IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 2 March
02-03-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Intel's Maloney suffers stroke | Sony fixes PS3 bug
The Irish Times reports that a review of 'grade inflation' in schools and colleges, requested by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe, has been welcomed by Google. O'Keeffe has established a review of grade inflation across third-level colleges and in the Leaving Cert after concerns about the quality of Irish graduates were raised during a recent meeting with executives from Google, Intel and other major US firms. John Herlihy, Google Ireland general manager and vice president, global ad operations, said he was "thrilled" that the review of grades was being conducted. "Google and all the other multinationals are here for the calibre of the education system and it is essential that there be total integrity in relation to that," he said.
The paper also says that over 1,000 students from Saudi Arabia will study at three of Ireland's institutes of technology over the next four years under a new scheme. An agreement between Athlone, Galway and Waterford institutes of technology and Saudi Arabia's technical vocational training corporation (TVTC) will involve students undertaking a one-year English language course. This will be followed by three-year degree courses in areas such as engineering, renewable energy, software, business, accounting, financial services and tourism. Athlone IT president Prof Ciaran O Cathain said the agreement followed several years of building up a relationship between the Middle East and the three institutes of technology.
The Irish Independent notes that consumers with unwanted CDs can now trade them in at the 55 outlets of GameStop. The retailer, which offers its customers cash or store credit when they trade in computer games and DVDs, said it was the first nationwide retailer in Ireland to accept music CDs.
The Irish Examiner reports that corruption and fraud can now be reported anonymously through an internet system that functions like a 'blind letterbox', through which the source can safely answer questions from investigators. The Fraud Notification System has been launched by the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF. OLAF investigates any suspicious dealings involving the EU, how its money is being spent in member states and the rest of the world and if any of their employees are suspected of fraud. OLAF head Nicholas Ilett said the online system should be useful to EU civil servants and others who are reluctant to come forward with suspicions.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a proposed class-action settlement by Facebook has come under fire because it is seen by some as being overly charitable. Facebook was sued in 2008 for allegedly improperly sharing information about consumers' online activities, including product purchases. While denying wrongdoing, Facebook last year offered USD9.5 million to settle the case. Under the proposed settlement, the plaintiffs' lawyers stand to recover as much as 30 percent of that amount, with the remainder going not to Facebook users, but to a foundation focused on promoting privacy rights. The foundation will be established in part by Facebook. A San Francisco federal judge last week heard objections to the settlement, but he has not yet ruled.
The paper also says that worldwide chip sales rose 0.3 percent in January from the previous month, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. The rise is unusual as typically there is a fall in chip sales at the start of a new year. Sales also surged 47 percent from January 2009 levels to USD22.43 billion. SIA president George Scalise noted that January and February of last year were the sector's low points. But now "we are currently seeing strength across a range of demand drivers for semiconductors, including personal computers, cell phones, automobiles and industrial applications," he said.
The Financial Times notes that Sean Maloney, the co-head of Intel's core products group and the executive seen as a potential successor to CEO Paul Otellini, has suffered a stroke and will take several months of medical leave. Intel said Maloney is expected to resume his regular duties after a recuperation period thought to last several months. The prognosis for his full recovery is "excellent", the company added.
The paper also says that Sony has fixed a major software bug that prompted the company to warn millions of PlayStation 3 owners not to use their consoles on Monday. The Japanese electronics group said owners of the latest "slim" versions of the PS3 did not appear to be affected by the problem, which crashed and froze older consoles. Sony said it believed some 20 million consoles might have been affected by a bug in the system clock, which was causing a number of possible errors. Within 24 hours of notifying users not to use the console, Sony published a blog post saying it had resolved the problems and that the consoles could be used normally again.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 