IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 8 March
08-03-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Integrated ticketing enters test phase | HP re-states quarterly earnings
The Irish Times reports that testing of a new integrated ticketing system for public transport in Dublin is to get under way within weeks, with a pilot project beginning before the summer. According to the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), "bench testing" of card scanners and back-office systems has gone well, and physical testing of the cards on the Luas and Dublin Bus will now begin. Following this, anyone with annual tickets for either Dublin Bus or the Luas will be invited to take part in a pilot project that will get under way "before the summer", according to RPA project manager Tim Gaston.
The Irish Examiner says that age-old archaeological remains are standing in the way of plans to bring broadband to a scenic area of Kerry. A 12-metre telecommunications mast at Coomasaharn, Glenbeigh would be a "new alien intrusion" on a very beautiful and almost pristine landscape, according to senior An Bord Pleanala inspector Robert Ryan. Ryan, supporting Kerry County Council, upheld a decision to refuse Hutchinson 3G Ireland planning permission to locate the mast on archaeological grounds that date from the Bronze Age. Hutchinson 3G said that, given there were 67 objections to the current proposal, the possibility of finding another site for the mast in the area was limited.
The paper also says that a Cork woman whose name and address were used by fraudsters to try to scam people out of more than EUR1,000 has warned internet users to be careful about protecting e-mail accounts. The woman's e-mail account was hacked into on Friday and the perpetrators used it to send out messages to friends and contacts in her address book in an apparent plea for financial assistance. "I had protection software on my computer but it should be a reminder to people to be extra careful with their e-mail passwords," the woman said.
In other security news, the Financial Times reports that a new wave of sophisticated attack is draining the bank accounts of SMEs, according to researchers. Losses among US banks and their customers from computer intrusions and falsified electronic transfers were about USD120 million in the third quarter, more than triple the level of two years ago, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation specialist. As much as half of the fraud is being blamed on a Trojan program called Zeus or Zbot. Law enforcement officials said that thieves running Zeus operations are focusing on small businesses because they have larger bank accounts than consumers and less robust security: banks typically do not extend them the same fraud guarantees that they do for consumers.
The paper also notes that Hewlett-Packard has been forced to cut its previously reported quarterly earnings by USD73 million after a UK court ordered the company to make another STG70 million (USD112 million) payment to British Sky Broadcasting. HP said it would increase its contingency reserve and cut its official net income for the first quarter ending 31 January by USD73 million, or USD0.03 a share, to USD2.25 billion, or USD0.93. The court ruling was another setback for HP in the long-running case brought by BSkyB against EDS, the US outsourcing company that HP bought in 2008. The case, over a system EDS supplied to handle the satellite broadcaster's customer calls, dates from before HP's acquisition of EDS.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Fujitsu has said its former president agreed to step down last year after an internal investigation found he was indirectly linked to a company with "unfavourable reputation" -- revising its earlier explanation that he resigned due to illness. Fujitsu declined to identify the company or what type of work was involved. Fujitsu issued a statement after a lawyer for Kuniaki Nozoe, who served as the company's president for 15 months, said he was "rescinding" his 25 September resignation on the grounds that other Fujitsu executives demanded he step down, alleging that he had ties to organised crime. The allegations of ties to "antisocial forces" weren't true and Nozoe now wants to "restore his honour," his lawyer said.
The Sunday Tribune says that Twitter has gained hundreds of new users after the service gained new notoriety over its role in the resignation of former Minister of Defence Willie O'Dea. Twitter was where Green senator Dan Boyle commented that he didn't have confidence in O'Dea, and the minister resigned later that day. Online media consultant Damien Mulley told the paper that the service currently has about 150,000 Irish users, a figure that he predicts will jump to 300,000 by the end of the year. Newscaster Anne Doyle is credited with helping boost the tweeting habits of the nation after she said on the news broadcast that Dan Boyle had tweeted the comment.
The same paper says that a website promoting the idea of the introduction of Sharia law in Ireland claims to have attracted almost 270,000 hits last month. The Islamic website, www.mpac.ie, also talks about the benefits of Islamic rule for women. A post on the site claims that the introduction of Sharia law would be in the best interests of Ireland.
The paper also reports that Google will not consider applications from Dublin City Council to take part in a superfast broadband network the company is planning to trial in a number of small American communities. The technology would allow internet connections of up to 100 times current available speeds, and could facilitate 3D imaging in doctors' offices. Dublin City Council officials are preparing a formal proposal to use the city as a guinea pig for the network, but Google is not yet planning to trial the network outside the US. There is the added complication that strict European competition law could prevent Dublin from taking part, as it may be viewed as a European government granting favourable treatment and conditions to a private company.
A second Google-related story in the Tribune says that the launch of Google's Street View initiative may not happen in Ireland for another year. Although Google representatives have already filmed Dublin streets, a launch date is yet to be decided. Google has been urged by the European Union to overhaul how it stores personal information; information such as faces and car registration numbers may be blurred out by the company but it retains the images in its records. The EU says that contravenes data protection regulations, which say such images can only be kept for six months, but Google says it needs to hold on to the photos for a year in case an image needs to be replaced. It has also been told to give more information to residents on when the cameras will be photographing streets.
The paper also says that TDs and senators who use non-encrypted office laptops face being sued. According to an Oireachtas Commission, TDs may be personally liable if they do not encrypt sensitive or personal data on Oireachtas-supplied laptops which are subsequently lost or stolen.
The Sunday Business Post says the takeover of 3DXerox by British firm Xeretec will be announced early this week. Santry-based 3DXerox is incorporated as Digital Documents Direct, and is one of the largest resellers of office products in the Irish market. The company's most recent accounts show the firm made a profit of about EUR130,000 in 2007.
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