part of SuperPower - a season of programmes exploring the power of the internet - BBC News lists the top 26 richest internet entrepreneurs according to the latest Forbes ranking, released this week.
News:New Zealand's internet filter goes live
By ROB O'NEILL - Computerworld
The Department of Internal Affairs' (DIA) internet filter is now operational and is being used by internet providers (ISPs) Maxnet and Watchdog.
Thomas Beagle, spokesperson for online freedom lobby Tech Liberty says he's "very disappointed that the filter is now running, it's a sad day for the New Zealand internet".
He told Computerworld the filter went live on February 1 but DIA has delayed announcing that until it held a meeting with its Independent Reference Group. He says he's disappointed the launch was conducted in such a "stealthy mode".
The manager of the Department of Internal Affairs' Censorship Compliance Unit, Steve O'Brien, denies any subterfuge in the launch, saying the trial has been going on for two years and that has been communicated to media for "quite some time".
More here: New Zealand's internet filter goes live
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
News:Hard drive evolution could hit Microsoft XP users
By Mark Ward
technology correspondent, BBC News
technology correspondent, BBC News
Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years.
By early 2011 all hard drives will use an "advanced format" that changes how they go about saving the data people store on them.
The move to the advanced format will make it easier for hard drive makers to produce bigger drives that use less power and are more reliable.
However, it might mean problems for Windows XP users who swap an old drive for one using the changed format.
Acer servicing connundrum
A week ago a PC owner had problems getting on line with his Acer Aspire. He sent it to me to repair. His motherboard was dead, so I needed a replacement. The only one I had was a Gigabyte GA-M61P-ME-S2. After installation, it would not start. Maybe that's why it was still in the store!
The owner wants things to be the way they used to be. Telling him it is between difficult and impossible did not impress the situation on him. This gentleman wants what he wants! (his old PC back). Talking did not get far with him. Attempts at a rebuild have proved inconclusive.
All he wants is to have things back as they were before. From where I am it is not very likely. He does not seem to understand how fast the computer field is changing. What we could buy six months ago is out of date today! Finally when he learned it was not repairable, he demanded compensation or at least help to buy a replacement machine of the same type. I helped him as much as I could. He now has what he wanted all along. I still believe he made a bad choice. Suggestions welcome.
The owner wants things to be the way they used to be. Telling him it is between difficult and impossible did not impress the situation on him. This gentleman wants what he wants! (his old PC back). Talking did not get far with him. Attempts at a rebuild have proved inconclusive.
All he wants is to have things back as they were before. From where I am it is not very likely. He does not seem to understand how fast the computer field is changing. What we could buy six months ago is out of date today! Finally when he learned it was not repairable, he demanded compensation or at least help to buy a replacement machine of the same type. I helped him as much as I could. He now has what he wanted all along. I still believe he made a bad choice. Suggestions welcome.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Battle to use the world wide web
US eases Cuba, Iran, Sudan sanctions to allow freer web
The US treasury department has eased sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to help further the use of web services and support opposition groups.
US technology firms will now be allowed to export online services such as instant messaging and social networks.
More here:Freer web
Friday, March 5, 2010
News:Browser makers demand screen time
Makers of small web browsers want their programs to be given more prominence on Microsoft's browser choice screen.
Six software firms have complained to the EU saying many do not realize their programs were on offer.
To see all 12 web browsers, users must scroll to the right when viewing Microsoft's ballot screen.
The choice is being offered as part of a settlement of an anti-trust case brought against Microsoft by the European Commission.
Global choice
"The final choice screen design leaves the vast majority of users unaware that there are more than five browsers to choose from," the six firms said in their petition.
More here:Read more of "Browser makers demand screen time"
Six software firms have complained to the EU saying many do not realize their programs were on offer.
To see all 12 web browsers, users must scroll to the right when viewing Microsoft's ballot screen.
The choice is being offered as part of a settlement of an anti-trust case brought against Microsoft by the European Commission.
Global choice
"The final choice screen design leaves the vast majority of users unaware that there are more than five browsers to choose from," the six firms said in their petition.
More here:Read more of "Browser makers demand screen time"
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Learning to improve my 'adwords'
What are adwords? These are the crucial key words that either make your site interesting to visitors or get you ignored. It depends on the way they are used. Pick the right words and use them properly on your site and find it very quickly becomes a busy, popular place.
Get it wrong and things go on as before (often in the doldrums).
This afternoon I am meeting with someone who can help me do that. I will let you know how it turns out.
Get it wrong and things go on as before (often in the doldrums).
This afternoon I am meeting with someone who can help me do that. I will let you know how it turns out.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Large Collider to hit full speed in weeks
Published: 12:22AM Tuesday March 02, 2010
Source: Reuters
Particle beams are recirculating in the "Big Bang" collider at the Swiss-French border following a short break and are expected to reach maximum velocity in two to four weeks, a CERN spokesperson says.
"We had a technical stop over Christmas and that has finished. The beams are circulating again," Barbara Warmbein, press officer at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), told Reuters.
Collisions at the highest possible energy level, emulating conditions in the moments after the creation of the universe 13.7 billion years ago, should occur within two to four weeks, the spokeswoman said.
More here: Hadron Collider to hit full speed
Source: Reuters
Particle beams are recirculating in the "Big Bang" collider at the Swiss-French border following a short break and are expected to reach maximum velocity in two to four weeks, a CERN spokesperson says.
"We had a technical stop over Christmas and that has finished. The beams are circulating again," Barbara Warmbein, press officer at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), told Reuters.
Collisions at the highest possible energy level, emulating conditions in the moments after the creation of the universe 13.7 billion years ago, should occur within two to four weeks, the spokeswoman said.
More here: Hadron Collider to hit full speed
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