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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: information technology

information technology stories: 15 news summaries

 IT Firm Puts Autism to Work 

Software tester finds niche for those with the disorder

Oct 15, 09 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Danish entrepreneur—and father of a son with autism—has figured out a profitable way to serve the needs of blue chip companies and the underemployed members of the autism community. Thorkil Sonne’s company, Specialisterne, does repetitive software testing, turning its employees’ disability into an asset. “... More »

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autism • disability • Denmark • Asperger's Syndrome • information technology • autism spectrum disorder • Specialisterne • software testing • repetition

OPINION

 Let Employees Roam the Web 


Aug 26, 09 4:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Protecting against viruses and encouraging productivity is all well and good, Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate, but “locking down” company computers isn’t the way to go about it. Companies that “block the Web and various other online distractions on the theory that a cowed workforce is an... More »

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Google • Internet • web surfing • Netflix • corporate governance • productivity • blocking • information technology • results-only workplace environment

 Barcode of Future Is Tiny, Shiny 

MIT researchers design an alternative with 'Bokodes'

Jul 27, 09 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - MIT researchers have designed a possible replacement for the conventional barcode, the BBC reports. Called Bokodes, the tags are made up of a powered light-emitting diode, a mask and a lens, and can store much more information than the black-and-white stripe variety. More, the scientists say, the Bokodes can be... More »

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cell phones • business • LEDs • information technology • bar codes • bar code readers • mobile phones • Google Street View • Bokode

Virtual Desktops Brings Work Close to Home

Citrix, Intel system
may make it easier to leave office behind

Jan 25, 09 4:10 PM CST
(Newser) - The line between work and home keeps getting blurrier. Citrix and Intel are teaming to create a system that will make it easier for people to access work files from their personal laptops or home computers, the Miami Herald reports. The files wouldn't be on the personal computer's hard drive,... More »

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technology • software • smartphones • information technology • virtualization software • Intel Corp • computers

OPINION

 Our Economic Cure? Innovation 

Innovation, and making it more efficient, can turn gray skies blue

Sep 14, 08 1:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans do have something in common: Both parties are wrong on how to resuscitate the flat-lining US economy, Michael Mandel argues in BusinessWeek. Tax cuts or increased government spending aren’t the cure. “Innovation is the best—and maybe the only—way the US can get out... More »

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China • Democrats • Republican • India • trade • biotechnology • innovation • economist • nanotechnology • US productivity • tax cuts • research and development • information technology • foreign oil

Intel Snubs Microsoft,
Won't Adopt Vista in Offices

The thirty pieces of silver are on their way

Jun 26, 08 11:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Intel has decided not to upgrade the 80,000 or so computers its employees use to Windows Vista, seemingly betraying its longtime bosom buddy Microsoft, the New York Times reports. The latest Windows iteration has drawn jeers for being bloated and buggy. “This isn’t a matter of dissing... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Intel • Microsoft Vista • corporate sales • information technology

OPINION

Who's Afraid
of Google Health?

Concerns over personal privacy "misguided"

May 23, 08 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google's new health record-sharing service has privacy advocates' hearts racing. But the benefits outweigh the risks, both in costs and potential lives saved, James Gibney argues in the Atlantic. Ready access to personal health records could prevent medical errors like incorrectly prescribed meds while saving billions in related  costs. More »

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health care • Google • online privacy • information technology • Google Health • health records • opinion

 IBM Raises Dividend 25% 

Firm paying out $2.5B, expecting $12B in stock buybacks

Apr 29, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - IBM raised its quarterly dividend for the thirteenth consecutive year today after posting strong Q1 earnings two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm expects to pay $2.5 billion to shareholders this year after raising its dividend 25%, from 40 to 50 cents. IBM also expects to... More »

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investors • IBM • shareholders • information technology • computer • stock buyback • first quarter earnings • dividend

Rogue Trader Gets a Job

IT company hires
man behind biggest trading scandal
in history

Apr 26, 08 2:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Jérôme Kerviel is working once again, despite having cost France’s Société Générale $7.68 billion in unauthorized trading. Released from prison a few weeks ago, the rogue trader is employed as an IT consultant for a French company specializing in networks and security, the... More »

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France • information technology • Jérôme Kerviel • rogue trader • Societe Generale

Denmark's Economy 'Most Networked'

US takes 4th,
behind Sweden
and Switzerland

Apr 9, 08 4:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Denmark is the most IT-savvy country on Earth, according to the World Economic Forum, which today released its list of the world’s “most networked” countries. The list ranks 127 countries based on their ability to use new information and technologies, the BBC explains. It was Denmark’s second... More »

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network • Denmark • computer network • information technology • World Economic Forum

 Files May Be Fleeting 

As formats change, your digital data could be endangered

Apr 7, 08 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cuneiform tablets have kept information safe across millenia, but hard drives have lifespans of just a few years. Even if your CDs survive the century, their players might have become obsolete, warns the Boston Globe. "Who knows how long they're going to last—how much time before the information... More »

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DVD • CDs • book • information technology • digital storage • cassette tape • digital media • obsolete technology

Sinking Market Forces New Venture-Capital Strategies

Analysts don't see money drying up, just more scrutiny on where it's spent

Apr 3, 08 4:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Venture capitalists are watching economic indicators carefully, trying to find safer places to put their mountains of money, CNET reports. The stats on first-quarter VC activity will land soon, and though experts don't expect dollar totals to have waned, players are “under pressure to invest in quality companies that... More »

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Yahoo • Microsoft • Silicon Valley • mergers and acquisitions • startup • green technology • venture capitalists • clean technology • information technology

Silicon Valley's Prodigal Son Comes Home

Frank Quattrone seeks to repair his rep with new investment bank

Mar 19, 08 9:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Silicon Valley prodigal son Frank Quattrone is staging a comeback, poised to debut his new tech-centered investment bank Qatalyst—after years recovering from federal obstruction-of-justice charges. But now that he's back, the question is whether the industry will welcome home an errant child with open arms. Probably, BusinessWeek writes—if... More »

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Silicon Valley • IPO • investment bankers • Internet startups • Netscape • tech sector • information technology • tech industry • investment banks

10 Life-Changing Innovations

These technologies may ultimately transform human existence

Jan 20, 08 12:33 PM CST
(Newser) - From omnipresent Internet to cloned donor organs, LiveScience picks 10 new technologies that, when fully developed, will transform our lives.
  1. Digital libraries: When all of humanity's texts are digitized, any factual question will be answerable online.
  2. Gene therapy/stem cells: The key to curing some of our nastiest afflictions.
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
list • biotechnology • cloning • WiFi • green technology • hydrogen fuel cells • WiMAX • Moore's Law • information technology • 3G

Cheating Is
No Longer
Child's Play

Jobseekers flock to
web for answers to professional exams

Dec 26, 07 8:24 PM CST
(Newser) - Crib sheets have gone high-tech, the Boston Globe reports, as legions of job seekers from would-be medical technicians to school bus drivers resort to the Web for a leg-up in passing professional qualifying exams. The result is a booming black market for “braindumps,” or exam answers. Some... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Asia • black market • Department of Homeland Security • certification • professional exams • information technology • cheating • braindumps • HP • security systems • study guides

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