IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 10 March
10-03-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Taskforce calls for innovation 'sea change' | HP faces laptop complaints in China
The Irish Times reports that nearly 120,000 jobs could be created if Ireland transforms itself into an innovation centre, according to a forthcoming report from the Government’s Innovation Taskforce. The report warns that a "sea change in attitudes towards innovation and enterprise is also required". The report backs the introduction of bonus CAO points for maths in the Leaving Cert in order to boost student interest. It also proposes major investment in upgrading broadband capability. And it commits the Government to investing at least 3 percent of GDP in research and development until 2020.
The paper also says that Enterprise Ireland invested in 73 start-up companies in 2009, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The Irish Independent notes that victims of clerical child sex abuse have called for more stringent monitoring of convicted sex offenders, including the use of electronic tagging and satellites to track their movements.
The Irish Examiner says that students who took the first Leaving Certificate exam in a new design subject lost marks because of problems with software and loading projects onto CDs. The difficulties are outlined in a chief examiner's report on the examination last June of design and communication graphics (DCG), which replaced technical drawing as a Leaving Certificate subject. Around 12 percent of students submitted blank CDs or CDs that did not contain the required files for assessment. "It is important that all candidates check their disk before submission to ensure that all necessary files are properly saved. The DCG syllabus clearly identifies the creation of folders and saving of files to designated locations as a key skill and, in this instance, the CD is such a location," the report said.
The Wall Street Journal says that Cisco Systems has unveiled a router which it says can transmit three times as much data as its current hardware. CEO John Chambers said the new router is "a step that's really needed today", given the growing amount of global data traffic. The router, dubbed the CRS-3, is designed to sit in the middle of the fibre-optic networks operated by telecoms companies and is used to move data travelling on the internet towards their intended destination. The new product will not mean faster download speeds for consumers, however.
According to the Financial Times, Chinese lawyers have filed a complaint on behalf of more than 170 consumers against Hewlett-Packard, requesting that the Chinese government order a recall of allegedly faulty laptops. The complaint requests that the quality watchdog investigate the quality of HP notebooks and order the company to buy back or exchange allegedly faulty machines bought by the plaintiffs and to compensate them for losses. It also calls for a recall of the notebooks. Laweach, a not-for-profit website that helped organise the case, said Chinese buyers of certain HP laptop computers sold since 2007 had faced malfunctioning screens and overheating problems on a massive scale. The complaint said the problems were due to faulty graphics cards produced by chipmaker Nvidia.
The paper also says that social networking site MySpace will be relaunched in phases over the coming months. The company's new co-chief executives, Jason Hirschhorn and Mike Jones, have revealed a range of features that will allow MySpace users to share and recommend content, often across networks. Users will be able to categorise and filter music, pictures and internet links in a live 'stream', sharing them with online friends. The music section has also been revamped, allowing aspiring musicians to track where their music is being listened to. The site's design has also been overhauled.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 