Tuesday 23 February 2010

'Mountains' of e-waste threaten developing world

Urgent action is needed to tackle the "mountains" of e-waste building up in developing nations, says a UN report.

Huge amounts of old computers and discarded electronic goods are piling up in countries such as China, India and some Africa nations, it said.

India could see a 500% rise in the number of old computers dumped by 2020, found the survey of 11 nations.

Unless dealt with properly the waste could cause environmental damage and threaten public health, it said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8528066.stm

iPhone developers angry as Apple purges adult apps

Developers have expressed anger at Apple's decision to ban some adult-themed applications from its iPhone.

Thousands of apps with adult-themed content have been removed from the store since Friday although some, such as one from Playboy, remain.

Apple has said that certain apps were removed following customer complaints.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8530124.stm

Friday 19 February 2010

Green Energy Hits the Track

Auto racing is hardly one of the greenest sports out there. But Porsche has now come up with a racecar outfitted with a hybrid engine. The technology could ultimately find its way onto the street.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,678172,00.html

PleaseRobMe website reveals dangers of social networks

A website called PleaseRobMe claims to reveal the location of empty homes based on what people post online.

The Dutch developers told BBC News the site was designed to prove a point about the dangers of sharing precise location information on the internet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8521598.stm

Thursday 18 February 2010

Did the New Star of German Literature Steal from a Blogger?

Bestselling 17-year-old German writer Helene Hegemann is being accused of plagiarism after it was revealed that her debut novel contains passages lifted from a blog about sex and drugs in Berlin's techno scene. She denies she did anything wrong.

She may be embroiled in what could be the year's first big literary scandal, but Helene Hegemann seems relatively relaxed. It's Tuesday afternoon of last week. That morning, the culture pages of all of Germany's major daily newspapers published stories about Hegemann's novel "Axolotl Roadkill," and now hundreds of e-mails have flooded her inbox. "I can't understand what all the fuss is about," Hegemann says.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,678165,00.html

The ten most most valuable brands in the world

Brand Finance has published its 2010 Global 500 Survey of the world's most valuable brands. Here are the top ten, which include Britain's Vodafone and HSBC.

No. 1 - Wal-Mart, $41.4bn

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businesslatestnews/7257407/The-ten-most-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world.html

US unemployment 'to stay high despite economy growing'

The US economy is still on target to grow strongly during 2010, but unemployment will remain high, the US Federal Reserve has warned.

In its latest forecast, the Fed said that the economy would expand between 2.8% and 3.5% in 2010, better than its previous estimate of 2.5% to 3.5%.

Yet the unemployment rate is expected to remain between 9.5% and 9.7% in 2010, easing to 8.2% to 8.5% next year.

President Barack Obama earlier admitted many in the US were "struggling".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8520866.stm

Google Buzz 'breaks privacy laws' says watchdog

A leading privacy group has urged US regulators to investigate Google's new social networking service Buzz, one week after its launch.

The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (Epic) has made its complaint to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

It says that Buzz - which is part of Google's Gmail service - is "deceptive" and breaks consumer protection law.

The search giant has twice made changes to the service to placate an outcry from users about privacy concerns.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8519314.stm

Happiness wards off heart disease, study suggests

Being happy and staying positive may help ward off heart disease, a study suggests.

US researchers monitored the health of 1,700 people over 10 years, finding the most anxious and depressed were at the highest risk of the disease.

They could not categorically prove happiness was protective, but said people should try to enjoy themselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8520549.stm

Google books deal heads to New York court

Google is preparing to face opponents in a New York court over long-delayed plans to create the world's biggest digital library.

A judge will hold a fairness hearing to listen to arguments for and against a controversial deal between Google and US authors and publishers.

Critics say the pact would hand the search giant a monopoly over online books sales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8520971.stm