For the record 8 November

08-11-2006

by Maxim Kelly

Over 100,000 blogs created daily: Technorati | German publisher launches virtual newspaper

Some 100,000 new blogs are created every day, according to blog-tracking firm Technorati, which also revealed that 1.3 million blog posts are made daily. English and Japanese are the two most popular languages in the blogosphere, though interestingly Farsi -- a Persian language spoken in Iran and Afghanistan -- has jumped into the top ten languages of the blogosphere. Despite the problems that face bloggers in China, Chinese is the third most popular language of bloggers. Technorati says it is currently tracking 57 million blogs, of which it says 55 percent are "active".

Commtech, an Irish distributor of specialist networking and internet security products and services, has been chosen by Neoware to supply its thin client software and devices as the US firm's distribution partner in Ireland. Under the terms of the partnership Commtech will market, stock and sell Neoware products for resellers, VARs (value added resellers), and thin client customers throughout the country. The Irish firm will create a Neoware sales team who will provide sales, marketing and logistics support to Neoware customers in Ireland.

As part of its campaign to highlight consumers' rights when they make purchases either by mail order, by telephone, using the internet or on their doorsteps, the National Consumer Agency has launched an interactive website which will enable consumers to file complaints, test their knowledge of consumer issues through quizzes and make enquiries of the NCA's consumer experts. Minister Micheal Martin, who officially launched the site, ConsumerConnect.ie, on Tuesday, said: "An educated consumer is an empowered consumer. I would encourage all consumers to log on to the NCA website to ensure that they are fully briefed on all the issues surrounding distance selling, doorstep selling and scams."

Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey has addressed the annual National IT and E-Security summit in Dublin. The minister stressed the importance of personal and business e-security issues, and added that e-security services can be a growth area for the indigenous Irish software sector. "The information security industry is one of the areas where some of the smaller Irish companies have an opportunity to develop niche software solutions. We are fortunate to have some of the leading ICT companies located in Ireland, with a critical mass of human capital with expertise in the area of information security," he said.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Micheal Martin, has launched Science Week Ireland 2006. Speaking at the launch at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, Minister Martin said the aim of Science Week is to promote the message that science, engineering and technology are part of everything we do and everyday life. "Creating this understanding and awareness is critical as these disciplines are set to play an increasingly important role in the future development of our economy," he said. The theme of Science Week Ireland 2006 is "Science in our Future", and 380 events are scheduled to take place nationwide until 19 November. Leo Enright, chairman of the Discover Science & Engineering programme said: "With a clear strategic intent behind developing an economy that is dependent on science, engineering and technology, we must have suitably qualified people to drive this economy. Creating awareness of the career opportunities in science, engineering and technology and demonstrating the varied career options available to graduates will help to ensure that we have the availability of suitably qualified graduates. This will be vital to the future economic prosperity of the country."

Escapists inhabiting the parallel cyber-reality Second Life are set to get their very own newspaper. The Guardian news service reports that Axel Springer, the publisher of Germany's top-selling weekly tabloid Bild, is poised to launch a virtual newsletter designed to sate the virtual population's appetite for news and gossip. Titled 'SL News', the publication will be written in English and cover the latest developments in Second Life -- a rapidly expanding site where users create characters, called avatars, and go about their everyday business of flying around virtual cityscapes and flirting with fellow residents. Due to be launched in December, the paper will cost between 10 and 15 Linden dollars -- the virtual currency of the community that can be exchanged for hard currency. It will likely be sold by subscription and posted into mailboxes across the virtual universe. Avatars already get news from Reuters' online news agency, which opened up for business in October, run by its virtual bureau chief, "Mr Adam Reuters". The Guardian reports nearly EUR400,000 (USD500,000) is spent on the site daily by residents, on various cultural pursuits such as attending university lectures or concerts by real musicians.

An Irish dating website has been short-listed for an internet Golden Spider Award. AnotherFriend.com was created in 2000 by internet entrepreneur Kevin Green and currently claims 150,000 members nationwide. In its six years of life, AnotherFriend.com said it has been responsible for over 50 marriages, hundreds of relationships and many new "friendships".

H-P and the World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) have announced a joint initiative to reduce H-P's greenhouse gas emissions from its operating facilities worldwide. H-P has pledged to reduce environmentally harmful emissions from its manufacturing facilities worldwide to 15 percent below 2006 levels by 2010. H-P said it will report and verify carbon dioxide emissions from its facilities, based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the World Economic Forum's Global Greenhouse Gas Registry. The Californian company said it would also continue to investigate sources of renewable energy for its activities.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has invited interested parties to submit proposals to modify its existing Fixed Wireless Access Local Area (FWALA) licensing scheme. As of June 2006, ComReg estimates that there were in excess of 52,500 broadband subscribers served via Fixed Wireless Access which represents a 192 percent year-on-year increase. Growth in the take up of these services is continuing at a high rate and ComReg said it's keen to promote further competition in this area. Currently there are over 160 FWALA licences issued to 11 different operators in Ireland. The regulator is also seeking submissions on its Wideband Digital Mobile Data Services (WDMDS) licensing schemes.