NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 6 April
06-04-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Kilkenny school looks to the future | Stone responds to Twoogle talk
Scoil Naomh Fiachra in Co Kilkenny has been revealed as the first Irish primary school to join the Microsoft School of the Future programme. As part of the programme, Microsoft recently donated tablet PCs to each of the 33 pupils in the school. "Developing an e-learning culture in all schools, where ICT is fully embedded in teaching and learning across the curriculum, is a major priority for this Government and is the reason that we have set up a dedicated committee to examine how we can best leverage technology to generate the skills and knowledge our teachers and pupils need," said Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jimmy Devins.
Wi-Fi provider Bitbuzz has signed a deal with Northern Ireland hotel chain Mooney Hotel Group. Under the agreement, the Dublin-based firm will provide Wi-Fi internet access to three of the group's hotels -- Wellington Park Best Western, Armagh City Hotel, and Dunadry Hotel and Country Club. While financial details of the deal were not revealed, the term of the contract is for three years. A recent report by ComReg indicated that Bitbuzz is the leading provider of Wi-Fi in Ireland. The firm also recently announced its intention to break into the UK market.
Compliance specialist Norkom has announced the appointment of Cyndi Eggers as Principal Consultant for Fraud and Compliance Solutions. Eggers has worked in financial crime, compliance, and operational risk for over 16 years, most recently as First Vice President and Manager of Enterprise Fraud Management at Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu).
UPC Business has been chosen as the communications partner for the Limerick Chamber for 2009. The pair say they plan on introducing new initiatives and workshops during the year.
Following the rumoured collapse of talks between IBM and Sun Microsystems over the weekend, shares in Sun plummeted on the Nasdaq on Monday. Sun shares plunged by over 23 percent, to about USD6.50, by mid-morning as investors became convinced that the acquisition by IBM was unlikely to go ahead. While it has yet to be confirmed if indeed the talks have stalled, it seems investors have already lost faith in a deal being sealed.
In response to recent speculation that Google was in talks to acquire Twitter, co-founder of the micro-blogging service Biz Stone has written a blog entitled "Sometimes We Talk". While neither confirming nor denying discussions with Google, Stone said: "It should come as no surprise that Twitter engages in discussions with other companies regularly and on a variety of subjects." He went on to say that Twitter's goal is to "build a profitable, independent company and we're just getting started". This doesn't necessarily mean a hook up with Google isn't on the cards – however, it looks like we'll have to keep guessing on this one for a while longer.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 