IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 29 September
29-09-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
95-year-old is Silver Surfer of the Year | Gmail account closed due to bank error
The Irish Times reports that a 95-year-old woman has taken the top prize at the Silver Surfer of the Year awards. Marguerite Faulkner from Cookstown, Tyrone, uses a computer to surf the internet, send e-mails and talk to her seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren via Skype. She has also completed a digital photography course and, when not using her computer, likes to play brain-training games on her games console. Minister for Older People Aine Brady presented the award at the Imagine It! conference in Croke Park on Monday.
The paper also says that air travel technology provider SITA is creating 80 new jobs, as reported by ENN.
The Irish Independent says that RTE has unveiled plans to redevelop its Dublin 4 campus which would result in the demolition of the television building and radio centre to make way for a new complex costing up to EUR350 million. If approved, the project would include the construction of new high-definition digital TV and digital radio studios. The station also plans to redevelop the Nutley Lane end of the campus with offices for independent production companies and internet businesses, and it hopes to provide offices for UCD and Trinity College Dublin, which have developed an innovation partnership.
The Irish Independent reports that Standard & Poor's (S&P's) may cut its rating on Xerox on the back of the company's move to acquire Affiliated Computer Services, as reported by ENN on Monday. S&P's also said it may raise its rating on Affiliated Computer Services to equalise it with the new rating on Xerox.
The paper also says that a US judge has ordered Google to close the account of a Gmail user because a bank sent them a confidential e-mail by mistake. Rocky Mountain Bank took legal action in an attempt to force the search giant to reveal the identity of the user, whose only "offence" was receiving the e-mail. The bank's legal action follows a slip-up by one of its staff, who sent an e-mail containing the details of 1,300 of its customers to the Gmail address in August. Google has now complied with a court order to deactivate the account, but has petitioned the courts for permission to restore the user's access.
The Irish Examiner reports that Irish military authorities have launched an investigation after members of the Defence Forces were shown giving Nazi salutes and posting racist comments on the Bebo social networking site. At least two reserve Defence Force members based in Dublin are under investigation. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea confirmed the "review" was ongoing and the investigation was expected to be completed by the end of the week.
According to the Financial Times, mobile handset giant Nokia has acquired Dopplr, an online community of frequent travellers. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Nokia said it had paid "a fraction" of the EUR10 million price reported last week on tech blog Techcrunch. The acquisition is part of Nokia's plan to create a comprehensive set of services for its mobile devices, including maps, music and gaming.
The paper also says that Facebook has disabled a third-party application that asked whether users thought US President Barack Obama should be assassinated. The poll was created using an application that allows users to create their own surveys. Facebook and the US Secret Service said they were working together to investigate who published the poll, but a Secret Service spokesman declined to say whether they had located the author yet. It is against the law to threaten the president.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Warner Music and YouTube are close to a deal that would return the music company's video clips to Google's video-sharing site after a nine-month licensing dispute. The agreement, which could be announced this week, would allow Warner to retain the right to sell ads that run next to its videos and keep the bulk of the revenue, according to sources. Warner is enlisting third parties to sell the ads and line up more lucrative arrangements like sponsorships for particular videos or artists.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 