Is it possible to chat to a computer?YOUR HORSE IS stuck in a ditch. You’ve tried luring it out with a sugar lump, but it’s not budging. Whipping out the smartphone, thumbs shaking, you Google “Annie”, the RSPCA’s virtual assistant. Reassured, you see Annie has handled this sort of thing before.
'These students aren't learning science - they are scientists'At an Intel science fair held in Pittsburgh last week, 1,500 of the brightest young minds from all over the world demonstrated that world-beating ingenuity is not the sole preserve of the experts
Net Results »
- Campaign in US highlights need to get social media strategy right
NET RESULTS: PERHAPS NOTHING demonstrates how immature our general understanding is of social media than a US presidential campaign.
- Amid the legal maze, Oracle looks to extend copyright
If the US court decides APIs can be copyrighted, a bizarre two-tier global software development environment would be created
Wired »
- The new generation of tinkerers are chips off the old block
WIRED: FOR A PLACE built on the silicon chip and printed circuit boards, the public side of Silicon Valley has spent a long time away from tiny black and green mazeworks. Chip factories, which used to squat across the valley, have long ago moved to China.
- Yahoo must reconcile its identities as media and technologist
WIRED: IT LOOKS LIKE it’s going to be Yahoo’s “year of the three emperors”. The company entered 2012 without a company head, after its board summarily dismissed Carol Bartz, the chief executive of only two years. The new chief executive, Scott Thompson, started in January, and lasted less than five months, after being ousted this week following a shareholder proxy battle and accusations he had faked a computer science degree on his resume. Thompson had been in the middle of scything through Yahoo’s employee count and, judging from discussion board posts, did not seem to be popular with at least some of the remaining staff.
Consumer Tech »
- Smartbox to create 70 jobs at international centre in Dublin
GIFT VOUCHER firm Smartbox is to set up a new international centre in Dublin which could create up to 70 jobs at the firm.
- Facebook sued by shareholders
Facebook and banks including Morgan Stanley are being sued by the social networking leader’s shareholders, who claim the defendants hid Facebook’s weakened growth forecasts ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).
Business Tech »
- Irish workers await fate as HP to cut 8% of jobs
TECHNOLOGY giant HP is to cut its workforce by 8 per cent over the next few years as it aims to trim costs and kick-start its growth again. About 27,000 jobs will go under the plan, which the firm says will save up to $3.5 billion annually by 2014.
- Version 1 to open Belfast centre
IT consultancy firm Version 1 is to create 26 jobs in Belfast with the establishment of a new Oracle centre in the city.
