NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 17 August
17-08-2007
by Emmet Ryan
MTV to invest in gaming projects | IBM to distribute Solaris
A new report by Parks Associates says that gaming is still champion of online activities, with 34 percent of adult users playing games weekly, compared to 29 percent using sites like YouTube and 19 percent using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.
In more news of gaming, MTV plans to invest USD500 million in gaming projects over the next two years. The firm will focus on three primary gaming arenas: online and mobile casual games; games media and editorial content for the hardcore gamers among its young adult and adult male audiences; and console and handheld games.
It might be a gloomy Friday, with dark clouds o'erhead, but it's good to know that some people are trying to make the world a better place to live in. American rubbish disposal firm Waste Management and Sony's electronics division have established a consumer electronics recycling programme for customers in the US. From 15 September customers will be able to recycle all Sony products for free at 75 Waste Management recycling centres is the US. The number of centres will increase to at least 150 sites within a year, with at least one location in every state in the US.
Big Blue is in the news again as it signs off on yet another deal. IBM is to distribute Sun Microsystems' Solaris Operating System (SO) and Solaris Subscriptions for select x86-based IBM System x servers and BladeCentre servers to clients through IBM's routes to market. The agreement between the two firms, announced on Friday, is an extension of IBM's existing support for the Solaris OS on select IBM BladeCentre servers.
Speaking of IBM, Big Blue was one of the firms delighted with the recent ruling against SCO, which said the group did not own the rights to Unix. While the ruling seemed to spell the death knell for the Utah-based firm, the news hasn't dampened the spirits of SCO's chief executive and president, Darl McBride. In a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, McBride said the ruling wouldn't harm the firm's ability to do business. Despite McBride's positive outlook it appears the future is grim. SCO's shares were trading at just USD0.37 on Thursday; if they stay below the USD1 mark for more than 30 consecutive days then the firm will be de-listed from the stockmarket. The clock is ticking.
And finally, news of the birth of a child who is guaranteed to have issues filling out any kind of form in the future. Newborn baby boy @ was given the name by his Chinese parents, who said that using the e-mail address symbol as a name for their son reflects their love for him. Apparently, when the English word 'at' is said to a Mandarin speaker, it sounds like the term 'ai ta', which means 'love him'. That's all well and good but if, as we suspect is likely, the child is subjected to bullying and mockery as a result of his name, it's likely the lad will wish his parents had found a different way to express their love. Among the many problems @ will face in his life is signing up for an email address, as most systems prevent such a symbol from being included in the username. The Chinese government may yet step in to stop this display of love and save the boy from humiliation, as China has a ban on names using foreign alphabets or minority Chinese languages. Officials at China's State Language Commission have not said whether the name will be deemed acceptable or not.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 