NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 13 February
13-02-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Microsoft offers reward for worm maker | YouTube to bring videos offline
Microsoft is offering USD250,000 as a reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for creating the "Conficker" computer worm. The worm infiltrates Microsoft systems primarily through a security hole in the Windows operating system. In October, Microsoft issued an update to help users protect their PCs against the worm but Conficker is capable of spreading even to systems that have been patched by effectively piggybacking on removable media like memory sticks, which launch the worm when connected to a Windows system. "By combining our expertise with the broader community we can expand the boundaries of defence to better protect people worldwide," said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group.
Irishman Kevin Cooney has been appointed corporate vice-president and managing director of Xilinx Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Cooney is already a corporate vice-president and global chief information officer at Xilinx and is based in Dublin where the firm operates its European headquarters and an advanced R&D, engineering and operations centre. Xilinx designs and produces highly complex semiconductors capable of being programmed individually for use in a wide range of electronic systems.
In more news of appointments, business analytics software provider SAS Ireland has announced Alan Gormley will take up the role of customer intelligence solutions consultant. In this role Gormley will be responsible for setting the direction for new and existing SAS Customer Intelligence (CI) solutions and promoting these solutions to private and public sector clients in Ireland.
Video-sharing site YouTube has outlined plans to offer some of its videos offline. The site has already started working with "a few partners who want their videos shared universally and even enjoyed away from an internet connection," said Thai Tran, product manager with YouTube, in a blog post. YouTube is going to introduce Creative Commons licences, which allow people to reuse downloaded content under certain conditions. YouTube said it is also testing an option that gives video owners the ability to permit downloading of their videos from YouTube. They could then choose to offer their video downloads for free or for a small fee paid through Google Checkout.
Speculation is mounting that Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, will hit the market before the end of this year. Reports indicate that Microsoft's Mark Russinovich said in a webcast on Friday that Windows 7 will be released for manufacturing (RTM) "three years after the RTM version of Vista was released". Vista went to manufacturing in October 2006, making it likely that the new operating system will be available for retail by Christmas 2009. Russinovich also outlined some of the new features of Windows 7, which include better power management, a reduced processor footprint and better applications control.
At the end of 2008 11 percent of online Americans said they used Twitter or a similar service to share updates about themselves with others or to view others' updates. In November, this figure stood at 9 percent, while in May 2008 it was 6 percent. Twitter and other microblogging services are most popular with US online adults between the ages of 25 and 34, with 20 percent of that demographic having used Twitter and similar services, while just under 19 percent of those aged between 18 and 24 have done so. Use of these services drops off steadily in those aged 35 and over, with 10 percent of 35 to 44 year olds and 5 percent of 45 to 54 year olds using Twitter.
Nintendo's Wii continued to rule the games console market in the US during January, shipping some 679,000 consoles during the month, according to research firm NPD. This compares to the 309,000 Xbox 360s and 203,000 PlayStation 3s shipped by Microsoft and Sony respectively. Overall, Nintendo has shipped 18.38 million Wiis since its launch, while 14.17 million Xbox 360s have been sold and 6.99 million PS3s.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 