IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 25 June
25-06-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Scientists serve up chicken with chips | Illegal net activity reports decline
The Irish Times reports that a team of Irish scientists has devised a method of identifying individual chickens by putting miniature barcodes on their beaks and legs. Working at the UCD Bioresources Research Centre, the researchers achieved a 97 percent accuracy rate in experiments on identifying individual bird parts with barcodes. "Although these experiments were carried out in the laboratory, real chicken body parts, sourced at poultry processing plants were used," the research report said. "In real life situations, ways will have to be found to imprint the barcodes on to live poultry whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the bird."
The paper also says that the number of reports from Ireland of suspected illegal activity on the internet, including child pornography, has declined for the second year running. Reports dropped by nearly a quarter last year, according to an annual report by Hotline.ie, the Irish agency that receives and investigates reports of illegal activity from internet users. Last year's decline followed a 3 percent fall in 2007.
The same paper reports that Eircom Holdings, the Australian fund that controls Eircom, suspended trading in its shares on Wednesday pending an announcement on its sale process. Eircom Holdings requested a two-day "trading halt" from the Australian stock exchange "due to market speculation surrounding the sale process". Trading in the shares is due to resume on Friday.
The paper also reports that medical device firm Boston Scientific has unveiled a EUR91 million investment plan for its plant in Galway, as reported by ENN on Wednesday.
The Irish Examiner reports that the European Commission has said it hopes to quickly process the Government's application for millions of euro to help retrain and find jobs for the Dell workers laid off over the past two months. The commissioner responsible for the crisis fund, Vladimir Spidla, will visit Limerick next week to meet the redundant workers. He will also meet Tanaiste Mary Coughlan, who has been responsible for submitting the application for funds.
The same paper says that Cork-based tech firm Pervenio has been acquired by New York firm Fine Point Technologies, for an undisclosed sum. Pervenio is a mobile device management company specialising in wireless device detection and management products for mobile communication companies. Pervenio founder and chief executive Ian Deakin will become Fine Point's chief technology officer once the deal is completed. The company will then be rebranded as Fine Point Technologies Ireland.
The Irish Independent says that digital marketing company Story Worldwide is launching Story Dublin. The new venture, a joint offering with local outfit Young Euro RSCG, was formally unveiled on Wednesday. The new Dublin venture will have five staff.
The paper also says that Erkki Ormala, a vice president of Nokia, is in Ireland this week. In his position as president of the executive board of Digital Europe, a pan-European body designed to explore ICT opportunities within the EU, he will be meeting both Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Communications Minister Eamon Ryan to discuss the potential of technology in crisis times. "Crisis creates opportunities," he said. "My message is that there are opportunities out there for smaller economies like Ireland and Finland."
According to the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo is working on a major brand overhaul. The effort is being spearheaded by newly installed Chief Marketing Officer Elisa Steele. She has hired well-known brand consulting firm Landor Associates and an outside consultant named Penny Baldwin to take on the task. Sources said the new branding of Yahoo might be built around the latest relaunch of its main homepage design, due to go live in autumn.
The Financial Times reports that Toshiba will emphasise its more stable infrastructure business rather than volatile semiconductors, according to Norio Sasaki, new president of the Japanese conglomerate. "I want to reflect properly on the experience of this economic crisis and build a Toshiba with stable profits that are not affected by changes in economic and market conditions," he said in an interview. Toshiba's chip unit was affected badly by the economic downturn, posting a JPY323 billion (USD3.4 billion) operating loss in the year to March 2009 and forcing the company to raise JPY500 billion in new capital this month.
The paper also says that Google's global website was blocked in China on Wednesday night, marking an escalation in Beijing's unprecedented crackdown on the search engine giant. Attempts to access Google.com and Gmail from different computers in Beijing started failing after 9pm local time, but the websites could be accessed through proxy servers -- usually a sign that a website is being blocked by internet censors. "We have received reports that most users cannot access Google.com in China... We are investigating the matter and hope that the service will be restored soon," Google said in a statement.
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