Young Scientist of the Year Sarah Flannery caused quite a stir on tech websites as news of her mathematical encryption code filtered through. Her formula, a public-key algorithm based on 2 X 2 matrix systems, exploits the fact that multiplying matrix A by matrix B usually produces a different result to multiplying matrix B by matrix A. The new system could be as much as 30 times faster than the current RSA data protection algorithm, created by three students at MIT in 1977, and equally secure - although independent tests have yet to be carried out. She has named her algorithm the Cayley-Purser, after Arthur Cayley, a 19th-century mathematician, and Michael Purser, a cryptographer who inspired her. She remains unsure whether she should patent it or give it away for free: "It's good to share your ideas with the science world. By patenting it I'd be hindering that process," she's quoted as saying on ZDNet, (www.zdnet.com). "God Bless this kid for not patenting her discovery," wrote one contributor to a message board on the topic. The reaction of most people contributing to the forum has been less altruistic however. "If she's reading this then the message is simple - patent the formula. You're a genius and you deserve to be paid for it," summed up the feelings of many.
School's Link Up: St Oliver's Community College in Drogheda has been given a grant of £150,000 by the Minister for Education and Science, Micheal Martin, to further develop the already impressive computer infrastructure in place in the school. The Minister visited the school last week to officially open the Teangmhail (Link) Project which has seen all 1,200 students and 100 teachers in the college set up with email accounts and given instruction in how the technology can best be exploited.
IOL'S Phone Watch: Domestic Internet users now have access to online telephony services following the launch of two packages by Ireland OnLine. IOL Phone will initially operate from PC to PC or PC to phone. Phone 60 offers 60 minutes' talktime per month to the 13 most popular destination countries for international calls for £10 per month, while Phone 180 offers three times more talktime for £25 per month.
Squatters Beware: A new regime aimed at ending "cybersquatting" on Internet domain names could be in place by the middle of the year, according to an official of the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Francis Gurry, the United Nations agency's legal counsel, has said that proposals are to be presented for approval in March. The Geneva-based WIPO is drafting a legal framework to protect trademark names on the Internet.
High Speed Sponsorship: MCI WorldCom has announced its intention to sponsor Stewart Grand Prix, the F1 racing team headed by three-times world champion Jackie Stewart. And, lest they get left behind, Nortel Networks has done likewise with the Williams team.
Sun's Sets: Moving to consolidate the telecommunications market on the Solaris operating environment and UltraSparc systems, Sun Microsystems has introduced a set of products, services and alliances to help telecom companies implement a modular network designed to speed the creation and deployment of new services.
Intel In Gravy: Intel has set new quarterly records for revenue, net income, earnings per share and microprocessor unit shipments. Seasonally strong demand for Intel's P6 micro architecture products in the second half lifted the company's total 1998 revenue to $26.3 billion, a new annual record and up 5 per cent from last year's total. Net income was $6.1 billion, however, down 13 per cent from $6.9 billion in 1997.
From Russia With Love: The US military is 100 per cent ready for any Y2K problems that may arise but fears Russia isn't as well prepared, according to US Deputy Defence Secretary John Hamre. Allaying fears of missiles being fired without warning or planes crashing due to computer glitches, Hamre said 1,673 out of the military's 2,300 "mission-critical" systems had been fixed and all of them would be ready by the deadline. He voiced some concern that Russia was not as active in tackling the problem and said a delegation was travelling there next week to discuss working together on the issue.
Blow For Yahooka: Yahoo has insisted that YaHooka, a website containing information about marijuana and hemp products, desist immediately from using the YaHooka.com domain. Yahoo has accused YaHooka of using a site design similar to its portal page - it is almost identical. YaHooka (www.YaHooka.com) draws 1,000 users a day, has caught on among the global cannabis community and features a range of weed-friendly URLs, a herb Hall of Fame and virtual smoke-filled chat rooms.
The Bill: Oracle is developing a new electronic bill presentment and payment solution, called Internet Bill & Pay 1.0, for businesses that want to provide online billing services to their customers. In addition to enabling companies to present bills and receive payments online, the software will also allow banks, service providers and portals to consolidate bills from multiple billers and act as a single online access point for consumers.
Lucent's Ascent: Lucent Technologies has announced its intention to merge with high-end data provider Ascend Communications in a deal worth close to $20 billion. It is the largest such deal in the history of the data networking industry and catapults Lucent into more direct competition with Cisco Systems.
In Brief. . .Dell has announced the availability of Intel 450MHz Pentium II Xeon processors with 1MB of cache in the Precision WorkStation 610 product line . . . Apple has announced a net profit of $152 million, or 95 cents per diluted share for its fiscal 1999 first quarter . . . The Marlborough Group has upgraded its network and is now using CoreBuilderpi 3500 to link the recruitment firm's six locations . . . Interact Services Ire- land has produced the multimedia CD for Esat Telecom's Internet service, Esat Clear . . .