吉隆坡26日訊）艾森哲（Accenture）最新電子媒體消費調查指出，超過60%本地消費者願意付費下載各種節目。
艾森哲東南亞區域通訊、科技和媒體業務執行董事愛爾文，在媒體會報會上指出，本地非法下載或盜版盛行，該項調查結果令人鼓舞，本地人對內容付費仍有認知。
報告針對全球13個國家的1萬3600名消費者，調查市場如何看待媒體輸送內容的管道，並且探討消費者心態。調查今年首次加入大馬、新加坡及澳洲等5個亞洲國家。
手機網絡成新寵
報告指出，消費者仍然熱衷電視節目，尤其景氣蕭條增加人們吸收知識和內容的時間，本地仍有68%消費者會趕回家觀看節目。
本地人也較其他國家消費者願意付費觀看連續劇（49%）、肥皂劇（48%）和休閒節目（41%）。89%消費者喜歡上網觀看節目，尤其是沒有在電視上播出的節目。
手機網絡亦成為本地消費者新寵，59%傾向下載多媒體內容至手機，另有65%消費者喜歡用手機觀賞新內容，估計將成為新商機。
愛爾文指出，消費者觀賞節目不再侷限于傳統電子媒體，是趨向從不同管道獲取相關節目內容。
“新媒體崛起不一定威脅傳統媒體，本地人仍然依賴傳統媒體獲取資訊，傳統媒體也懂得與新趨勢做結合，達致雙贏局面。”
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
NEWS: Annoying things device-users do
KUALA LUMPUR: A recent survey in the United States has underscored that there is a lack of mobile etiquette among technology users there, and quite obviously, the world over.
Nine out of 10 adult Americans said their top annoyance is when others text or type on their mobile devices while driving a car.
Other pet peeves are people talking loudly on a cellphone or other portable device in public, discuss private matters in earshot of bystanders, and texting or typing on such devices while in the presence of others. (We’ve seen all these among Malaysians, too. — The Ed) However, only 38% of those surveyed admitted to being mobile etiquette offenders themselves when it comes to texting in the company of others.
Meanwhile, the top responses for strange mobile etiquette behaviour ranged from making a cashier wait until a cellphone call was completed and texting while driving.
Other responses included using a laptop in a public toilet, as well as hearing typing and conversations at church, during a funeral, and in a doctor’s office.
The survey was sponsored by US-based chipmaker Intel Corp.
Techno-etiquette
“We have more and more technology in our lives — much of it in our handbags, backpacks and pockets, as well as our homes, offices and cars,” said Genevieve Bell, an Intel Fellow and cultural anthropologist who studies technology and culture.
“It is hardly surprising that we are still working out what is socially appropriate and what isn’t — we are still developing our techno-etiquettes,”
Even as new techno-etiquettes are getting sorted out, Bell said, we can look to common sense, government regulations and the kinds of things our parents and teachers told us for guidance. She shared some pearls of wisdom.
Experts agree typing and texting while driving is distracting and dangerous, not to mention really bad ergonomically. Do yourself and your fellow drivers a favour, keep the laptops closed and devices put away, or pull over before you type your next message or e-mail message.
It turns out mobile devices don’t have secret cloaking properties or their own little cones of silence. So until they do, if it’s a conversation you wouldn’t want overheard, take your mobile device to a secluded area and keep the details between you and the person on the other end of the line.
Bell recently had dinner with a man who confessed that he was the only man in the restroom not using a Blackberry — he couldn’t decide whether to feel appalled or left out.
Sure sometimes, you just have to make that call but there are some places that we can all mostly agree should be considered off-limits. These locations include public restrooms, locker rooms, places of worship and restaurants while in the company of others, and especially while on a date.
Mummy, dearest
My mum taught me that sharing was good; yours probably taught you the same thing. Turns out she wasn’t always right. When watching videos on your computer in public, be sure to use your headphones — not everyone wants to share with you.
Additionally, it’s rude to peer over someone else’s shoulder, so be sure not to let your eyes wander onto another person’s mobile device — unless of course you are dying to know what the new app is or the brand of that hopelessly sexy mobile phone.
And while we are on the subject of sharing, the electrical outlets at the local coffee shop or airport with Wi-Fi service are meant for the masses. If others are waiting, unplug and share the electric wealth, or do as one of my dear friends does and carry a power strip — you will make friends immediately.
Next, some people can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. I am one of them. Many more can’t text or type while walking. I am one of them, too. So I have learnt through bitter experience, stubbed toes and faint embarassment to take a second, come to a stop and finish typing that message.
Otherwise you risk walking into people, bumping into fire hydrants or creating a big, mobile etiquette mess.
Nine out of 10 adult Americans said their top annoyance is when others text or type on their mobile devices while driving a car.
Other pet peeves are people talking loudly on a cellphone or other portable device in public, discuss private matters in earshot of bystanders, and texting or typing on such devices while in the presence of others. (We’ve seen all these among Malaysians, too. — The Ed) However, only 38% of those surveyed admitted to being mobile etiquette offenders themselves when it comes to texting in the company of others.
Meanwhile, the top responses for strange mobile etiquette behaviour ranged from making a cashier wait until a cellphone call was completed and texting while driving.
Other responses included using a laptop in a public toilet, as well as hearing typing and conversations at church, during a funeral, and in a doctor’s office.
The survey was sponsored by US-based chipmaker Intel Corp.
Techno-etiquette
“We have more and more technology in our lives — much of it in our handbags, backpacks and pockets, as well as our homes, offices and cars,” said Genevieve Bell, an Intel Fellow and cultural anthropologist who studies technology and culture.
“It is hardly surprising that we are still working out what is socially appropriate and what isn’t — we are still developing our techno-etiquettes,”
Even as new techno-etiquettes are getting sorted out, Bell said, we can look to common sense, government regulations and the kinds of things our parents and teachers told us for guidance. She shared some pearls of wisdom.
Experts agree typing and texting while driving is distracting and dangerous, not to mention really bad ergonomically. Do yourself and your fellow drivers a favour, keep the laptops closed and devices put away, or pull over before you type your next message or e-mail message.
It turns out mobile devices don’t have secret cloaking properties or their own little cones of silence. So until they do, if it’s a conversation you wouldn’t want overheard, take your mobile device to a secluded area and keep the details between you and the person on the other end of the line.
Bell recently had dinner with a man who confessed that he was the only man in the restroom not using a Blackberry — he couldn’t decide whether to feel appalled or left out.
Sure sometimes, you just have to make that call but there are some places that we can all mostly agree should be considered off-limits. These locations include public restrooms, locker rooms, places of worship and restaurants while in the company of others, and especially while on a date.
Mummy, dearest
My mum taught me that sharing was good; yours probably taught you the same thing. Turns out she wasn’t always right. When watching videos on your computer in public, be sure to use your headphones — not everyone wants to share with you.
Additionally, it’s rude to peer over someone else’s shoulder, so be sure not to let your eyes wander onto another person’s mobile device — unless of course you are dying to know what the new app is or the brand of that hopelessly sexy mobile phone.
And while we are on the subject of sharing, the electrical outlets at the local coffee shop or airport with Wi-Fi service are meant for the masses. If others are waiting, unplug and share the electric wealth, or do as one of my dear friends does and carry a power strip — you will make friends immediately.
Next, some people can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. I am one of them. Many more can’t text or type while walking. I am one of them, too. So I have learnt through bitter experience, stubbed toes and faint embarassment to take a second, come to a stop and finish typing that message.
Otherwise you risk walking into people, bumping into fire hydrants or creating a big, mobile etiquette mess.
NEWS: MySpace makes even more space
LOS ANGELES: Social-networking site MySpace plans to cut 300 jobs, or two-thirds of its overseas work force, in an effort to rein in costs and focus on countries where it has many users and better business opportunities.
The move comes a week after the News Corp unit said it would cut 420 jobs in the United States, or nearly 30% of its domestic work force. Combined, the cuts will reduce MySpace’s employee base by nearly 40% to about 1,150.
“Our goal to tap into as many international markets as possible drove us to create too many offices around the globe, and with them came inefficiencies,” chief executive Owen Van Natta, a former executive at rival Facebook, said in a memo sent to employees on Tuesday.
Van Natta, 39, started in his new job in April with a mandate to revitalise the site, which has seen its advertising revenues fall and its user growth stagnate.
Critics have said its features have become outdated even as it ramped up a music service with the major recording labels last fall.
MySpace said it would close at least four of its 15 overseas offices while focusing on London, Berlin and Sydney as the main regional hubs. MySpace has 34 localised versions in 28 countries.
MySpace China and MySpace Japan, a joint venture with Japanese Internet company Softbank Corp, will not be affected by the plan but the company is reviewing its offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain.
The company has been trying to trim its payroll, bringing its staffing level more in line with its more popular rival, Facebook.
Far and wide
As of last month, Facebook said it had about 850 employees worldwide, the vast majority in the United States. While it is available in nearly 100 languages — largely translated for free by its users — Facebook has only five overseas offices, in Paris, London, Dublin, Toronto and Sydney.
Before the latest cuts, MySpace employed nearly 1,900 worldwide.
Recent data from tracking firm comScore shows Facebook has caught up with MySpace in monthly US visitors for the first time, with about 70 million each.
MySpace has had difficulty growing its user base, which stands at about 125 million worldwide. Meanwhile Facebook has said that its usage has doubled to more than 200 million in less than a year.
While Facebook grew quickly overseas because of its one-size-fits-all design and user-generated translations, MySpace’s focus on music and culture and the creation of individual country sites may have slowed it down, said Charlene Li, the founder of consulting firm Altimeter Group.
“It’s hard to expand internationally,” Li said. “It’s a very cultural approach. What plays in the United States won’t necessarily play in other countries.”
As an example of the difficulty of adapting to local cultures, the company launched MySpace Music in the United States in September, but still hasn’t come through on plans to spread it abroad.
Elsewhere, MySpace has developed features and identified content partners tailored to specific markets, an endeavor that requires time and money.
More specific
The vast majority of both companies’ advertising revenues come from the United States, according to research firm eMarketer. Neither company discloses such figures.
Last year, MySpace made an estimated US$585mil (RM2.1bil) in ad revenue domestically and US$20mil (RM72mil) overseas, while Facebook took in US$210mil (RM756mil) at home and US$40mil (RM144mil) abroad, eMarketer said.
This year, MySpace’s ad revenue is expected to shrink while Facebook’s grows.
Van Natta told employees in his memo that MySpace was focused on London, Berlin and Sydney because of their countries’ large user bases and the company’s ability to compete.
“These are major international commerce centres where a robust MySpace presence can help our company develop new and innovative business partnerships,” he said. — AP
The move comes a week after the News Corp unit said it would cut 420 jobs in the United States, or nearly 30% of its domestic work force. Combined, the cuts will reduce MySpace’s employee base by nearly 40% to about 1,150.
“Our goal to tap into as many international markets as possible drove us to create too many offices around the globe, and with them came inefficiencies,” chief executive Owen Van Natta, a former executive at rival Facebook, said in a memo sent to employees on Tuesday.
Van Natta, 39, started in his new job in April with a mandate to revitalise the site, which has seen its advertising revenues fall and its user growth stagnate.
Critics have said its features have become outdated even as it ramped up a music service with the major recording labels last fall.
MySpace said it would close at least four of its 15 overseas offices while focusing on London, Berlin and Sydney as the main regional hubs. MySpace has 34 localised versions in 28 countries.
MySpace China and MySpace Japan, a joint venture with Japanese Internet company Softbank Corp, will not be affected by the plan but the company is reviewing its offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain.
The company has been trying to trim its payroll, bringing its staffing level more in line with its more popular rival, Facebook.
Far and wide
As of last month, Facebook said it had about 850 employees worldwide, the vast majority in the United States. While it is available in nearly 100 languages — largely translated for free by its users — Facebook has only five overseas offices, in Paris, London, Dublin, Toronto and Sydney.
Before the latest cuts, MySpace employed nearly 1,900 worldwide.
Recent data from tracking firm comScore shows Facebook has caught up with MySpace in monthly US visitors for the first time, with about 70 million each.
MySpace has had difficulty growing its user base, which stands at about 125 million worldwide. Meanwhile Facebook has said that its usage has doubled to more than 200 million in less than a year.
While Facebook grew quickly overseas because of its one-size-fits-all design and user-generated translations, MySpace’s focus on music and culture and the creation of individual country sites may have slowed it down, said Charlene Li, the founder of consulting firm Altimeter Group.
“It’s hard to expand internationally,” Li said. “It’s a very cultural approach. What plays in the United States won’t necessarily play in other countries.”
As an example of the difficulty of adapting to local cultures, the company launched MySpace Music in the United States in September, but still hasn’t come through on plans to spread it abroad.
Elsewhere, MySpace has developed features and identified content partners tailored to specific markets, an endeavor that requires time and money.
More specific
The vast majority of both companies’ advertising revenues come from the United States, according to research firm eMarketer. Neither company discloses such figures.
Last year, MySpace made an estimated US$585mil (RM2.1bil) in ad revenue domestically and US$20mil (RM72mil) overseas, while Facebook took in US$210mil (RM756mil) at home and US$40mil (RM144mil) abroad, eMarketer said.
This year, MySpace’s ad revenue is expected to shrink while Facebook’s grows.
Van Natta told employees in his memo that MySpace was focused on London, Berlin and Sydney because of their countries’ large user bases and the company’s ability to compete.
“These are major international commerce centres where a robust MySpace presence can help our company develop new and innovative business partnerships,” he said. — AP
Saturday, June 20, 2009
NEWS: Teaching goes to another level
MICROSOFT Malaysia recently hosted the 5th Regional Innovative Teachers’ Conference in Kuala Lumpur, under its flagship Partners-in-Learning initiative with the Ministry of Education, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and TakingITGlobal, an international non-profit student organisation.
Held for the first time in Malaysia, the four-day conference was aimed at assisting educators in developing teaching methods and school curriculums that empower students to become agents of change.
Yasmin Mahmood
This year’s conference was also the first time that student sessions were held concurrently with sessions for teachers.
Focused on engaging students to critically examine real world issues and providing them with opportunities to act upon them locally, this year’s theme of Empower, Enact, Engage: Becoming Agents of Change initiated conversations about globalisation and its effects on education.
More than 80 teachers and 50 senior government and education officials from at least 18 countries participated in field-trips, , collaboration projects and student forums at the conference.
The conference is an integral part of Microsoft’s roadmap for students in Malaysia concerning their engagement with technology throughout their education.
“Our aim with the innovative teachers programme is to help educators further their professional development, promote the creation of best practices, award software grants and give them access to online learning communities,” said Microsoft Malaysia managing director Yasmin Mahmood.
The software giant also announced its RM3.045 billion investment in its DreamSpark programme, aimed at equipping and empowering the next generation of software developers by providing professional-level tools to tertiary students.
Through DreamSpark, more than 870,000 students in Malaysia will gain access to the company’s product-portfolio at no cost, helping them fully realise their potential during their academic experience and equipping them with the skills they will need for the workplace.
Education secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Zulkurnain Awang said that traditional teaching and learning methods need to be supported by an ICT framework, and there needs to be deep and continued collaboration between the private sector and government agencies to help teachers develop the country’s human capital.
“The ministry is always receptive to positive change in classroom practices and the approach of integrating ICT into teaching and learning situations provides an excellent opportunity for us to level the playing field and raise the bar of education achievement and standards,” he said.
Commending the company for using its global reach to enhance education in partnership with government agencies, UNESCO Bangkok director Dr Kim Gwang-Jo said that the conference was in line with the organisation’s vision of education as a key to greater social and economic development.
Held for the first time in Malaysia, the four-day conference was aimed at assisting educators in developing teaching methods and school curriculums that empower students to become agents of change.
Yasmin Mahmood
This year’s conference was also the first time that student sessions were held concurrently with sessions for teachers.
Focused on engaging students to critically examine real world issues and providing them with opportunities to act upon them locally, this year’s theme of Empower, Enact, Engage: Becoming Agents of Change initiated conversations about globalisation and its effects on education.
More than 80 teachers and 50 senior government and education officials from at least 18 countries participated in field-trips, , collaboration projects and student forums at the conference.
The conference is an integral part of Microsoft’s roadmap for students in Malaysia concerning their engagement with technology throughout their education.
“Our aim with the innovative teachers programme is to help educators further their professional development, promote the creation of best practices, award software grants and give them access to online learning communities,” said Microsoft Malaysia managing director Yasmin Mahmood.
The software giant also announced its RM3.045 billion investment in its DreamSpark programme, aimed at equipping and empowering the next generation of software developers by providing professional-level tools to tertiary students.
Through DreamSpark, more than 870,000 students in Malaysia will gain access to the company’s product-portfolio at no cost, helping them fully realise their potential during their academic experience and equipping them with the skills they will need for the workplace.
Education secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Zulkurnain Awang said that traditional teaching and learning methods need to be supported by an ICT framework, and there needs to be deep and continued collaboration between the private sector and government agencies to help teachers develop the country’s human capital.
“The ministry is always receptive to positive change in classroom practices and the approach of integrating ICT into teaching and learning situations provides an excellent opportunity for us to level the playing field and raise the bar of education achievement and standards,” he said.
Commending the company for using its global reach to enhance education in partnership with government agencies, UNESCO Bangkok director Dr Kim Gwang-Jo said that the conference was in line with the organisation’s vision of education as a key to greater social and economic development.
NEWS: Getting connected
Australian aboriginal children have been given laptops to help them with their homework and to keep in touch with the happenings around the world.
SOON after getting a green laptop distributed free to Aboriginal school children in the hope of combating illiteracy and truancy, Jericho Lacey learned his computer was good for more than just homework.
From his home on Elcho Island, an impoverished tropical outpost, Lacey writes school essays and occasionally plays “maze games” and surfs the net.
“Hopefully, my children will become digitally connected to the rest of the world,” Jericho’s father Marcus said. “This island is not very close to anything.”
In the middle of the Arafura Sea and about 2,000km northwest of Sydney, the former Methodist mission island is no paradise for its inhabitants.
The Elcho island children line up to receive the free laptops. The computers apart from enabling them to do their homework,will allow them to surf the Internet and combat the monotony of island life. — Reuters
Peanut and banana farming was abandoned decades ago, leaving little or no work on the island for the 2,000 or so adults.
Alcohol is banned to stem domestic violence and cars run on a type of petrol that can’t be inhaled after gasoline sniffing became a popular and dangerous past-time for the island’s youth. Pornography is also banned on the island.
Organisers behind the programme hope to combat the monotony of island life with new-found interests such as surfing the Internet and offering the 1,200 school-age children opportunities to learn about the world beyond the dense mangrove swamps that surround the island.
“We’re trying to gives these kids a shot they might not otherwise get growing up here,” said Barry Vercoe, who heads the Asia-Pacific arm of One Laptop Per Child, an international charity he says has so far given away 1.5 million computers.
To date, about 2,000 laptops have been delivered to three schools in indigenous communities in Australia, where illiteracy can be multi-generational and English hardly, if ever, spoken.
The charity which was founded by Nicholas Negroponte, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT) researcher, has given computers to school-age children as far afield as Cambodia, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea.
Through private donations and corporate sponsorships, Vercoe hopes to donate 400,000 computers in Australia over the next two or three years, all directly to indigenous school children.
“When we have the opportunity to inoculate against ignorance and illiteracy we must take it,” Vercoe said.
Studies indicate that illiteracy among Aboriginal children has long been underestimated. A report by education ministers in Australia estimates that one in three indigenous third grade students failed to meet a minimum reading standard established by the government for all Australians.
Australia is less than two years into a nationwide initiative to intervene in communities heavily populated by Aborigines, in some instances sending in police and the army to enforce alcohol bans and conduct health checks on children.
A report by the Australian Education Union commissioned to examine government intervention in the Northern Territory found that about US$1.6bil (RM5.6bil) is needed to ensure Aboriginal students have the same opportunities as non-Aboriginal students.
Hardy computers
Designed by Taiwanese company Quanta and manufactured in Shanghai, each rugged XO computer costs US$185 (RM650) and is coated in thick rubber to withstand harsh conditions.
A wireless router enables children to connect with teachers via the Internet. They feature a high-resolution display that can be read in direct sunlight and are known for their low power consumption, operating up to 12 hours on a single battery charge.
At the island’s Shepherdson College, where daily attendance for the children from pre-school age through high school is less than 50% according to the school’s principal, Bryan Hughes, a desire to preserve local Aboriginal culture and language threatens to clash with the introduction of new learning tools imported from the mainland.
“On the one hand, we’re saying: ‘Here, take this computer’. It is yours alone to keep’,” said a teacher at Shepherdson College. At the same time, traditional Aboriginal culture here is much less tied to the notion of individual ownership,” he said.
Differences in lifestyles among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians are at the centre of the educational and economic divides between the groups.
It was in 1967 when changes in the federal constitution recognised Aboriginal people as Australian citizens with equal rights to vote. Before that, they were simply protected under the same laws governing plants and animals.
Traditions of communal ownership still far outweigh the right to hold individual possessions among many Aboriginal settlements.
Vercoe concedes this could be an obstacle. “Once we give a child a computer, we say it’s yours for life,” he said. “That concept can butt up against some of the traditional values, he said.”
Mixing English with Djambarrpuyngu, one of nearly two-dozen regional languages, 10-year-old Naomi Ruluminy Dhurrkay struggles with essay writing on her new computer, but marvels at what else it can do: “I mostly like the Internet and the talking stories,” she said.
Gary Barnes, an administrator from Australia’s Northern Territory Department of Education, said the arrival of personal computers on the island can help teachers but is no cure-all. “These are not silver bullets and on their own they will not make huge differences,” Barnes said.
Nonetheless, said another teacher at the local school, Dianne Dickinson, “Our students enjoy using them, which is a start.” — Reuters
SOON after getting a green laptop distributed free to Aboriginal school children in the hope of combating illiteracy and truancy, Jericho Lacey learned his computer was good for more than just homework.
From his home on Elcho Island, an impoverished tropical outpost, Lacey writes school essays and occasionally plays “maze games” and surfs the net.
“Hopefully, my children will become digitally connected to the rest of the world,” Jericho’s father Marcus said. “This island is not very close to anything.”
In the middle of the Arafura Sea and about 2,000km northwest of Sydney, the former Methodist mission island is no paradise for its inhabitants.
The Elcho island children line up to receive the free laptops. The computers apart from enabling them to do their homework,will allow them to surf the Internet and combat the monotony of island life. — Reuters
Peanut and banana farming was abandoned decades ago, leaving little or no work on the island for the 2,000 or so adults.
Alcohol is banned to stem domestic violence and cars run on a type of petrol that can’t be inhaled after gasoline sniffing became a popular and dangerous past-time for the island’s youth. Pornography is also banned on the island.
Organisers behind the programme hope to combat the monotony of island life with new-found interests such as surfing the Internet and offering the 1,200 school-age children opportunities to learn about the world beyond the dense mangrove swamps that surround the island.
“We’re trying to gives these kids a shot they might not otherwise get growing up here,” said Barry Vercoe, who heads the Asia-Pacific arm of One Laptop Per Child, an international charity he says has so far given away 1.5 million computers.
To date, about 2,000 laptops have been delivered to three schools in indigenous communities in Australia, where illiteracy can be multi-generational and English hardly, if ever, spoken.
The charity which was founded by Nicholas Negroponte, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT) researcher, has given computers to school-age children as far afield as Cambodia, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea.
Through private donations and corporate sponsorships, Vercoe hopes to donate 400,000 computers in Australia over the next two or three years, all directly to indigenous school children.
“When we have the opportunity to inoculate against ignorance and illiteracy we must take it,” Vercoe said.
Studies indicate that illiteracy among Aboriginal children has long been underestimated. A report by education ministers in Australia estimates that one in three indigenous third grade students failed to meet a minimum reading standard established by the government for all Australians.
Australia is less than two years into a nationwide initiative to intervene in communities heavily populated by Aborigines, in some instances sending in police and the army to enforce alcohol bans and conduct health checks on children.
A report by the Australian Education Union commissioned to examine government intervention in the Northern Territory found that about US$1.6bil (RM5.6bil) is needed to ensure Aboriginal students have the same opportunities as non-Aboriginal students.
Hardy computers
Designed by Taiwanese company Quanta and manufactured in Shanghai, each rugged XO computer costs US$185 (RM650) and is coated in thick rubber to withstand harsh conditions.
A wireless router enables children to connect with teachers via the Internet. They feature a high-resolution display that can be read in direct sunlight and are known for their low power consumption, operating up to 12 hours on a single battery charge.
At the island’s Shepherdson College, where daily attendance for the children from pre-school age through high school is less than 50% according to the school’s principal, Bryan Hughes, a desire to preserve local Aboriginal culture and language threatens to clash with the introduction of new learning tools imported from the mainland.
“On the one hand, we’re saying: ‘Here, take this computer’. It is yours alone to keep’,” said a teacher at Shepherdson College. At the same time, traditional Aboriginal culture here is much less tied to the notion of individual ownership,” he said.
Differences in lifestyles among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians are at the centre of the educational and economic divides between the groups.
It was in 1967 when changes in the federal constitution recognised Aboriginal people as Australian citizens with equal rights to vote. Before that, they were simply protected under the same laws governing plants and animals.
Traditions of communal ownership still far outweigh the right to hold individual possessions among many Aboriginal settlements.
Vercoe concedes this could be an obstacle. “Once we give a child a computer, we say it’s yours for life,” he said. “That concept can butt up against some of the traditional values, he said.”
Mixing English with Djambarrpuyngu, one of nearly two-dozen regional languages, 10-year-old Naomi Ruluminy Dhurrkay struggles with essay writing on her new computer, but marvels at what else it can do: “I mostly like the Internet and the talking stories,” she said.
Gary Barnes, an administrator from Australia’s Northern Territory Department of Education, said the arrival of personal computers on the island can help teachers but is no cure-all. “These are not silver bullets and on their own they will not make huge differences,” Barnes said.
Nonetheless, said another teacher at the local school, Dianne Dickinson, “Our students enjoy using them, which is a start.” — Reuters
Friday, June 19, 2009
NEWS: 港教師通過網上教學
（香港19日法新電）香港學校因A流感而停課，造成數以千計的學生留在家中。不過，隨著互聯網科技的普遍，許多教師通過上網繼續和學生進行教學互動。
香港政府宣佈所有小學和幼稚園停課后，教學被搬到網上實行，許多學校紛紛推出網上指導方案，以讓學生可以在家中通過網絡繼續跟進教學課程。
澳洲國際學校小學教師里德說，他教導的4歲班級，通過上網將智力測驗的答案傳給他。
另有一些學校設定上網系統，讓教師把教學資料和作業通過互聯網傳達給學生。此外，學生也可以通過電子郵件或聊天室詢問功課。
一些幼稚園教師將閱讀故事書和唱歌的情況錄下，再通過互聯網傳送給學生觀賞。
一些教育機構指出，A流感使到互聯絡教育更加普遍化。
香港政府宣佈所有小學和幼稚園停課后，教學被搬到網上實行，許多學校紛紛推出網上指導方案，以讓學生可以在家中通過網絡繼續跟進教學課程。
澳洲國際學校小學教師里德說，他教導的4歲班級，通過上網將智力測驗的答案傳給他。
另有一些學校設定上網系統，讓教師把教學資料和作業通過互聯網傳達給學生。此外，學生也可以通過電子郵件或聊天室詢問功課。
一些幼稚園教師將閱讀故事書和唱歌的情況錄下，再通過互聯網傳送給學生觀賞。
一些教育機構指出，A流感使到互聯絡教育更加普遍化。
Monday, June 15, 2009
NEWS: Internet eroding family time
NEW YORK: Whether it’s around the dinner table or just in front of the TV, US families say they are spending less time together.
The decline in family time coincides with a rise in Internet use and the popularity of social networks, though a new study stopped just short of assigning blame.
The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California is reporting this week that 28% of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That’s nearly triple the 11% who said that in 2006.
These people did not report spending less time with their friends, however.
Michael Gilbert, a senior fellow at the centre, said people report spending less time with family members just as social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are booming, along with the importance people place on them.
Five-year-old Facebook’s active user base, for example, has surged to more than 200 million active users, up from 100 million last August.
Meanwhile, more people say they are worried about how much time kids and teenagers spend online. In 2000, when the centre began its annual surveys on Americans and the Internet, only 11% of respondents said that family members under 18 were spending too much time online. By 2008, that grew to 28%.
“Most people think of the Internet and (our) digital future as boundless, and I do too,” Gilbert said.
But, he added, “it can’t be a good thing that families are spending less face-to-face time together. Ultimately it leads to less cohesive and less communicative families.”
In the first half of the decade, people reported spending an average of 26 hours per month with their families. By 2008, however, that shared time had dropped by more than 30%, to about 18 hours.
Disruptions
The advent of new technologies has, in some ways, always changed the way family members interact.
Cellphones make it easier for parents to keep track of where their children are, while giving kids the kind of privacy they wouldn’t have had in the days of landlines.
Television has cut into dinner time and as TV sets became cheaper they also multiplied, so that kids and parents no longer have to congregate in the living room to watch it.
But Gilbert said the Internet is so engrossing, and demands so much more attention than other technologies, that it can disrupt personal boundaries in ways other technologies wouldn’t have.
“It’s not like television, where you can sit around with your family and watch,” he said. The Internet, he noted, is mostly one-on-one.
Likely because they can afford more Web-connected gadgets, higher-income families reported greater loss of family time than those who make less money. And more women than men said they felt ignored by a family member using the Internet.
The centre’s latest survey was a random poll of 2,030 people ages 12 and up was conducted April 9 to June 30, last year, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. — AP
The decline in family time coincides with a rise in Internet use and the popularity of social networks, though a new study stopped just short of assigning blame.
The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California is reporting this week that 28% of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That’s nearly triple the 11% who said that in 2006.
These people did not report spending less time with their friends, however.
Michael Gilbert, a senior fellow at the centre, said people report spending less time with family members just as social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are booming, along with the importance people place on them.
Five-year-old Facebook’s active user base, for example, has surged to more than 200 million active users, up from 100 million last August.
Meanwhile, more people say they are worried about how much time kids and teenagers spend online. In 2000, when the centre began its annual surveys on Americans and the Internet, only 11% of respondents said that family members under 18 were spending too much time online. By 2008, that grew to 28%.
“Most people think of the Internet and (our) digital future as boundless, and I do too,” Gilbert said.
But, he added, “it can’t be a good thing that families are spending less face-to-face time together. Ultimately it leads to less cohesive and less communicative families.”
In the first half of the decade, people reported spending an average of 26 hours per month with their families. By 2008, however, that shared time had dropped by more than 30%, to about 18 hours.
Disruptions
The advent of new technologies has, in some ways, always changed the way family members interact.
Cellphones make it easier for parents to keep track of where their children are, while giving kids the kind of privacy they wouldn’t have had in the days of landlines.
Television has cut into dinner time and as TV sets became cheaper they also multiplied, so that kids and parents no longer have to congregate in the living room to watch it.
But Gilbert said the Internet is so engrossing, and demands so much more attention than other technologies, that it can disrupt personal boundaries in ways other technologies wouldn’t have.
“It’s not like television, where you can sit around with your family and watch,” he said. The Internet, he noted, is mostly one-on-one.
Likely because they can afford more Web-connected gadgets, higher-income families reported greater loss of family time than those who make less money. And more women than men said they felt ignored by a family member using the Internet.
The centre’s latest survey was a random poll of 2,030 people ages 12 and up was conducted April 9 to June 30, last year, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. — AP
Saturday, June 13, 2009
NEWS: Company alleges Chinese software has stolen code
SAN FRANCISCO (AP): A California company claims that the Internet-filtering software China has mandated for all new personal computers sold there contains stolen programming code.
Solid Oak Software of Santa Barbara said Friday that parts of its filtering software, which is designed for parents, are being used in the "Green Dam-Youth Escort" filtering software that must be packaged with all computers sold in China from July 1.
Solid Oak's founder, Brian Milburn, said he plans to seek an injunction against the Chinese developer that built the software, but acknowledged that it's new legal terrain for his company.
"I don't know how far you can try and reach into China and try to stop stuff like this," he said in an interview. "We're still trying to assess what they're doing."
A phone number for the Chinese developer could not immediately be located. A call by The Associated Press to China's embassy in the U.S. after business hours Friday went unanswered.
China has mounted a vigorous public defense of the software, saying it wants it to block violence and pornography. But critics say it censors many more things, and does it on a deeper level than the Internet censorship China currently employs.
China has more than 250 million Internet users and employs some of the world's tightest controls over what they see, often called the "Great Firewall of China," which refers to technology designed to prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving a network.
Political sites and others the government deems offensive are routinely blocked, but that happens at the network level. Savvy users can get around it by bouncing through "proxy" servers in other countries, but it takes some sophistication. Blocked sites simply won't load in users' Web browsers.
The new software blocks sites directly from a user's machine.
A report released Thursday by University of Michigan researchers who examined the Chinese software supports Solid Oak's claim that the Green Dam software contains pirated code. The report also found serious security vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to hijack PCs running the Chinese software.
The report found that a number of the "blacklist" files that Green Dam employs were taken from Solid Oak's CyberSitter program.
Blacklists are lists of Web sites that have been flagged as violent or pornographic or malicious or otherwise offensive. Web browsers on computers where blacklists are in use are instructed to block those sites.
The report's authors - researchers in the university's computer science and engineering division - also said they found another clue that Solid Oak's code was stolen: a file that contained a 2004 CyberSitter news bulletin that appeared to have been accidentally included in Green Dam's coding.
Solid Oak Software of Santa Barbara said Friday that parts of its filtering software, which is designed for parents, are being used in the "Green Dam-Youth Escort" filtering software that must be packaged with all computers sold in China from July 1.
Solid Oak's founder, Brian Milburn, said he plans to seek an injunction against the Chinese developer that built the software, but acknowledged that it's new legal terrain for his company.
"I don't know how far you can try and reach into China and try to stop stuff like this," he said in an interview. "We're still trying to assess what they're doing."
A phone number for the Chinese developer could not immediately be located. A call by The Associated Press to China's embassy in the U.S. after business hours Friday went unanswered.
China has mounted a vigorous public defense of the software, saying it wants it to block violence and pornography. But critics say it censors many more things, and does it on a deeper level than the Internet censorship China currently employs.
China has more than 250 million Internet users and employs some of the world's tightest controls over what they see, often called the "Great Firewall of China," which refers to technology designed to prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving a network.
Political sites and others the government deems offensive are routinely blocked, but that happens at the network level. Savvy users can get around it by bouncing through "proxy" servers in other countries, but it takes some sophistication. Blocked sites simply won't load in users' Web browsers.
The new software blocks sites directly from a user's machine.
A report released Thursday by University of Michigan researchers who examined the Chinese software supports Solid Oak's claim that the Green Dam software contains pirated code. The report also found serious security vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to hijack PCs running the Chinese software.
The report found that a number of the "blacklist" files that Green Dam employs were taken from Solid Oak's CyberSitter program.
Blacklists are lists of Web sites that have been flagged as violent or pornographic or malicious or otherwise offensive. Web browsers on computers where blacklists are in use are instructed to block those sites.
The report's authors - researchers in the university's computer science and engineering division - also said they found another clue that Solid Oak's code was stolen: a file that contained a 2004 CyberSitter news bulletin that appeared to have been accidentally included in Green Dam's coding.
NEWS: Gantry system to collect toll
TAMPIN: Queues to pay toll could be a thing of the past as private expressway operators are required to implement the gantry toll collection system.
Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the Malaysian Highway Authority was conducting trials of the system at various highways in the Klang Valley. The study should be completed by year’s end, he said.
“We want a system where motorists can pay toll while driving at 110kph and need not stop,” Shaziman told reporters after opening the Sepakat Bestari programme organised by the Information Department here yesterday.
Shaziman said the current method of collecting toll was outdated and inefficient.
“It can take up to 40 minutes for motorists to pay toll now and this is unacceptable,” he said.
“Motorists already have to contend with jammed roads in the city centre and it is not fair that they are made to queue up to pay toll.”
He said even the SmartTag system was not good enough as motorists had to slow down when approaching the toll plaza.
“Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia have successfully installed systems where motorists would not even know that they had paid toll,” he added.
Shaziman said once the authority had completed its study, he would table a paper with the Cabinet for approval.
“If the Cabinet endorses it, then we will direct the concessionaires to install the system,” he said. If all goes well, the new system could be implemented early next year.
On the relocation of the Seremban toll plaza, Shaziman said the project was to have been carried out under the Ninth Malaysia Plan between 2006 and 2010 but had to be deferred.
“Since it involved a huge cost, we would try to get this done under the 10th Malaysia Plan,” he said, adding that the toll plaza had to be moved as the present site could not accommodate the heavy traffic.
Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the Malaysian Highway Authority was conducting trials of the system at various highways in the Klang Valley. The study should be completed by year’s end, he said.
“We want a system where motorists can pay toll while driving at 110kph and need not stop,” Shaziman told reporters after opening the Sepakat Bestari programme organised by the Information Department here yesterday.
Shaziman said the current method of collecting toll was outdated and inefficient.
“It can take up to 40 minutes for motorists to pay toll now and this is unacceptable,” he said.
“Motorists already have to contend with jammed roads in the city centre and it is not fair that they are made to queue up to pay toll.”
He said even the SmartTag system was not good enough as motorists had to slow down when approaching the toll plaza.
“Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia have successfully installed systems where motorists would not even know that they had paid toll,” he added.
Shaziman said once the authority had completed its study, he would table a paper with the Cabinet for approval.
“If the Cabinet endorses it, then we will direct the concessionaires to install the system,” he said. If all goes well, the new system could be implemented early next year.
On the relocation of the Seremban toll plaza, Shaziman said the project was to have been carried out under the Ninth Malaysia Plan between 2006 and 2010 but had to be deferred.
“Since it involved a huge cost, we would try to get this done under the 10th Malaysia Plan,” he said, adding that the toll plaza had to be moved as the present site could not accommodate the heavy traffic.
NEWS: 25,000 computers for Terengganu pupils
YEAR FIVE pupils in Terengganu can now harness the benefits of technology, thanks to the newly launched ‘Projek Buku Elektronik’ by the state government.
Held in collaboration with Top IT Industries Sdn Bhd and Intel Malaysia, a total of 25,000 Intel-powered Classmate PCs (personal computers) will be deployed to pupils with the aim of making education more efficient by delivering the school curriculum in a digitised format as an alternative to heavy textbooks.
The project is also part of the state government’s ongoing effort to enhance the quality of education through direct ownership of portable PC devices and IT-based learning, thus injecting renewed enthusiasm for learning in the classroom and at home.
“Projek Buku Elektronik is a bold first step the state government is taking, and it will be the catalyst for a new chapter in Malaysia’s education curriculum.
“We are optimistic that the use of the computers in the classroom will have a positive impact on the critical thinking, communication and digital literacy skills of students,” said Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said.
“This project is strong proof that we are a step closer towards realising the National IT Agenda by cultivating 21st century learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills amongst the younger generation,” said Ryaz Patel, Intel Malaysia’s country manager.
In addition to deploying the computers, Intel will also collaborate with the Terengganu state government to improve education in the classroom through the use of other innovative technologies and education programmes such as the Intel 1:1 E-Learning project.
The first shipment of the computers was distributed to the first batch of Year Five pupils at the end of May.
The deployment exercise will be undertaken by Top IT Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Terengganu state government.
Held in collaboration with Top IT Industries Sdn Bhd and Intel Malaysia, a total of 25,000 Intel-powered Classmate PCs (personal computers) will be deployed to pupils with the aim of making education more efficient by delivering the school curriculum in a digitised format as an alternative to heavy textbooks.
The project is also part of the state government’s ongoing effort to enhance the quality of education through direct ownership of portable PC devices and IT-based learning, thus injecting renewed enthusiasm for learning in the classroom and at home.
“Projek Buku Elektronik is a bold first step the state government is taking, and it will be the catalyst for a new chapter in Malaysia’s education curriculum.
“We are optimistic that the use of the computers in the classroom will have a positive impact on the critical thinking, communication and digital literacy skills of students,” said Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said.
“This project is strong proof that we are a step closer towards realising the National IT Agenda by cultivating 21st century learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills amongst the younger generation,” said Ryaz Patel, Intel Malaysia’s country manager.
In addition to deploying the computers, Intel will also collaborate with the Terengganu state government to improve education in the classroom through the use of other innovative technologies and education programmes such as the Intel 1:1 E-Learning project.
The first shipment of the computers was distributed to the first batch of Year Five pupils at the end of May.
The deployment exercise will be undertaken by Top IT Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Terengganu state government.
NEWS: Google unfazed by antitrust inquiries
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc doesn’t believe it needs to change its ways despite three separate US Government inquiries into whether some of the Internet search leader’s actions are thwarting competition.
“There is no reason to be upset or surprised with the scrutiny,” Dana Wagner, Google’s competition counsel, told reporters on Wednesday. “It comes with the territory.”
With technology playing an increasingly important role in society and Google steering most of the Internet’s traffic, Wagner said it’s understandable why the Obama administration is taking a close look at the Mountain View, California-based company.
“They wouldn’t be doing their job if they weren’t taking a look at all the industries people are telling them to take a look at,” said Wagner, who worked at the US Justice Department for seven years before joining Google in 2007.
Wagner suggested the push to investigate Google is being propelled by “enemies” that the company has made as its search engine and other free or low-cost products siphon money away from other businesses in media and technology.
Google reaped a US$4.2bil (RM15bil) profit on revenue of nearly US$22bil (RM79bil) last year.
Without getting into specifics of the various inquiries under way now, Wagner predicted Google would be able to amicably resolve any differences with the government.
“I am a lover, not a fighter,” Wagner said. “One of the reasons we have haven’t had a huge fight (with the government) is because we generally can find common ground.”
Old news
Google’s biggest clash with the US Government so far occurred last year when the Justice Department threatened a lawsuit to block the company’s proposed advertising partnership with rival Yahoo! Inc, which runs the Web’s second most popular search engine.
Although Google still believes the government exaggerated the alliance’s potential effect on the Internet ad market, the company ultimately abandoned the Yahoo! partnership.
Google also has shortened the amount of time it retains information about its users to satisfy the privacy concerns of European regulators.
Since President Barack Obama took office in January, antitrust regulators have targeted Google in three different areas.
The Justice Department is poring over a settlement of a class-action lawsuit that critics contend could give Google too much control over the electronic copies of millions of copyright-protected books that are no longer in print.
Google believes the settlement would improve access to books that are mostly gathering dust at libraries across the country.
In a sign that the book inquiry is intensifying, investigators have issued formal demands for more details about the settlement. Google confirmed on Wednesday it is among the settlement participants that received the civil investigative demands, or CIDs. A federal judge is scheduled to review the settlement in October.
Justice also is looking into whether Google and other technology companies, including Yahoo! and biotechnology pioneer Genentech, which is now controlled by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG, have colluded by agreeing not to recruit top employees from one another. CIDs also have been issued in that probe.
And the Federal Trade Commission is looking into whether Google’s common ties with computer and gadget maker Apple Inc might discourage competition.
iPhone rival
Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, and Arthur Levinson, Genentech’s former CEO, are directors at both Google and Apple. Google makes an operating system, called Android, that’s used in mobile devices that compete with Apple’s iPhone and will soon be used in inexpensive computers, called “netbooks,” that could siphon sales from Apple’s Mac line.
Since Stanford University graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin started the company in a Silicon Valley garage in 1998, Google has become synonymous with Internet search, processing nearly two-thirds of all US search requests.
That has turned Google into a magnet for antitrust regulators, just as Microsoft Corp was a decade ago given its dominance with the Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browser, said Don M. Tellock, who formerly specialised in technology regulation for New York’s attorney general.
“When you have a company that is dominant in the marketplace like Google is, that is going to garner a lot of attention,” Tellock said. “Whether that will lead to prosecution is another question.”
Wagner said he thinks Microsoft demands more antitrust attention than Google because Windows still affects more people’s interactions with computers than any search engine.
But he understands why Google is getting more attention now, calling Microsoft “yesterday’s news.” He also said many people have “Microsoft fatigue.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft is hoping websurfers are tired of using Google’s search engine. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker is reportedly spending US$100mil (RM360mil) to promote Bing, a Google challenger that Microsoft calls a “decision engine.” Google cites Bing as evidence of the challenges it faces in search. — AP
“There is no reason to be upset or surprised with the scrutiny,” Dana Wagner, Google’s competition counsel, told reporters on Wednesday. “It comes with the territory.”
With technology playing an increasingly important role in society and Google steering most of the Internet’s traffic, Wagner said it’s understandable why the Obama administration is taking a close look at the Mountain View, California-based company.
“They wouldn’t be doing their job if they weren’t taking a look at all the industries people are telling them to take a look at,” said Wagner, who worked at the US Justice Department for seven years before joining Google in 2007.
Wagner suggested the push to investigate Google is being propelled by “enemies” that the company has made as its search engine and other free or low-cost products siphon money away from other businesses in media and technology.
Google reaped a US$4.2bil (RM15bil) profit on revenue of nearly US$22bil (RM79bil) last year.
Without getting into specifics of the various inquiries under way now, Wagner predicted Google would be able to amicably resolve any differences with the government.
“I am a lover, not a fighter,” Wagner said. “One of the reasons we have haven’t had a huge fight (with the government) is because we generally can find common ground.”
Old news
Google’s biggest clash with the US Government so far occurred last year when the Justice Department threatened a lawsuit to block the company’s proposed advertising partnership with rival Yahoo! Inc, which runs the Web’s second most popular search engine.
Although Google still believes the government exaggerated the alliance’s potential effect on the Internet ad market, the company ultimately abandoned the Yahoo! partnership.
Google also has shortened the amount of time it retains information about its users to satisfy the privacy concerns of European regulators.
Since President Barack Obama took office in January, antitrust regulators have targeted Google in three different areas.
The Justice Department is poring over a settlement of a class-action lawsuit that critics contend could give Google too much control over the electronic copies of millions of copyright-protected books that are no longer in print.
Google believes the settlement would improve access to books that are mostly gathering dust at libraries across the country.
In a sign that the book inquiry is intensifying, investigators have issued formal demands for more details about the settlement. Google confirmed on Wednesday it is among the settlement participants that received the civil investigative demands, or CIDs. A federal judge is scheduled to review the settlement in October.
Justice also is looking into whether Google and other technology companies, including Yahoo! and biotechnology pioneer Genentech, which is now controlled by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG, have colluded by agreeing not to recruit top employees from one another. CIDs also have been issued in that probe.
And the Federal Trade Commission is looking into whether Google’s common ties with computer and gadget maker Apple Inc might discourage competition.
iPhone rival
Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, and Arthur Levinson, Genentech’s former CEO, are directors at both Google and Apple. Google makes an operating system, called Android, that’s used in mobile devices that compete with Apple’s iPhone and will soon be used in inexpensive computers, called “netbooks,” that could siphon sales from Apple’s Mac line.
Since Stanford University graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin started the company in a Silicon Valley garage in 1998, Google has become synonymous with Internet search, processing nearly two-thirds of all US search requests.
That has turned Google into a magnet for antitrust regulators, just as Microsoft Corp was a decade ago given its dominance with the Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browser, said Don M. Tellock, who formerly specialised in technology regulation for New York’s attorney general.
“When you have a company that is dominant in the marketplace like Google is, that is going to garner a lot of attention,” Tellock said. “Whether that will lead to prosecution is another question.”
Wagner said he thinks Microsoft demands more antitrust attention than Google because Windows still affects more people’s interactions with computers than any search engine.
But he understands why Google is getting more attention now, calling Microsoft “yesterday’s news.” He also said many people have “Microsoft fatigue.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft is hoping websurfers are tired of using Google’s search engine. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker is reportedly spending US$100mil (RM360mil) to promote Bing, a Google challenger that Microsoft calls a “decision engine.” Google cites Bing as evidence of the challenges it faces in search. — AP
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
NEWS: ICT courses for rural students
SUBANG JAYA: Maxis Communications Sdn Bhd is doing its bit to address the “digital divide.”
Under its Maxis Cyberkids Camp programme, the telecommunications giant trains the best students from selected rural schools in ICT (information and communications technology), before sending them back to their schools to train their peers.
The camp involves five-day courses in hotels, where Form One and Form Two students are taught how to research, build websites and how to make presentations.
The students are guided on how to use online tools such as flickr (a photo-sharing site), photoscape (a photo-editing application) and audacity (an audio-editing program).
Maxis said the programme is aimed at cultivating a generation of Malaysians who are ICT-literate.
This year, the programme brought together 336 participants from 42 schools in six states — Sarawak, Sabah, Pahang, Selangor, Perlis and Malacca. Maxis works with the Ministry of Education to select the schools and students.
Sandip Das, chief executive officer of Maxis, said: “Our intention is to enable equal opportunities for schoolchildren in technology-disadvantaged areas and hopefully make a positive difference.”
“The camp is part of Maxis’ commitment to nurture the country’s school children towards supporting national aspirations in the area of technology, education and youth development as they prepare for future challenges in the global environment,” he added.
Cyberkids participant Nur Ainina, who is a student of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Complex secondary school in Nilai, said the programme gave her more knowledge of the Internet and has taught her to to create content instead of just consuming it.
The camp, supported by the Ministry of Information, Communications, Culture and Arts, is Maxis’ flagship corporate social responsibility programme under its Maxis Bridging Communities initiative, was launched in 2002.
To date, the Cyberkids programme has conducted more than 93 camps for more than 5,000 school children and 2,500 teachers from rural districts nationwide. For more information on the programme, log on to http://maxis.cyberkids.com.my.
Under its Maxis Cyberkids Camp programme, the telecommunications giant trains the best students from selected rural schools in ICT (information and communications technology), before sending them back to their schools to train their peers.
The camp involves five-day courses in hotels, where Form One and Form Two students are taught how to research, build websites and how to make presentations.
The students are guided on how to use online tools such as flickr (a photo-sharing site), photoscape (a photo-editing application) and audacity (an audio-editing program).
Maxis said the programme is aimed at cultivating a generation of Malaysians who are ICT-literate.
This year, the programme brought together 336 participants from 42 schools in six states — Sarawak, Sabah, Pahang, Selangor, Perlis and Malacca. Maxis works with the Ministry of Education to select the schools and students.
Sandip Das, chief executive officer of Maxis, said: “Our intention is to enable equal opportunities for schoolchildren in technology-disadvantaged areas and hopefully make a positive difference.”
“The camp is part of Maxis’ commitment to nurture the country’s school children towards supporting national aspirations in the area of technology, education and youth development as they prepare for future challenges in the global environment,” he added.
Cyberkids participant Nur Ainina, who is a student of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Complex secondary school in Nilai, said the programme gave her more knowledge of the Internet and has taught her to to create content instead of just consuming it.
The camp, supported by the Ministry of Information, Communications, Culture and Arts, is Maxis’ flagship corporate social responsibility programme under its Maxis Bridging Communities initiative, was launched in 2002.
To date, the Cyberkids programme has conducted more than 93 camps for more than 5,000 school children and 2,500 teachers from rural districts nationwide. For more information on the programme, log on to http://maxis.cyberkids.com.my.
Monday, June 8, 2009
NEWS: Selangor to be first to have freedom of information law
The Selangor state government will be the first state to table a Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment in its legislative assembly by the end this year.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor had decided to do so because it believed all citizens have the right to have and know as much information as they need.
“Freedom of information and media freedom stand shoulder to shoulder. Without access to information, how can journalists be effective in their jobs?” Khalid said yesterday at the government’s belated observance of World Press Freedom Day and the launch of its Communications and Media Network - a monthly newspaper Selangorkini, a web portal Selangorkini and TV Selangor - at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre here.
He said the state government had set up a Freedom of Information Taskforce, chaired by Assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong, comprising of assemblymen and the public last year to ensure an FOI Bill was tabled in the Legislature before the end of the year.
Asked at a press conference later what would happen if the state government declares a document public under its proposed FOI law but the Federal Government deems it a secret under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), Khalid said federal law would supersede.
Wong said the common view was that everything was under the OSA but their view was all information should be made public, with some exceptions.
Asked whether the draft enactment would be made public before it was tabled, Wong said yes, adding she was hoping to have it ready for the July or October meeting.
After the second reading, she said the Bill would be referred to a Select Committee that will have six months to get feedback and hold consultations with the public and public bodies and study the FOI laws in other countries.
Later, at a public consultation and forum themed “Freedom of Information: The Right to Reclaim”, Wong listed public interest override, legal privilege, health and safety as some of the usual exceptions to public access under any FOI law.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor had decided to do so because it believed all citizens have the right to have and know as much information as they need.
“Freedom of information and media freedom stand shoulder to shoulder. Without access to information, how can journalists be effective in their jobs?” Khalid said yesterday at the government’s belated observance of World Press Freedom Day and the launch of its Communications and Media Network - a monthly newspaper Selangorkini, a web portal Selangorkini and TV Selangor - at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre here.
He said the state government had set up a Freedom of Information Taskforce, chaired by Assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong, comprising of assemblymen and the public last year to ensure an FOI Bill was tabled in the Legislature before the end of the year.
Asked at a press conference later what would happen if the state government declares a document public under its proposed FOI law but the Federal Government deems it a secret under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), Khalid said federal law would supersede.
Wong said the common view was that everything was under the OSA but their view was all information should be made public, with some exceptions.
Asked whether the draft enactment would be made public before it was tabled, Wong said yes, adding she was hoping to have it ready for the July or October meeting.
After the second reading, she said the Bill would be referred to a Select Committee that will have six months to get feedback and hold consultations with the public and public bodies and study the FOI laws in other countries.
Later, at a public consultation and forum themed “Freedom of Information: The Right to Reclaim”, Wong listed public interest override, legal privilege, health and safety as some of the usual exceptions to public access under any FOI law.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
NEWS: Multimedia boss: ICT jobs aplenty
PETALING JAYA: Displaced workers and graduates looking for jobs have been urged to seriously consider a career in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.
Multimedia Development Corpora-tion chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng said they could consider applying for the hundreds of different ICT jobs available.
Ng: The service sector will be a strong driving force behind the country’s econ omic growth.
“ICT jobs today are not confined to purely the technical. Today, we see a lot of service-based ICT jobs available from Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries to Creative Multimedia.
“The service sector will be a strong driving force behind the country’s economic growth,” Ng said at the Star-Jobs h.e.l.p live interview session in Studio V, One Utama Shopping Centre.
Australia-wide Business Training chief executive Larry Gould spoke about the new age leadership programme which the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) was conducting.
He said it was aimed at moving away from the traditional education model – where an individual went to school, university and then joined the work force – with not much knowledge in managing the people around him.
“This is where new age leadership comes in – to provide people with the ability to improve and build on their soft skills,” he said.
Those looking for jobs could also attend the walk-in interviews at the Star-Jobs h.e.l.p Career Centre at the shopping mall today.
Interviews for positions at Singaporean retailer Tangs, automotive carpet manufacturer and supplier Sugihara Grand Industries and Star Publications’ subsidiary Leaderono-mics – a people development company – will be held from 2pm to 6pm.
To register, log on to www.star-jobs.com/help. Applicants are advised to bring along their resumes.
The Star-Jobs h.e.l.p is aimed at assisting those seeking re-employment during these critical times.
Multimedia Development Corpora-tion chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng said they could consider applying for the hundreds of different ICT jobs available.
Ng: The service sector will be a strong driving force behind the country’s econ omic growth.
“ICT jobs today are not confined to purely the technical. Today, we see a lot of service-based ICT jobs available from Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries to Creative Multimedia.
“The service sector will be a strong driving force behind the country’s economic growth,” Ng said at the Star-Jobs h.e.l.p live interview session in Studio V, One Utama Shopping Centre.
Australia-wide Business Training chief executive Larry Gould spoke about the new age leadership programme which the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) was conducting.
He said it was aimed at moving away from the traditional education model – where an individual went to school, university and then joined the work force – with not much knowledge in managing the people around him.
“This is where new age leadership comes in – to provide people with the ability to improve and build on their soft skills,” he said.
Those looking for jobs could also attend the walk-in interviews at the Star-Jobs h.e.l.p Career Centre at the shopping mall today.
Interviews for positions at Singaporean retailer Tangs, automotive carpet manufacturer and supplier Sugihara Grand Industries and Star Publications’ subsidiary Leaderono-mics – a people development company – will be held from 2pm to 6pm.
To register, log on to www.star-jobs.com/help. Applicants are advised to bring along their resumes.
The Star-Jobs h.e.l.p is aimed at assisting those seeking re-employment during these critical times.
NEWS: RM10mil for open-source movement
KUALA LUMPUR: Open-source communities in Malaysia are getting a juicy carrot in October from the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) as an encouragement.
That’s when MDeC is kicking off a RM10mil fund aimed at promoting open-source activities among Malaysian software developers and others in the communities.
MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said the money would be used to fund open-source training, promotions and collaborations.
He said the open-source movement is all about collaboration and this needs to be encouraged.
“Malaysians do not lack ideas; we are lacking in business networking and collaboration (activities),” he said.
“We’re not looking for a Malaysian single-cell organisation to be the next Google or Microsoft.
“We want Malaysians to be part of international collaborative efforts building new open-source applications,” he explained.
Badlisham was speaking at a press conference at the inaugural MSC Malaysia Open Source Conference 2009 here.
Booster shot
According to MDeC, there are 420 MSC Malaysia companies developing open-source applications and services, and last year they earned a total of RM400mil.
These companies were successful in developing solutions for customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, and other segments.
MDeC, which is guardian of the MSC Malaysia initative, wants to double that revenue to RM800mil within two years.
One of the ways to do this, it believes, is to promote open-source applications to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), which number in the thousands in this country alone.
“SMEs have always been hesitant to embrace technology because of the cost and complexity of deploying solutions,” Badlisham said.
But there are no such barriers to implementing open-source technology, he said, adding that the users would also only have to pay for support services.
MDeC will be organising workshops to promote open-source technology to SMEs during National ICT (information and communications technology) Month, from July 20 to Aug 20.
The event is organised by The Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Government first
The Malaysian Government has been headed towards open-source since 2004.
Datuk Normah Yusof, Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) director-general, said the Government is an early adopter of open source.
Mampu focuses on initiatives that can upgrade the efficiency of Malaysian public services, including IT initiatives such as open source.
“We launched our Public Sector Open Source Software (OSS) Master Plan in 2004 and have been actively executing the plan ever since,” Normah said.
The OSS Master Plan was launched with the goal of creating and enhancing the efficiency of public services through the use of open-source software that is touted as being more cost effective than proprietary software.
Under the plan, Mampu said it successfully rolled out 1,124 OSS-related projects and that more than 60% of government agencies have currently adopted open-source technology.
According to Mampu, this has resulted in a 30% savings in costs in total because each agency that adopted open source reduced the licensing fees they had to pay for proprietary software.
“Another benefit is that these agencies have had the opportunity to become self reliant in terms of technical competency,” said Normah.
“OSS with its readily available source codes and its support from global communities presented an excellent learning opportunity.”
Under the OSS Master Plan, Mampu was also tasked with establishing the Open Source Competency Centre (OSCC) — a single point of reference to guide, facilitate, co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of OSS in the public sector.
The OSCC has gained international attention. “Saudi Arabia has requested our assistance to establish its own OSCC and we have obliged,” Normah said.
“We have also been asked to present our master plan at many international OSS forums, such as Linux World in San Francisco, and at others in Hawaii, South Africa, Beijing, Bangkok and Sudan.”
Time for talks
The four-day MSC Malaysia Open Source Conference 2009 began on May 31 with Hackathon Day featuring workshops and tutorials on open source.
MDeC organised the conference with Mampu and is supported by the Malaysian Open Source Community. The event, held annually, ends today.
This year, the conference attracted more than 650 local and international participants. Its theme was “Open to Change” and it targeted business executives, software developers and open-source communities in Malaysia.
Among the open-source gurus that spoke were Chris DiBona, open-source program manager at Google; Gerry Messer, Redhat president Asia Pacific; and Oliver Bell, regional technology officer at Microsoft Asia Pacific.
For more information on the conference, go to
www.mscmalaysia.my/opensource.
That’s when MDeC is kicking off a RM10mil fund aimed at promoting open-source activities among Malaysian software developers and others in the communities.
MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said the money would be used to fund open-source training, promotions and collaborations.
He said the open-source movement is all about collaboration and this needs to be encouraged.
“Malaysians do not lack ideas; we are lacking in business networking and collaboration (activities),” he said.
“We’re not looking for a Malaysian single-cell organisation to be the next Google or Microsoft.
“We want Malaysians to be part of international collaborative efforts building new open-source applications,” he explained.
Badlisham was speaking at a press conference at the inaugural MSC Malaysia Open Source Conference 2009 here.
Booster shot
According to MDeC, there are 420 MSC Malaysia companies developing open-source applications and services, and last year they earned a total of RM400mil.
These companies were successful in developing solutions for customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, and other segments.
MDeC, which is guardian of the MSC Malaysia initative, wants to double that revenue to RM800mil within two years.
One of the ways to do this, it believes, is to promote open-source applications to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), which number in the thousands in this country alone.
“SMEs have always been hesitant to embrace technology because of the cost and complexity of deploying solutions,” Badlisham said.
But there are no such barriers to implementing open-source technology, he said, adding that the users would also only have to pay for support services.
MDeC will be organising workshops to promote open-source technology to SMEs during National ICT (information and communications technology) Month, from July 20 to Aug 20.
The event is organised by The Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Government first
The Malaysian Government has been headed towards open-source since 2004.
Datuk Normah Yusof, Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) director-general, said the Government is an early adopter of open source.
Mampu focuses on initiatives that can upgrade the efficiency of Malaysian public services, including IT initiatives such as open source.
“We launched our Public Sector Open Source Software (OSS) Master Plan in 2004 and have been actively executing the plan ever since,” Normah said.
The OSS Master Plan was launched with the goal of creating and enhancing the efficiency of public services through the use of open-source software that is touted as being more cost effective than proprietary software.
Under the plan, Mampu said it successfully rolled out 1,124 OSS-related projects and that more than 60% of government agencies have currently adopted open-source technology.
According to Mampu, this has resulted in a 30% savings in costs in total because each agency that adopted open source reduced the licensing fees they had to pay for proprietary software.
“Another benefit is that these agencies have had the opportunity to become self reliant in terms of technical competency,” said Normah.
“OSS with its readily available source codes and its support from global communities presented an excellent learning opportunity.”
Under the OSS Master Plan, Mampu was also tasked with establishing the Open Source Competency Centre (OSCC) — a single point of reference to guide, facilitate, co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of OSS in the public sector.
The OSCC has gained international attention. “Saudi Arabia has requested our assistance to establish its own OSCC and we have obliged,” Normah said.
“We have also been asked to present our master plan at many international OSS forums, such as Linux World in San Francisco, and at others in Hawaii, South Africa, Beijing, Bangkok and Sudan.”
Time for talks
The four-day MSC Malaysia Open Source Conference 2009 began on May 31 with Hackathon Day featuring workshops and tutorials on open source.
MDeC organised the conference with Mampu and is supported by the Malaysian Open Source Community. The event, held annually, ends today.
This year, the conference attracted more than 650 local and international participants. Its theme was “Open to Change” and it targeted business executives, software developers and open-source communities in Malaysia.
Among the open-source gurus that spoke were Chris DiBona, open-source program manager at Google; Gerry Messer, Redhat president Asia Pacific; and Oliver Bell, regional technology officer at Microsoft Asia Pacific.
For more information on the conference, go to
www.mscmalaysia.my/opensource.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
NEWS: Cuba flames Microsoft for blocking Messenger
HAVANA: Cuba criticised Microsoft on Friday for blocking its Messenger instant messaging service on the island and in other countries under US sanctions, calling it yet another example of Washington’s “harsh” treatment of Havana.
The technology giant recently announced it was disabling the program’s availability in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea to come into compliance with a US ban on transfer of licensed software to embargoed countries.
This move “is just the latest turn of the screw in the United States’ technological blockade against the island,” a technology writer said in an article published by state youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.
He called the ban on transfer of technology “a truly harsh violation” of Cuba’s rights.
Messenger has been used on the island for a decade without Microsoft interference.
Dharmesh Mehta, director of Windows Live Product Management at the Redmond, Washington-based company, said Microsoft “made the change late last year in connection with the last product release of Windows Live Messenger.”
“This is not a new change but has only recently received attention,” he said.
He added that “Microsoft is one of several major Internet companies that have taken steps aimed at meeting their obligations to not do business with markets on the US sanctions list.”
Mehta said “Microsoft supports efforts to ensure that the Internet remains a platform for open, diverse and unimpeded content and commerce,” and that “governments should exercise restraint in regulating the Internet.”
Internet communications service Skype currently works in Cuba but the government evidently has periodically blocked other similar services in the past — sometimes including Messenger.
Last month, the Obama administration announced it was lifting some US restrictions on telecommunications with Cuba in an effort toward easing the island’s isolation. It is unclear if those changes will affect the ban on export of licensed software.
Low bandwidth
Cuba has been criticised for its own restrictions on Internet technology.
Although many islanders have access to e-mail through schools, workplaces and post offices, government restrictions keep most citizens from unfettered access to the Web. Officials say the island does not have enough bandwidth to allow universal access.
Cuba’s Internet connection comes via satellite from faraway countries such as Italy and Canada, and Havana complains that the US embargo prevents it from obtaining better service through underwater cable.
The government uses filters on the islandwide intranet to block pages that contain pornography or are considered a threat to national security, including some sites run by anti-communist exiles, the US Government’s Radio Marti and popular Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez’s “Generation Y.”
Despite restrictions on US licensed software, the Cuban government employs Windows operating systems and other Microsoft programs on many of its computers. But it is working toward replacing them with open-source programs.
During a recent media tour of Raul Cepero Bonilla technology high school in the capital, students and teachers touted the benefits of open-source software.
“Open software is comfortable, free, easy to modify and public,” 15-year-old student Anette Camacho said.
Teacher Alain Tourino said Cuba should use only open software so it isn’t bound to the rules and decisions of US technology companies. — AP
The technology giant recently announced it was disabling the program’s availability in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea to come into compliance with a US ban on transfer of licensed software to embargoed countries.
This move “is just the latest turn of the screw in the United States’ technological blockade against the island,” a technology writer said in an article published by state youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.
He called the ban on transfer of technology “a truly harsh violation” of Cuba’s rights.
Messenger has been used on the island for a decade without Microsoft interference.
Dharmesh Mehta, director of Windows Live Product Management at the Redmond, Washington-based company, said Microsoft “made the change late last year in connection with the last product release of Windows Live Messenger.”
“This is not a new change but has only recently received attention,” he said.
He added that “Microsoft is one of several major Internet companies that have taken steps aimed at meeting their obligations to not do business with markets on the US sanctions list.”
Mehta said “Microsoft supports efforts to ensure that the Internet remains a platform for open, diverse and unimpeded content and commerce,” and that “governments should exercise restraint in regulating the Internet.”
Internet communications service Skype currently works in Cuba but the government evidently has periodically blocked other similar services in the past — sometimes including Messenger.
Last month, the Obama administration announced it was lifting some US restrictions on telecommunications with Cuba in an effort toward easing the island’s isolation. It is unclear if those changes will affect the ban on export of licensed software.
Low bandwidth
Cuba has been criticised for its own restrictions on Internet technology.
Although many islanders have access to e-mail through schools, workplaces and post offices, government restrictions keep most citizens from unfettered access to the Web. Officials say the island does not have enough bandwidth to allow universal access.
Cuba’s Internet connection comes via satellite from faraway countries such as Italy and Canada, and Havana complains that the US embargo prevents it from obtaining better service through underwater cable.
The government uses filters on the islandwide intranet to block pages that contain pornography or are considered a threat to national security, including some sites run by anti-communist exiles, the US Government’s Radio Marti and popular Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez’s “Generation Y.”
Despite restrictions on US licensed software, the Cuban government employs Windows operating systems and other Microsoft programs on many of its computers. But it is working toward replacing them with open-source programs.
During a recent media tour of Raul Cepero Bonilla technology high school in the capital, students and teachers touted the benefits of open-source software.
“Open software is comfortable, free, easy to modify and public,” 15-year-old student Anette Camacho said.
Teacher Alain Tourino said Cuba should use only open software so it isn’t bound to the rules and decisions of US technology companies. — AP
NEWS: Honey, I shrunk the URL
NEW YORK: On the short-messaging service Twitter, space is at a premium: You’ve got 140 characters to make your point, and you probably don’t want to waste half of it on a super-sized link to your latest YouTube obsession.
There’s an increasingly popular quick fix: A free URL shortener. On one of these websites, you can plug in a long Internet address, known as a URL, and it will assign you a much shorter one that is easier to post in e-mail messages, on Twitter, Facebook or anywhere else.
Some link-shrinkers let you personalise the new address with a unique phrase such as your name, or show you how many people click the link after you’ve posted it.
This convenience may come at a cost, though. The tools add another layer to the process of navigating the Web, potentially leaving a trail of broken links if a service suddenly closes shop. They can also make it harder to tell what you’re really clicking on, which may make these Lilliputian links attractive to spammers and scammers.
URL shorteners have been around for several years to offer alternatives to long web links that were too unwieldy to paste into e-mail messages.
Perhaps the oldest and most popular is TinyURL, a free service started in 2002 by Kevin Gilbertson, a unicycle enthusiast from Blaine, Minnesota, who was tired of seeing URLs get split up in e-mail related to his online unicycle forum.
Now the rise of Twitter and other social websites that encourage users to share small bursts of information has spawned several TinyURL followers, whose names run the gamut from the very short — tr.im — to the not long — notlong.com.
Only the start
Link compression is just the beginning. More and more of these allow users to see all sorts of details like where a link is showing up around the Web and where the people clicking on it are located.
And while several of them started out as side projects, some of their creators believe they can make money off little links. At least one claims its users can profit, too.
Twitter has directly contributed to the prominence of two services in particular: TinyURL and bit.ly, which began in July as a project at New York-based web media incubator and Twitter stakeholder Betaworks.
Until recently, Twitter automatically shrank lengthy links by running them through TinyURL. But this spring Twitter switched its default link shortener to bit.ly after finding TinyURL unreliable, said Alex Payne, one of Twitter’s lead engineers. (Gilbertson said Twitter didn’t contact him about the issues or the change.)
Bit.ly is seeing growth that Betaworks chief executive John Borthwick called “pretty amazing.” About 100 million bit.ly URLs are clicked on per week.
Betaworks has spun off bit.ly as its own company, bolstered by US$2mil (RM7.2mil) from investors that included O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures.
Bit.ly is looking into three different ways to make money, chief operating officer Andrew Weissman said. Bit.ly might create an advertising-supported site that tracks the most popular online trends, which it can spot by analysing what people are using its link-shortening service for.
Or it might sell that data to search engines and media companies that want to know what’s hot. Or it could offer a paid service to companies and major individual users.
URL shrinker LinkBee, which was created in July by Toronto-based web media company Jolt Media Group, believes it already has a business model that will work: It shows people an advertisement before taking them to a website behind a shrunken link, or it puts an ad at the top of the page being linked to.
Generally, LinkBee splits the resulting advertising revenue 50-50 with people who use it to shrink links. Users who refer others can get a cut of LinkBee’s portion of that new user’s ad revenue. If you just want to abridge a URL without including ads, LinkBee lets you do that, too.
For now there’s no tie between the ad LinkBee shows and the underlying weblink. Eventually, though, founder Chris Pavlovski hopes to make that connection. So if a user posted a link on Twitter to a page about golf, for example, LinkBee might first show an ad for golf clubs to someone clicking on that link.
Link lopping
LinkBee could encounter resistance from websites to its method of placing ads on top of pages it is linking to. News publishers sued a small referral site, TotalNews, over this sort of technique in the mid-90s. But Pavlovski said nobody has complained about LinkBee’s use of the practice.
“If anything, they’re happy to receive the traffic,” he said. Pavlovski said his service creates about 35,000 URLs each day, with about 70% attached to an advertisement.
But popularity and convenience don’t eliminate the potential risks of these link loppers. If so many services are springing up, chances are some will just as quickly disappear. And if a URL shortening service goes down, the links created with it could lead nowhere.
Another worry is that you’re not likely to know exactly where a truncated link will take you. So you could be directed to unsavory or illegal content or something malicious like a computer worm.
This means URL shortening services need to keep an eye on the kinds of sites their users are linking to, said Ivan Arce, chief technology officer for Boston-based Core Security Technologies.
Several URL reducers said they protect against spam. And some services — SafeURL, for example — let you preview a shrunken link’s destination page but this is not usually done automatically. There are also solutions like LongURL, which lets you plug in short addresses and see where they really point.
If you’re not into the whole brevity thing, there are URL lengtheners, too. DickensURL will convert web addresses into Charles Dickens passages. Of course, quotes from Great Expectations tend to be longer than 140 characters so DickensURL also offers a compact link, which leaves plenty of room for tweeting. — AP
There’s an increasingly popular quick fix: A free URL shortener. On one of these websites, you can plug in a long Internet address, known as a URL, and it will assign you a much shorter one that is easier to post in e-mail messages, on Twitter, Facebook or anywhere else.
Some link-shrinkers let you personalise the new address with a unique phrase such as your name, or show you how many people click the link after you’ve posted it.
This convenience may come at a cost, though. The tools add another layer to the process of navigating the Web, potentially leaving a trail of broken links if a service suddenly closes shop. They can also make it harder to tell what you’re really clicking on, which may make these Lilliputian links attractive to spammers and scammers.
URL shorteners have been around for several years to offer alternatives to long web links that were too unwieldy to paste into e-mail messages.
Perhaps the oldest and most popular is TinyURL, a free service started in 2002 by Kevin Gilbertson, a unicycle enthusiast from Blaine, Minnesota, who was tired of seeing URLs get split up in e-mail related to his online unicycle forum.
Now the rise of Twitter and other social websites that encourage users to share small bursts of information has spawned several TinyURL followers, whose names run the gamut from the very short — tr.im — to the not long — notlong.com.
Only the start
Link compression is just the beginning. More and more of these allow users to see all sorts of details like where a link is showing up around the Web and where the people clicking on it are located.
And while several of them started out as side projects, some of their creators believe they can make money off little links. At least one claims its users can profit, too.
Twitter has directly contributed to the prominence of two services in particular: TinyURL and bit.ly, which began in July as a project at New York-based web media incubator and Twitter stakeholder Betaworks.
Until recently, Twitter automatically shrank lengthy links by running them through TinyURL. But this spring Twitter switched its default link shortener to bit.ly after finding TinyURL unreliable, said Alex Payne, one of Twitter’s lead engineers. (Gilbertson said Twitter didn’t contact him about the issues or the change.)
Bit.ly is seeing growth that Betaworks chief executive John Borthwick called “pretty amazing.” About 100 million bit.ly URLs are clicked on per week.
Betaworks has spun off bit.ly as its own company, bolstered by US$2mil (RM7.2mil) from investors that included O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures.
Bit.ly is looking into three different ways to make money, chief operating officer Andrew Weissman said. Bit.ly might create an advertising-supported site that tracks the most popular online trends, which it can spot by analysing what people are using its link-shortening service for.
Or it might sell that data to search engines and media companies that want to know what’s hot. Or it could offer a paid service to companies and major individual users.
URL shrinker LinkBee, which was created in July by Toronto-based web media company Jolt Media Group, believes it already has a business model that will work: It shows people an advertisement before taking them to a website behind a shrunken link, or it puts an ad at the top of the page being linked to.
Generally, LinkBee splits the resulting advertising revenue 50-50 with people who use it to shrink links. Users who refer others can get a cut of LinkBee’s portion of that new user’s ad revenue. If you just want to abridge a URL without including ads, LinkBee lets you do that, too.
For now there’s no tie between the ad LinkBee shows and the underlying weblink. Eventually, though, founder Chris Pavlovski hopes to make that connection. So if a user posted a link on Twitter to a page about golf, for example, LinkBee might first show an ad for golf clubs to someone clicking on that link.
Link lopping
LinkBee could encounter resistance from websites to its method of placing ads on top of pages it is linking to. News publishers sued a small referral site, TotalNews, over this sort of technique in the mid-90s. But Pavlovski said nobody has complained about LinkBee’s use of the practice.
“If anything, they’re happy to receive the traffic,” he said. Pavlovski said his service creates about 35,000 URLs each day, with about 70% attached to an advertisement.
But popularity and convenience don’t eliminate the potential risks of these link loppers. If so many services are springing up, chances are some will just as quickly disappear. And if a URL shortening service goes down, the links created with it could lead nowhere.
Another worry is that you’re not likely to know exactly where a truncated link will take you. So you could be directed to unsavory or illegal content or something malicious like a computer worm.
This means URL shortening services need to keep an eye on the kinds of sites their users are linking to, said Ivan Arce, chief technology officer for Boston-based Core Security Technologies.
Several URL reducers said they protect against spam. And some services — SafeURL, for example — let you preview a shrunken link’s destination page but this is not usually done automatically. There are also solutions like LongURL, which lets you plug in short addresses and see where they really point.
If you’re not into the whole brevity thing, there are URL lengtheners, too. DickensURL will convert web addresses into Charles Dickens passages. Of course, quotes from Great Expectations tend to be longer than 140 characters so DickensURL also offers a compact link, which leaves plenty of room for tweeting. — AP
Monday, June 1, 2009
NEWS: University using iPhones to nab truants
TOKYO: A prestigious Japanese university is giving away hundreds of iPhones, in part to use its global positioning system (GPS) to nab students that skip class.
Truants in Japan often fake attendance by getting friends to answer roll-call or hand in signed attendance cards. That’s verging on cheating since attendance is a key requirement for graduation here.
Aoyama Gakuin University here is giving Apple Inc’s iPhone 3G to 550 students in its School of Social Informatics, which studies the use of Internet and computer technology in society.
The gadget will work as a tool for studies, but it also comes with GPS, a satellite navigation system that automatically checks on its whereabouts. The university plans to use that as a way to check attendance.
Students who skip class could still fake attendance by giving their iPhone to a friend who goes to class. But youngsters aren’t likely to lend their mobile phones, which are packed with personal information and e-mail, according to the university.
US universities use the iPhone for various other purposes. At Stanford University, students have developed iPhone applications in a course.
At Duke University, the gadget is used to get around the campus and find information about course listings and other events.
Aoyama Gakuin signed a deal earlier this month with Softbank Corp, the exclusive vendors of the iPhone in Japan.
The number of students using the iPhone is expected to reach 1,000 in the programme — the first time the iPhone is being used on such a scale at a Japanese university.
The iPhone will be used to relay course materials, lecture videos and tests. The university hopes students will develop software applications and other lifestyle uses for the cellphone. — AP
Truants in Japan often fake attendance by getting friends to answer roll-call or hand in signed attendance cards. That’s verging on cheating since attendance is a key requirement for graduation here.
Aoyama Gakuin University here is giving Apple Inc’s iPhone 3G to 550 students in its School of Social Informatics, which studies the use of Internet and computer technology in society.
The gadget will work as a tool for studies, but it also comes with GPS, a satellite navigation system that automatically checks on its whereabouts. The university plans to use that as a way to check attendance.
Students who skip class could still fake attendance by giving their iPhone to a friend who goes to class. But youngsters aren’t likely to lend their mobile phones, which are packed with personal information and e-mail, according to the university.
US universities use the iPhone for various other purposes. At Stanford University, students have developed iPhone applications in a course.
At Duke University, the gadget is used to get around the campus and find information about course listings and other events.
Aoyama Gakuin signed a deal earlier this month with Softbank Corp, the exclusive vendors of the iPhone in Japan.
The number of students using the iPhone is expected to reach 1,000 in the programme — the first time the iPhone is being used on such a scale at a Japanese university.
The iPhone will be used to relay course materials, lecture videos and tests. The university hopes students will develop software applications and other lifestyle uses for the cellphone. — AP
NEWS: Driving mobile broadband to tourists
KUALA LUMPUR: Telecommunications company Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd has launched a new programme to push Celcom Broadband Prepaid — its mobile broadband service for cellphones — to tourists and business travellers in the country.
The programme involves decking out 400 limousines operating from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with Celcom Broadband stickers and lighted signs on the vehicle roofs.
Inside the limos, Celcom has placed pamphlets and brochures detailing its broadband service and related products.
“Also, the limosine drivers will serve as Celcom ambassadors who will answer queries from their passengers on the mobile broadband service,” said Celcom chief marketing officer Chee Pok Jin.
In addition, he said, the drivers would have Celcom Broadband Prepaid starter packs to sell to interested passengers.
Chee was speaking at the launch of the campaign recently at the KLIA. “We hope that with this initiative, we can expand our broadband user base to travellers who need to stay connected online,” he said.
Big plan
The telco is spending about RM1mil on the marketing campaign that will run over six months.
Celcom Broadband Prepaid plans are available for RM20 for a week’s worth of unlimited Internet connections while RM6 will buy you 24 hours of unlimited connectivity. The connection speed is up to a maximum of 384 kilobits per second.
It expects to sell at least 400 of the prepaid packs a day under the new marketing campaign.
Meanwhile, several hotels that In.Tech spoke to, said they aren’t worried about competition because their broadband services — in their rooms and via WiFi hotspots in other parts of their premises — are free for guests.
They also said Celcom’s latest initiative would be most beneficial to those travellers who need a mobile broadband service, such as users of social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.
The programme involves decking out 400 limousines operating from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with Celcom Broadband stickers and lighted signs on the vehicle roofs.
Inside the limos, Celcom has placed pamphlets and brochures detailing its broadband service and related products.
“Also, the limosine drivers will serve as Celcom ambassadors who will answer queries from their passengers on the mobile broadband service,” said Celcom chief marketing officer Chee Pok Jin.
In addition, he said, the drivers would have Celcom Broadband Prepaid starter packs to sell to interested passengers.
Chee was speaking at the launch of the campaign recently at the KLIA. “We hope that with this initiative, we can expand our broadband user base to travellers who need to stay connected online,” he said.
Big plan
The telco is spending about RM1mil on the marketing campaign that will run over six months.
Celcom Broadband Prepaid plans are available for RM20 for a week’s worth of unlimited Internet connections while RM6 will buy you 24 hours of unlimited connectivity. The connection speed is up to a maximum of 384 kilobits per second.
It expects to sell at least 400 of the prepaid packs a day under the new marketing campaign.
Meanwhile, several hotels that In.Tech spoke to, said they aren’t worried about competition because their broadband services — in their rooms and via WiFi hotspots in other parts of their premises — are free for guests.
They also said Celcom’s latest initiative would be most beneficial to those travellers who need a mobile broadband service, such as users of social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.
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