Total of 21 million electronic goods recycled in the past three years

The equivalent of over 21 million individual old or broken electrical items have been collected and recycled by the scheme since the WEEE Directive was introduced in Ireland in August 2005. Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Republic

Memories lost forever due to lack of backup

Research out today shows over one third (36pc) of people have lost holiday photos from a memory card without having a backup. As more and more people use digital cameras, there’s a growing demand for new ways to store photographs for fear of losing them. Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Republic

Irish Olympic hopefuls see RTÉ web viewers rocket

If you were online on Tuesday watching breathlessly as Paul Hession took part in the 100m sprint semi-final or when Ken Egan and Paddy Barnes guaranteed themselves at least a bronze medal in the Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium, then you were watching one of the 12,736 concurrent live video streams served from the RTÉ.ie website, making it the highest ever peak online viewership for the broadcasting company.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Firefox and Safari users under cyber attack

Windows and Mac users of the popular Firefox browser as well as users of the Apple Safari browser are being warned about a new cyber attack that targets the clipboard where copied text is stored.
After attacking the user’s clipboard, it then tries to spread poisonous links, which then stay in place even after the user copies new text. The only way to remove the programme is to reboot.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Think before you click

While spam containing compromising programs has declined steeply, e-mail containing links to malicious sites is rising, writes Karlin Lillington

THE E-MAILS promise a slew of interesting and urgent stories: "McCain declares Obama a fraud, liar"; "Hamilton fined for speeding in France"; "Woman chokes after swallowing Tiffany diamond"; "Huge oil spill off California coastline".

But the links in such provocative e-mails take the unsuspecting to malicious websites that will try to get bank account or credit card details or - increasingly - have embedded malicious code that accesses the user's computer via their web browser.Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

EU member states urged to get closer to a European digital library

The European Commission is calling on EU member states to make more effort to provide digital versions of works from their cultural institutions so the dream of a European Digital Library can be realised this autumn. Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Repbulic

A Heritage Plan for South Dublin

South Dublin County Council, with the support of the Heritage Council, is commencing the process of preparing the County’s first Heritage Plan. The importance of heritage in the County is recognised in the South Dublin County Development Plan 2004-2010, where the preparation of a County Heritage Plan is a stated objective. Read More

Expert reveals more about internet flaw

FURTHER DETAILS of a major flaw in the internet’s naming system, which can allow malicious hackers to attack, were revealed at the annual Black Hat security convention in Las Vegas this week.
Dan Kaminsky, the researcher who discovered the flaw in the internet’s domain name system (DNS), said the flaw was the most severe discovered in the last decade and could provide a freeway for criminal identity-theft gangs to exploit. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Video game can help in cancer treatment

PLAYING A specially designed video game can help adolescents and young adult cancer patients adhere more closely to their prescribed treatment, according to a report in the journal Pediatrics.
Dr Pamela M Kato of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, the study’s lead author, says: “Targeted video games can help improve the lives of young people with cancer, most importantly improve their adherence to their treatment.” Read more

Courtesy: Irish Times

Will Facebook stock push value beyond US$4bn?

When Microsoft bought a stake in Facebook last November for US$240m, the social networking site was valued at a staggering US$15bn – unheard of for a company so young and strange given its recent formal valuation, which now puts it at a considerably more modest US$4bn.
It is difficult to know whether this US$4bn is nearer the mark or if it is merely a placeholder value as the firm moves to allow employees to sell stock this coming November, while staying private. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

IBM plans to ‘unlock the desktop’ from Microsoft monopoly

Technology companies IBM, Novell, Canonical and Red Hat, which offer an alternative to the Microsoft PC, have spotted what they see as its Achilles heel: the current Vista operating system.
“The slow adoption of Vista among businesses and budget-conscious CIOs, coupled with the proven success of a new type of Microsoft-free PC in every region, provides an extraordinary window of opportunity for Linux,” said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice-president for IBM Lotus Software. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Re-using technology to liberate and educate

Former investment banker Cormac Lynch believes education is key to solving Africa’s problem and has persuaded Irish businesses to donate 7,000 computers for schools and colleges on the troubled continent. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Faster services and lower prices herald mobile broadband arms race

07.08.2008 Does 3G technology offer a viable alternative to fixed-line broadband?
When it comes to broadband, Ireland scarcely figures on most European league tables – with one exception. According to research by the telecoms consultancy Analysys Mason, Ireland is second only to Austria in adopting mobile broadband. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic