Tech Bits

Author: 
Arab News
Publication Date: 
Tue, 2008-03-18 03:00

Degree Completed With 3D Art

Doug Anderson (avatar name: Blackthorn Hare) is in the process of completing his master’s degree from the Massachusetts College of Art, using the virtual world Second Life as a sculptural medium. His thesis exhibit has opened at the Arnheim Gallery in Boston and concurrently in Second Life (www.secondlife.com). This will mark the first time that an advanced fine arts degree has been awarded anywhere in the world for art created in Second Life. Anderson’s art consists of screen captures of three-dimensional pieces he has constructed in the virtual environment. To see the exhibition, follow the instructions at Anderson’s blog: http://slowsculpture.livejournal.com/.

Ahmed Mahmoud Becomes AMD’s CIO

AMD has appointed Ahmed Mahmoud as CIO. Mahmoud brings more than 20 years of enterprise information technology (IT) leadership experience to his new position. Most recently he was VP of IT at Dell. Mahmoud will be responsible for managing the company’s global technology infrastructure, and will play a key role ensuring that AMD continues to set an example of commercial computing excellence.

“Ahmed’s success using IT as a competitive differentiator to scale the business will help AMD tremendously as we expand our own infrastructure to best meet internal needs and better serve a growing customer base,” said Dirk Meyer, president and COO, AMD.

Mahmoud joins the company after 13 years at Dell. During his time there, he led a series of transformational efforts across its data warehousing, virtual storefront, manufacturing, supply chain and corporate computing operations. Prior to Dell, Mahmoud held various IT leadership and instruction positions at Eastman Kodak, the University of Houston, and Texas A&M University. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics from Texas A&M University.

Pay Fines and Fees Easily

The Dubai Police have extended the scope of their ePay service by installing Points of Sale (POS) terminals at Dubai Police departments. These will facilitate the payment of traffic fines and other related fees through credit cards. The move is expected to benefit those who personally visit Dubai Police departments to make payments, and also people who do not have easy access to the Internet to carry out such transactions online.

The state-of-the-art POS terminals are extremely user-friendly and present a fast, easy and secure payment channel for users. The POS terminals accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit cards.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Content providers are overlooking the needs of many of today’s Internet users, according to a Burst Media study. The online survey, conducted in February 2008 of more than 13,000 web users 18 years or older, found a majority of Internet users 45 years and older believe that online content, as well as website design and online advertising is skewed toward younger web users.

The Burst survey found that young web users between the ages of 18-24 years and 25-34 years are most likely to say online content is focused on people of their age (76.0 percent and 73.9 percent). Additionally, more than half of respondents 35-44 years perceive online content to be focused toward their age segment. Starting with the “Young Boomer” segment (45-54 years) there is a precipitous decline in the number of respondents who say Internet content is focused toward people their age. Additionally, three-quarters of respondents 45 years and older believe online advertising is not targeted toward them, and focuses on younger audiences.

The Burst survey also revealed several interesting findings about different demographic segments’ perceptions of the online marketplace. These include:

*Disparity in Usability: Website usability is an issue for older web users. For sites drawing an audience 45 and older, simple navigation and design is critical for retaining those consumers.

*Loss of Connectivity Devastating at Any Age: The one truth across all ages is that the Internet has become an integral part of their everyday life. Two-thirds of respondents said that their daily routine would be disrupted if they could not access the Internet for a week, with nearly half saying that they would be significantly impacted.

*Expanded Universe of Sites: Overall, three out of five respondents are visiting more websites in a typical week than they were one year ago. An expanded catalog of sites visited is not only a phenomenon of the young; in fact, 62.8 percent of respondents 55 years and older say they are visiting more sites today in a typical week of web surfing than they were one year ago.

Spam King Dethroned

The Seattle Times reports that Robert Soloway pleaded guilty to mail fraud, failing to file a tax return and fraud in connection with electronic mail. Soloway was dubbed the “Spam King” by investigators for sending out tens of millions of spam e-mail messages. Prosecutors had alleged that many of Soloway’s unsolicited messages were sent out using hacked “zombie” computers infected with botnet software. Soloway faces up to 26 years in prison with sentencing scheduled for June 20. He could also be fined up to $625,000.

Expect to see more cases against spammers coming to court in Seattle. Microsoft, headquartered outside Seattle, tends to file cases against spammers in the Seattle courts. Plus, the state of Washington has tough anti-spam legislation, coupled with a legal system that has shown its willingness to enforce it.

Emergency Call From the Lake

The 200,000 fishermen who work on Lake Victoria will soon be able to call for help with their mobile phones if they get into trouble on the world’s second largest inland lake. Pan-Africa mobile operator Celtel, a subsidiary of Zain, and Ericsson, in an initiative coordinated by the GSMA’s Development Fund, will extend the mobile networks across the Lake Victoria region, fuelling economic and social development of the lakeside communities and potentially reducing the number of fishing-related deaths each year.

Zain and Ericsson are upgrading Celtel’s existing infrastructure and building an additional 21 radio sites to provide mobile coverage up to 20 kilometers into the lake. This will take about six months and ensure mobile coverage to over 90 percent of the fishing zones, where up to 5,000 people die each year from accidents and piracy. The project will use Ericsson’s Mobile Position System, a location-based service that enables emergency authorities to triangulate the mobile signal of fishermen in distress. Ericsson’s green site solutions will also be utilized to provide electric power to the base stations in the more remote island areas.

The GSMA and Zain are working with the governments in the region and NGOs to establish a rescue coordination service to provide assistance to lake users, which in the longer term will be run by the EAC’s planned Regional Maritime Communications Center (RMCC).

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