2008 January:   Computing
Anchor:   Base Index
Other months:    December  February
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Topics:    Companies  embedded  history  machinery  modelling  operating systems  patents  projects  robots  security  simulation  skills  software  speech  systems  translation  video gaming
Companies(see also in Internet) last  down  top   back  on

Graeme Philipson, Better listen to the Oracle, The Age, 2008 Jan. 30 (one company just took a step closer to global middleware domination)
Richard Wray, Motorola plummets amid rout of US technology stocks, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 24 (Apple shares lose a quarter of their value; Pfizer and Conoco among few to buck falling market)
David Pogue, Mac software gets most bells and whistles right, IHT, 2008 Jan. 23 (there are all kinds of theories to explain Apple's sudden resurgence: the lack of viruses, the iPod halo effect, the critical mass of Apple stores, the disappointing debut of Windows Vista, all those Apple TV ads, the switch to Intel chips (meaning that Windows programs run on a Mac) - or maybe all of it together)
John Naughton, The networker: Verily, it is written that Apple will selleth you the Air, Observer, 2008 Jan. 20 (it's that time of year again; last week the Church of Apple Resurgent gathered in San Francisco for its annual congregation)
Steve Lohr, IBM may sidestep downturn in the U.S. economy, IHT, 2008 Jan. 15 (the strength of the technology giant's quarterly profit—up 24 percent—may not be as reliable an indicator of broader trends in the American economy as in the past; IBM's business lies increasingly outside the United States, and the company no longer sells products like personal computers to consumers)
AP, Microsoft touts high-tech grocery cart, The Age, 2008 Jan. 15 (Microsoft trials grocery cart helping shoppers find products in the store, then scan and pay for them without waiting in the checkout line)
David Gow, EU launches new Microsoft probes, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 14 (European commission opens two new investigations into suspected abuse by the software group of its dominant market position)
EU launches new Microsoft probes, BBC, 2007 Jan. 14 (the European Commission launches new investigations into whether Microsoft has broken competition laws)
Overseas demand lifts IBM profits, BBC, 2007 Jan. 14 (computer company IBM releases market-beating sales and profit figures, boosted by foreign demand)
John Naughton, A little green computing machine that made Intel see red, Observer, 2008 Jan. 13 (technically, the XO is deliciously innovative; the screen, for instance, is quite remarkable; it is the only laptop I've ever used which is readable in direct sunlight)
Bloomberg, Reuters and AP, New York investigates Intel sales practices, IHT, 2008 Jan. 10 (the New York State attorney general said Thursday that he had begun a formal investigation into Intel to determine whether the company, which is the world's biggest chip maker, had violated state and U.S. antitrust laws to squeeze out its main rival)
Rewards for grumbling Xbox users, BBC, 2007 Jan. 4 (Microsoft has apologised for the glitches that hit its Xbox Live online game system during the Christmas break)
Nick Carr, The big switch may turn off jobs, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 3 (computing is now a resource like electricity - but where the arrival of grid power expanded the middle classes, the internet is making fewer people richer)
Embedded Computers and Robots up  down  top   back  on

Robin McKie, Ocean floor sensors will warn of failing Gulf Stream, Observer, 2008 Jan. 20 (an armada of robot submarines and marine sensors are to be deployed across the Atlantic to provide early warning that the Gulf Stream might be failing, an event that would trigger cataclysmic freezing in Britain for decades)
James Randerson, Robot rights—a poser for the 21st century, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 16 (experts in artificial intelligence warn of new prejudice - against individuals with silicon brains)
Sandra Blakeslee, Idoya turns robotics into monkey business, The Age, 2008 Jan. 16 (getting a robot to ape the actions of an animal could help the disabled in the future)
History up  down  top   back  on

Machinery(see also in Technology) up  down  top   back  on

James Maguire, Asus Eee PC: Why is it SO Hot?, Datamation, 2008 Jan. 30 (this ultra-compact notebook—a featherweight two pounds—is the Elvis of personal computing; since bursting on the U.S. market in November 2007 it has rocketed upward in popularity)
Microelectronics: Eyeing up a new technology, Economist, 2008 Jan. 26 (a "bionic" eye lens points to a new way of building microelectronic circuits)
AP and AFP, Apple reveals tiny new laptop, The Age, 2008 Jan. 16 (Apple chief executive Steve Jobs took the wraps off a super-slim new laptop overnight, unveiling a tiny personal computer that is less than 2cm thick and turns on the moment it is opened)
John Naughton, A little green computing machine that made Intel see red, Observer, 2008 Jan. 13 (technically, the XO is deliciously innovative; the screen, for instance, is quite remarkable; it is the only laptop I've ever used which is readable in direct sunlight)
Gates hails age of digital senses, BBC, 2007 Jan. 7 (the way people interact with PCs will change dramatically in the next five years, Microsoft chief Bill Gates says)
AP, Intel withdraws from One Laptop Per Child program, The Age, 2008 Jan. 5 (citing disagreements with the organisation, Intel said it has abandoned the One Laptop Per Child program, dealing a big blow to the ambitious project seeking to bring millions of low cost laptops to children in developing countries)
Keith Austin, Reading? It's already covered, The Age, 2008 Jan. 3 (you can keep your e-books, thanks—the paperback is perfect as is)
James Randerson, Inside the UK's fastest machine, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 2 (£113m HECToR will help British researchers simulate everything from climate change to financial markets)
Operating Systems(see also Software) up  down  top   back  on

Virtualisation: The rise of the hypervisor, Economist, 2008 Jan. 19 (is this the most disruptive technology in business computing since the internet?)
Tim Alper, Can Linux finally unite Korea?, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 17 (along with political cooperation, Seoul's plan to help the North with IT could shatter the last Cold War boundary)
Projects and Systems(see also in Business) up  down  top   back  on

Alan Travis, Minister scraps 'one offender, one record', Guardian, 2008 Jan. 9 (a £500m computer system to provide 'end-to-end' management of the 300,000 offenders sentenced to prison each year is to be drastically scaled back)
Bobbie Johnson and David Hencke, Not fit for purpose: £2bn cost of government's IT blunders, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 5 (catalogue of abandoned projects over seven years; £1.6bn wasted by work and pensions ministry)
Jack Schofield, Comment: Make your PC run better using a box, pen and paper, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 3 (you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble over the next five years, and it won't make your brain hurt; the only hardware you will need are a plastic storage box, a notebook, a pen and some sticky labels)
Security(see also in Internet and Technology) up  down  top   back  on

James Randerson, Face recognition technique aids security - and lookalike searches, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 25 (scientists develop 'face averaging' technique which improves success rate of computer face-recognition systems)
Richard Norton-Taylor, MoD admits inquiry into 69 lost laptops, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 22 (stolen files not encrypted, Browne tells Commons; Whitehall issues staff ban on movement of data)
Thair Shaikh, MoD loses personal details of 600,000 potential recruits, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 19 (stolen laptop contained passport and bank details; minister under pressure to explain nine-day delay)
Anna Pickard, Are you suffering from password pressure?, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 17 (the password pressure of modern life means that 61% of us use the same password wherever we can, according to a survey commissioned by digital communications agency @www)
Adam Liptak, U.S. courts consider legality of laptop inspections, IHT, 2008 Jan. 7 (the government contends that it is perfectly free to inspect every laptop that enters the country, whether or not there is anything suspicious about the computer or its owner)
Danny Bradbury, Has chip-and-pin failed to foil fraudsters?, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 3 (it was supposed to bring an end to unauthorised card transactions, but two years on it looks as though chip-and-pin may be just as fallible as its predecessor)
Tania Branigan, MPs say losing computer data should be made a crime, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 3 (a report from the justice select committee says there is evidence of a widespread problem within government and expresses concern that further cases of data loss are still coming to light, adding that concerns about systemic failings were raised two years ago by the man now in charge of the government's review of security)
Simulation and Modelling(see also Video Gaming) up  down  top   back  on

Christine Evans-Pughe, How supercomputers enhance our understanding of genes, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 24 (complex biological modelling by powerful hardware is helping shape scientists' thinking on disease)
Katie Allen, BBC children's series confirms India is centre of animation, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 2 (a new BBC children's series airing this week will cement India's position as a global centre for animators)
James Randerson, Inside the UK's fastest machine, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 2 (£113m HECToR will help British researchers simulate everything from climate change to financial markets)
Skills(see also Video gaming and in Education) up  down  top   back  on

Ian Sample, Dexterity boost from games consoles hones surgery skills, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 17 (trainee surgeons are turning to game consoles to hone their scalpel skills)
Software(see also Operating Systems) up  down  top   back  on

James Randerson, Face recognition technique aids security - and lookalike searches, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 25 (scientists develop 'face averaging' technique which improves success rate of computer face-recognition systems)
Kevin J O'Brien, Sun paying $1 billion in database software push, IHT, 2008 Jan. 16 (Sun Microsystems, one of the biggest sellers of open-source software in the United States, said Wednesday that it would spend $1 billion to buy MySQL, a Swedish company that is the world leader in open-source database software)
Andrew Brown, Why the quest for simplicity drives designers to distractions, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 17 ("the sad fact is that almost everything that attains simplicity loses it over time")
Software as a service: A question of demand, Economist, 2008 Jan. 5 (what NetSuite's flotation says about the software industry)
Speech Processing and Translation(see also in Social) up  down  top   back  on

Video Gaming(see also Simulation and Skills, and in Social) up   first    top   back  on

Nick Miller, Boom time for video games, The Age, 2008 Jan. 22 (somewhere in between updating their Facebook status and organising wild parties via MySpace, Australians managed to hugely increase their video game consumption last year)
Nasa investigates virtual space, BBC, 2007 Jan. 18 (the US space agency is exploring the possibility of developing a massively multiplayer online game)
Rebecca Smithers, Watchdog puts stranglehold on ad for violent computer game, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 16 (TV advertisement for a computer game showing a shoot-out banned for being too violent)
Brad Stone, Zynga developing games for social Web sites, IHT, 2008 Jan. 15 (Zynga, which has 27 employees, has spent the last few months quietly reinventing card games like poker and blackjack and classic games like Risk, Boggle and Battleship; users of social networks can add the games to their profile pages and play with their friends online)
Seth Schiesel, Video game industry wants U.S. lobbying presence, IHT, 2008 Jan. 15 (capitalizing on its improved respectability, the video game industry intends to establish a U.S. political action committee to donate money to game-friendly politicians and candidates)
Bobbie Johnson, Hand-waving computer control brings Minority Report to life, Guardian, 2008 Jan. 11 (users can control their character's movements on the screen by shadow-boxing, dancing and gesticulating; hi-tech camera system to go on sale this year; device could run next generation of video games)