IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 3 August
03-08-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Service Source creates 70 Dublin jobs | More students opting for science, engineering
The Irish Times reports on the launch of Irishsentencing.ie, a new Courts Service website. The site contains previously unpublished information on sentencing and draws together data from various court levels showing how different crimes are treated by the different courts. The Irish Sentencing Information System is the product of a four-year pilot research programme conducted by a committee chaired by Justice Susan Denham. It contains statistics on sentencing, synopses of the decisions of the superior courts on sentencing issues, links to full judgments and access to a database on actual sentences.
The paper also says that 70 jobs are being created in the cloud computing sector following an announcement by Service Source that it is expanding its operation in Sandyford, Dublin. Service Source, which provides cloud computing services to the high-tech, healthcare and life science sectors, is to immediately begin recruiting for "highly skilled" positions at its EMEA headquarters. The expansion is being supported by IDA Ireland. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe described the jobs announcement as "a strong signal that confidence is returning to the economy and major investors are now planning for the recovery".
The Irish Independent reports that students are opting to study engineering, computing and science in ever-growing numbers. An analysis of this year's CAO applications by the Higher Education Authority shows that science is now the fifth most popular discipline for level 8 honours degree programmes, up from seventh place in 2007. Computing courses attracted 4.7 percent of first preferences among CAO applicants, up from 3.3 percent in 2007, while the number of students making engineering their first choice has risen to 4.3 percent, up from 3.8 percent.
The paper also notes that First Derivatives, a Dublin-listed provider of software and consulting services, has acquired Canada-based data management company LakeFront Data Ventures. The Northern Ireland-based firm declined to say how much it paid for the Canadian firm, but it will use a mixture of cash and shares to finance the deal.
According to the Financial Times, HP has agreed to settle a long-running US Justice Department investigation over claims it overcharged the US government on multiple federal contracts. HP said it would take a charge of USD0.02 a share, which works out at around USD47 million. The PC maker gave few details on the allegations, which it said it was neither admitting to nor denying. The investigation was related to a whistle-blower case from 2007 that accused HP of paying kickbacks to consultants who recommended HP products for government purchase.
The paper also says that the US attorney-general's office in Connecticut is examining the pricing of digital books by Amazon and Apple, citing competition concerns over their deals with leading publishers. Richard Blumenthal, the state's most senior legal official, has written to both Apple and Amazon expressing concern that their pricing agreements with publishers "threaten to encourage co-ordinated pricing and discourage discounting". Both Amazon and Apple have agreements with publishers that give the publisher of an e-book the right to set its list price, in exchange for granting the seller a 30 percent share of the revenues. The Connecticut inquiry focuses on unconfirmed reports that Amazon and Apple have secured guarantees they will receive the same pricing terms from the publishers of an e-book as any rival, which would allow them to match the lowest price in the market.
The Wall Street Journal reports that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has issued a statement assuring customers that their data is secure, a day after regulators in the United Arab Emirates said they clashed with RIM over access to that data. The UAE said on Sunday it would ban most BlackBerry services starting in October, citing national security concerns. The government is worried it wouldn't be able to compel RIM to turn over customer data, now processed in RIM's private servers outside the country, according to a source. The UAE wanted RIM to locate servers in the country, where it had legal jurisdiction over them; RIM had offered access to the data of 3,000 clients instead, the source said. On Monday RIM said the BlackBerry network was set up so that "no one, including RIM, could access'' customer data, which is encrypted from the time it leaves the device.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 