Markets want clear time-limit for fiscal stimulus

LONDON (Reuters) – Financial markets want a clear time-limit for any tax cuts or extra spending pledges in the pre-budget report on Monday.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been saying for weeks that higher government borrowing to support the economy is the best way to brace the country against a sharp slowdown.

Economists expect any stimulus package to inject at least 15 billion pounds into the economy, in line with a likely European Commission call for stimulus equivalent to 1 percent of GDP. The IMF has called for 2 percent.

But the government will have to present clear plans for how it will rein back spending or raise taxes once the worst of the crisis is over, or sterling risks weakening further and the interest it pays on new debt may rise.

“A large fiscal expansion that is not accompanied by a robust and credible framework for medium term fiscal discipline can get a punishing response from the markets. The risk premia on UK assets could widen, yields jump higher and sterling depreciates sharply,” said Amit Kara, an economist at UBS.

The economic slowdown and existing government finance pledges mean the IMF forecasts that Britain will run a budget deficit of over 3 percent this year and over 4 percent in 2009, more than any G7 country apart from the United States.

Demand at government gilt auctions has sagged in recent months as borrowing racks up to fund the recapitalisation of high-street banks, and sterling has fallen by almost a quarter on a trade-weighted basis since the start of the year.

Wipro board allots equity shares

The administrative committee of Wipro`s board of directors resolved to issue and allot 32,700 equity shares of Rs 2 each pursuant to exercise of the stock options by the eligible employees under the Wipro Restricted Stock Unit Plan 2004.

Wipro, headquartered in Bangalore was established in 1946. It is a leading provider of IT solutions for customers across Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Wipro provides comprehensive research and development services, IT solutions and services, including systems integration, information systems outsourcing, package implementation, software application development and maintenance services to corporations globally.

Shares of the company gained Rs 10.2, or 4.64%, to settle at Rs 230. The total volume of shares traded was 324,966 at the BSE (Friday).

Career Watch: Do You Know Your Type?

Personality can determine which job you prefer and how you communicate.

September 1, 2008 (Computerworld) Does your personality type have relevance for your career? To answer that, we turned to Kip Parent, CEO of Keirsey.com Inc., which markets the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, and Edward Kim, managing director of Keirsey’s professional services division at Synergy Leaders LLC.

Is there a typical personality type that’s well suited to IT?

KP: IT has become a complex industry, encompassing a number of different jobs. We have found that there are indeed some common personality types that gravitate toward certain roles within IT.

For example, the type that we most often find in the software developer role is what Keirsey calls the Rational-Architects (INTP, see chart below). These types’ communication and viewpoint of the world are abstract. They are attracted to this role because they are able to continuously learn new skills and try new techniques in building complex solutions. Usually, though, this type has little interest in the details of implementation. They also prefer to work autonomously and without interruption. Quite often, a type similar to the Rational-Architect — the Rational-Field Marshal (ENTJ) or the Rational-Mastermind (INTJ) — will become the manager of the team, which creates a bridge between the developers and the more concrete outside world.

EK: A drastically different personality type is found in the QA function. The more careful, methodical, step-by-step, linear thinkers are best suited for QA, and most often we find the Guardian-Supervisor (ESTJ) and the Guardian-Inspector (ISTJ) in this role. These types don’t miss a thing! They often take leading roles in QA, implementing comprehensive test suites and making sure all code is tested before release. These types usually become the managers of this area because they are extremely thorough, concrete, and seek closure on projects.

Kip Parent, CEO, Keirsey.com Inc.

In tech support, the personality types we find are those who like to solve problems quickly. The Artisan-Performers (ESFP) and the Artisan-Promoters (ESTP) often excel in this role because they are the best troubleshooters and work well with people. These types have tactical intelligence, meaning they are instinctively adaptive and focus on immediate outcomes.

Have there been any changes in the types attracted to IT?

KP: Among more recent college graduates, we have found that these same types dominate the IT field. The technical demands of the profession seem to filter out people pretty early. The one area where we have seen a lot of growth in diversity of personality types has been with HTML developers. This seems to be a more freewheeling area, usually requiring design skills, so we tend to see a lot more of the Artisan and Idealist temperaments here.

Edward Kim, managing director, professional services division, Synergy Leaders LLC.

Is there a conflict between the stereotypical IT personality and the traits common to leaders, such as CIOs?

KP: A typical conflict between the CIO (often a Guardian-Supervisor or Guardian-Inspector) and the software development staff is over schedules and timelines. The CIO is pulled by the needs of the company, which are usually heavily time-constrained. The developers are driven by the elegance and “correctness” of their solution. To them, schedules seem arbitrary and irrelevant. This conflict can be compounded by the fact that Guardians are “concrete” in their communication and outlook (with both feet on the ground), while Rationals are “abstract” (with their brains wrapped up in complexity).

How does knowing one’s own personality type influence career choices and trajectories?

EK: It can be one of the most important factors in considering a career. It not only helps people figure out their likes and dislikes; it also provides data on their most natural talents and informs how they are different or similar to others in the industry. Understanding personality types can provide the critical insight that makes all the difference for effectiveness, both at the individual and organizational levels.

Temperament 101

Keirsey Temperament Theory recognizes 16 distinct personality types that are defined by where a person falls in four separate pairs of preferences. Each paired personality factor is represented by a letter so that the 16 personality types are often referred to in a shorthand way. For example, ESTP or INFJ — that is, Extraversion-Sensation-Thinking-Perceiving or Introversion-Intuition-Feeling-Judging. Clinical psychologist David Keirsey provides detailed descriptions and names for each of these 16 personality types in his Please Understand Me books.

Through his research, Keirsey found that these 16 personality types can be grouped into four basic temperament groups: Artisans, Guardians, Rationals and Idealists. Both individuals and entire teams can take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and learn about these personality types at www.keirsey.com.

D-day for Apple, Microsoft

Techtree News Staff, Sep 06, 2008 0842 hrs IST

On September 9th, both Apple and Microsoft will show off something old and something new. Who do you think will steal the day?

Whose products excite you more — Microsoft’s, or Apple’s? Both companies have chosen the 9th of September to showcase their wares; upgraded and new.

On September 9, Apple is expected to refresh its lineup of iPods, while Microsoft is holding a farewell for the laser mouse – along with the introduction of new Zune models, and webcams (LifeCams) with 8 megapixel sensors, 5X zoom, and hi-definition recording.

So, who do you think is going to steal the show on the 9th of September – Microsoft, or Apple?

Helicopters Learn Aerobatics

Researchers at the artificial intelligence lab at Stanford University have created software that learns from the experts. The software is used to power the flight of remote-controlled helicopters — except that the choppers are not remote-controlled by a human; rather powered by software that has learnt its tricks digesting data extracted from flights controlled by humans. The data from human pilots is extracted using accelerometers, magnetometers, and gyroscopes, and is then used by the software to fly the helicopters in varying wind and weather conditions.

MIT Scientists To Rescue Us From Flight Delays

Techtree News Staff, Sep 06, 2008 0732 hrs IST

Bad weather? Bah!

Ever been the victim of a flight that’s been cancelled because of a slight drizzle? We have, and it’s not pretty. Listening to “This flight cancelled due to bad weather” while it’s bright and sunny outside is a frustration we don’t want inflicted on anyone.

Neither do the scientists at MIT, apparently–which is why they’ve come up with the Route Availability Planning Tool (RAPT). Rather than rely on the current system, which essentially involves air traffic controllers listening to reports and drawing their conclusions, RAPT uses weather data to build an accurate picture of the skies and plan a flight route that doesn’t involve tangling with the forces of nature. The result? Fewer delays, and practically no cancellations.

The system’s being tested in New York, and it’s been paying off quite well. Delays have reduced by a total of 2,300 hours, which translates to savings of about $7.5 million. If it’s used full time, that number is estimated to go up to $28 million–and remember, this is New York alone. Take the system worldwide, and maybe we won’t be paying such ridiculous “airport taxes” any more…

1080p on iPhone 3G? Bring it on!

According to a recent Gizmodo post, sources have mentioned that the Apple iPhone 3G is capable of playing high quality, H.264, HD content! While this means nothing apart from the fact that it CAN play HD, it forces us to look for alternate avenues for displaying this HD content: this would be somewhat useful if we can actually get the iPhone to display the HD content on say, an HDTV with a direct connection. What comes to mind of course, is the Apple TV. Would a future iTunes update bring HD streaming capability to the iPhone 3G? We would like to bet on the possibility — download HD content on the iPhone, stream it to your HDTV via Apple TV…

Otherwise, it would be ridiculous to play HD content on iPhone’s tiny (by HD standards) screen. Additionally, it is unclear as to what kind of HD content these sources are referring to. It could be a small clip or even a minutes worth of HD stuff. Do you think the iPhone will be able to handle a full-blown HD movie? Does it even have the battery power to support a full-length HD flick? Doubtful.

BenQ 21-inch — HD Capable

Techtree News Staff, Sep 06, 2008 0717 hrs IST

BenQ has officially released the “first 21.5-inch full-HD” LCD monitor in India

BenQ has launched a new LCD monitor in India, the E2200HD. It is capable of full-HD resolution and is touted to be the world’s first 21.5-inch full-HD LCD monitor.

It has a response time of 2 milliseconds (grey to grey). It also features 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 1920×1080 native resolution and 300-nit brightness. Check further specifications here.

The BenQ E2200HD LCD monitor is priced at Rs 13,500 in the Indian market.

SimCity, Sims 3 And Spore Come To The iPhone

Techtree News Staff, Sep 06, 2008 0727 hrs IST

Build cities, people and creatures, wherever you are

Ah, Spore. It’s all game enthusiasts can talk about these days. After years in development and a near-dismissal as vaporware, it’s finally releasing on September 7th. But the joy doesn’t end there–EA has also announced the release of Spore: Origins for the iPhone and iPod Touch on the same day, so you can carry your creature in your pocket with you. Aren’t you glad you dropped that fortune on the blessed ‘Phone?

It’s not going to be same as the PC (obviously)–instead, Origins will take you through 35 levels of the “cell” stage of your organism. You must eat (but not be eaten) to survive and grow. You’ll also be using your phone’s motion sensing capabilities to navigate the game’s environment… which sounds painful, to be honest.

What excites us even more, though, is that EA has also added the much-loved SimCity and The Sims 3 to the list, making the Holy Trinity complete–create creatures with Spore, people with The Sims and cities with SimCity. Anywhere!

Napster faces challenges within and without

DENVER (Billboard) – When Napster reported its fiscal first-quarter results in August, it tried to paint a positive picture to investors who were growing increasingly nervous about the company’s future.

Revenue had held steady from the previous quarter at around $30 million, the company was enjoying its fifth straight quarter of positive cash flow, and it had recently converted the service to a Web-based system featuring downloads free of digital rights management (DRM). The company that set out to re-create the original Napster experience of unlimited access to music sought to convey the message that it is on the right track.

But investors and analysts haven’t seen it that way. Napster’s stock bounced off an all-time low in mid-July and is trading at less than half its year-earlier price. Subscriber levels slipped 7 percent from the previous quarter, while the company’s fiscal first-quarter net loss widened slightly from the same period last year. And most recently, a group of dissident investors initiated a proxy battle to gain seats on the board.

STRONG BUT STRUGGLING

“It’s kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Napster chairman/CEO Chris Gorog says. “The bottom line is, five years ago we were No. 2 or 3 in this industry, and five years later we’re still No. 2 or 3 in this industry.”

Although it has survived the harsh birth of the digital music market when bigger and richer companies failed, the company has struggled to convince Wall Street that an unlimited, all-you-can-eat subscription service is the model of the future.

Despite Napster’s efforts to convince music fans of the same, none of its initiatives so far have moved the needle. The addition of Napster to Go mobile devices was tempered by uninspired devices and shaky technology. The napster.com ad-supported free streaming service, which also is meant to replace the now-defunct university outreach program, has been scaled back to a “hidden” unpublicized URL (free.napster.com).

So the focus now is on DRM-free sales and mobile distribution to lure new users. Both efforts have shown encouraging early results. Track sales per subscriber have increased 10 percent from June to July, and overall sales were up 5 percent during the same period. First-quarter mobile-originated sales were up 44 percent over the previous quarter.

IT sector will miss $60 Bn target due to U.S. slowdown

New Delhi: The economic slowdown in the U.S. has hit India’s IT sector again. The software and services export in the country might not be able to achieve the set target of $60 billion by 2010 because of the deceleration of U.S. market, the biggest market for the country’s IT industry, reports Financial Chronicle.

D.K. Sareen, Executive Director, Electronic and computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) says, “Slowdown of the U.S. economy coupled with rupee fluctuations, indecision of the corporations to sign the outsourcing contracts, growing bankruptcies in the West have contributed to the deceleration of growth of IT exports by 29 percent in dollar terms. Things might revive if the markets recover but it seems a tall achievement.” As a measure to it, the council has suggested to divert the focus to other markets like Latin America, Far East, South Africa and EU.However, the industry body Nasscomm, which set the target, considers that 64 percent of the overall revenue aggregate comes from exports. The export market has grown in Europe apart from U.S. and UK at a CAGR of 55 percent from 2004-07 in varied verticals including the high end technology and telecom.

As ESC points out, the rate of exports have slowed down massively, as witnessed in 2006-07 computer software and services stood at $31.172 billion higher by 28 percent than the previous FY. But in the previous year, it grew by 43.30 percent.

IT sector will miss $60 Bn target due to U.S. slowdown

New Delhi: The economic slowdown in the U.S. has hit India’s IT sector again. The software and services export in the country might not be able to achieve the set target of $60 billion by 2010 because of the deceleration of U.S. market, the biggest market for the country’s IT industry, reports Financial Chronicle.

D.K. Sareen, Executive Director, Electronic and computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) says, “Slowdown of the U.S. economy coupled with rupee fluctuations, indecision of the corporations to sign the outsourcing contracts, growing bankruptcies in the West have contributed to the deceleration of growth of IT exports by 29 percent in dollar terms. Things might revive if the markets recover but it seems a tall achievement.” As a measure to it, the council has suggested to divert the focus to other markets like Latin America, Far East, South Africa and EU.

However, the industry body Nasscomm, which set the target, considers that 64 percent of the overall revenue aggregate comes from exports. The export market has grown in Europe apart from U.S. and UK at a CAGR of 55 percent from 2004-07 in varied verticals including the high end technology and telecom.

As ESC points out, the rate of exports have slowed down massively, as witnessed in 2006-07 computer software and services stood at $31.172 billion higher by 28 percent than the previous FY. But in the previous year, it grew by 43.30 percent.

MySpace links users to US hurricane emergency alerts

NEW ORLEANS-LOUISIANA: In what is heralded as the seeds of an Internet-age emergency broadcast system, MySpace has teamed with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to spread news on hurricanes through users of the online social network.

As Hurricane Gustav blasted the US Gulf Coast early this week, DHS officials telephoned MySpace executives to “fast-track” a project to build a disaster alert system that capitalizes on the hot Internet social networking trend.

A software application that automatically feeds hurricane information from federal disaster agencies to MySpace users was launched Tuesday.

“What you are seeing us doing with DHS and FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is the beginning of bigger things to come in the future,” MySpace chief security officer Hemanshu Nigam said on Thursday. “Tragedy often inspires people to do great things and this has happened here.”

MySpace users can download a small application, or “widget,” that links profile pages to federal information including finding dislocated Gustav victims; help in storm-slammed areas, and online tracking of coming storms.

The application meshes naturally with social networking pages on which people share pictures, videos, stories and news quickly online with loved ones, according to MySpace.

“MySpace is allowing me to keep my friends and family updated on our situation,” a Jefferson Parish woman going by the name ‘Becca’ wrote in a message posted Tuesday to a profile page of MySpace president Tom Anderson.

“Thank you so much, from my heart.” Anderson founded MySpace, which is now owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Several weeks ago the DHS reached out to MySpace to “understand how the power of social media could be used in crisis situations,” according to Nigam.

MySpace said it was among Internet firms that met with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during his visit to Google’s campus in Mountain View, California, on August 5. Eighteen months ago MySpace launched “Amber Alerts,” for its users, and since then more than 450 million of the instant cries by police for help finding missing or kidnapped children have reportedly been viewed online.

“It’s powerful and it’s using the power of the Web 2.0 media world to its fullest,” said Nigam, a former US federal prosecutor. “It’s sharing and connecting in a time of crisis when it matters the most; the thought of creating an emergency alert system for the digital world.”

Nigam sees the hurricane alerts as another step toward online social networking firms uniting in a platform for communicating and connecting during unfolding tragedies off all kinds. Technology has made possible interactive, informative versions of emergency alert systems that have traditionally consisted of sharp tones and terse announcements interrupting radio or television broadcasts.

Disaster warnings or messages can be routed to mobile telephones as well as computers linked to the Internet. “It isn’t about MySpace,” Nigam said. “It is about together saying we can all help our worldwide citizens. This can easily be mirrored in every country where you have social media.”

Cos Vulnerable to Internet Fraud on Holidays

Online financial transactions are more vulnerable to being intercepted by phishers during holiday periods as certain companies tend to be less vigilant.

This was revealed by a survey conducted by VASCO Data Security International, a software security company specializing in authentication products. VASCO’s aXs Guard Gatekeeper Internet Threat Survey covered 400 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with five to 250 internet users during the month of July 2008, revealing malicious activity during the traditional European holiday season.

aXs Guard Gatekeeper is an authentication and internet security appliance, making use of VASCO’s core authentication technology.

Jan Valcke, president and COO at VASCO Data Security, said, “Holiday periods can be potentially dangerous considering certain companies are less vigilant. However, our sample demonstrates that SMEs increasingly are investing in protecting themselves from online attacks. We could not stress more the importance of automated solutions which ensure companies to have the same level of vigilance throughout the year.”

He added, “Surveys such as our aXs Guard gatekeeper survey are necessary to demonstrate the vulnerability of companies on the internet. Surveys as these clearly indicate that all companies, including SMEs, are vulnerable for internet fraud.”

The results of July 2008 were weighed against May 2008 and the major trends revealed to be: during the summer more different types of viruses are active; spammers seem to be on holidays; internet surfing is on the rise; slight decrease in spyware; and slight increase of phishing attempts.

The survey also revealed that newly created viruses immediately score very high and are among the top 10 most frequent viruses during that period. The increased presence of viruses could be explained by less vigilance due to reduced staffing of ICT departments during the holiday season.

Furthermore, the survey revealed a decrease in attempts to visit websites which companies block on a company-to-company basis, such as YouTube, Facebook and others. Once employees have figured out that certain websites are blocked as a result of company policy, they no longer try to visit these sites, the company said.

Airtel ties up with Hewlett-Packard

New Delhi: India’s leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel has announced its collaboration with U.S.-based computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HP) to promote broadband and computer penetration in the country.

With this partnership, Airtel will offer consumers a broadband connection at discounted entry cost with every HP and Compaq notebook and desktop, a company statement said.

Under the offer, customers will get Airtel broadband connection at consumer-friendly terms that include zero security deposit and installation fee, free Wi-Fi connection and discounts on broadband rental up to 14 months, the statement added.

Dell plans to sell computer factories: report

(Reuters) – Dell Inc is trying to sell computer factories around the world in efforts to cut cost and improve profitability, the Wall Street Journal said.

In recent months, Dell has approached contract computer manufacturers with offers to sell the plants, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

One person briefed on the plan told the Journal that he expects Dell to sell most, possibly all, of its factories “within the next 18 months”.

The most likely buyers of Dell’s factories will be big contract manufacturers, most of which are based in Asia, the paper said.

Dell’s factories were originally tailored for a PC market that was driven by corporate customers ordering large volumes of desktop PCs.

But over the past three years, growth has shifted to laptops sold to consumers at retail stores. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell has lagged behind competitors in coming up with a streamlined system to build portable PCs.

Dell could face several obstacles in selling its plants. Contract manufacturers may be hesitant to buy factories in places with high labor costs, like the United States, a person with knowledge of the talks told the Journal.

And some facilities could be encumbered by agreements with local governments. Dell’s North Carolina plant, for example, received several million dollars of state and local tax incentives that are contingent on the factory meeting certain employment and local-investment goals by 2015.

Though Dell’s plants are still regarded as efficient at churning out desktop PCs, within the industry, company-owned factories aren’t considered the least expensive way to produce laptops.

Washington, Sept 05: A new research is aiming to unmask some Near Earth Objects (NEOs), which are comets posing as asteroids.

“Given Comcast’s past failure to disclose its network management practices to its customers, it is important Comcast respond to the many still-unanswered questions about its new management techniques,” Martin warned in a statement released this afternoon. Most notably, what exactly does Comcast mean when it says it will have a “protocol agnostic” management system in place by the end of the year?” (Ars Technica)

And Martin echoed the comments of many govtech readers, who demanded to know without providing some sort of measurement tool to users.

“How will consumers know if they are close to a limit?” Martin asked. “If a consumer exceeds a limit, is his traffic slowed? Is it terminated? Is his service turned off?”

And speaking of authority, Comcast was told in 2006 when the agency approved an acquisition (with Time Warner) of Adelphia Cable that the FCC would act if it thought the company would degrade service. “Comcast nonetheless chose to close on that deal,” Martin said.

Browser War: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Out

The browser war is heating up with the recent launches of Firefox 3, Opera 9.52 and now IE 8. Mozilla Firefox’s publisher calls IE 8 Beta 2 an attempt at “catching up”.

“They’re playing catch-up, but I’m glad they’re playing,” John Lilly, Chief Publisher of Mozilla, pretty much summed it up. He was referring to the release of Microsoft’s latest browser, the Internet Explorer 8, a beta version of which was released yesterday. The browser war is heating up with the recent launches of Firefox 3, Opera 9.52 and now IE 8.

The latest beta version of Microsoft’s browser comes with a host of new features and aims to give an indication of what to expect when the final version is released in due course.

Visually similar to IE 7, the latest version comes features including the “Porn Mode” which is called InPrivate. As reported earlier, this function disables the history and file-caching features of the browser, leaving no trace of your online activity on that computer. Other new features include an add-on called “Web Slice”, which allows you to subscribe to certain portions of a website of your choice. There already are a host of web slices available here.

Then there is the Accelerator – another add-on that will enable users to search, map, and email contents of the web page they are on. That seems to be an indirect take on Google because the default search options for the search and map functions are Windows Live search and Live maps! With Internet Explorer still commanding a healthy 73% market share in the browser domain, these inclusions could be an attempt at thwarting Google’s continuous foray into erstwhile Microsoft domains like spreadsheets and office software with Google Docs.

Security-wise, Active X controls have been made more flexible. With the new release, even users with non-administrative user accounts can install components.

To download the latest version, head to the downloads site.

Rumor: New Nintendo DS On Its Way

There’s good news for all the Nintendo DS fans out there – rumor has it that a new Nintendo DS is on its way, this time with Dual Screen. While still a rumor, it makes sense as Nintendo is on a high and the world is taking to the DS like it did to the hula-hoop.

The DS is a great product, but it’s showing age and needs an upgrade. A new DS with two touchscreens may have better graphic capabilities. Throw in a WiFi web browser, and it would be a must-have gadget. There is no confirmation from Nintendo just yet, so let’s just hope the rumor turns out true and that we see a new DS at next year’s E3. The rumor also states that the new DS will feature better and bigger screens. Mouth watering!

Microsoft: ‘A Page Up By Any Other Name ‘

Microsoft seems to think Page Up/ Page Down button can be patented. And guess what, the US Patents Office agrees!

Microsoft has patented a technology it calls ‘Method and system for navigating paginated content in page-based increments’. Now, that sure does sound like the next big thing after the invention of the wheel. However, what it actually turns out to be is the ubiquitous little Page Up/ Page Down keys on your keyboard. Yes, you got me correct.

So the Big M has one more patent under its belt. This has to be Microsoft’s best attempt till date with second and third prizes going for technological marvels like ‘A method, comprising: selecting pixels to be used as an emoticon’ and ‘Web feeds’ which are Microsoft terms for guess what? Smileys and RSS feeds. Sigh.

Head over to the U.S patents website to have a look at the detailed description of the patent.
Source: iTWire