Computing.co.uk Latest updates

Accenture slams Centrica's "baseless" claim

Janie Davies — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:36:00 GMT

Janie Davies, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 17:36:00

Accenture, being sued by Centrica, has accused the power giant of shifting blame

Accenture has hit back at energy supplier Centrica saying that it is shifting the blame for "a situation it created"....

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RM profits plummet

Angelica Mari — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:33:00 GMT

Angelica Mari, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 17:33:00

Educational sector supplier reports slip in profits due to seasonal buying slowdown

Education specialist RM has reported weaker first-half profits from the same period last year due to a seasonal plunge in buying activity within its target sector....

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Northern police forces fit education laptops with tracking devices

Janie Davies — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:25:00 GMT

Janie Davies, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 17:25:00

Real time tracking will pinpoint the location of stolen laptops in the north of England

West Yorkshire and Merseyside police forces are distributing laptop tracking technology to teachers and pupils. The Security Guardian devices, from tracking supplier ExactTrak, have been developed in consultation with several...

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Speaker blocks moves to put parliament on YouTube

Tom Young — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:48:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 16:48:00

MPs are worried footage will be distorted

Commons speaker Michael Martin is preventing parliamentary clips being available online. Footage from the chamber and committee rooms are only available subject to a licence which is issued by the...

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Public sector spending review to focus on IT

Tom Young — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:46:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 16:46:00

Gershon follow-up will examine systems to improve effciency and bulk purchase of hardware

IT is one of four key areas of focus in a successor review to the Gershon programme that will be launched in the next year....

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Saab signs Agresso ERP deal

Neon Kelly — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:42:00 GMT

Neon Kelly, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 16:42:00

The cars-to-aircraft manufacturer is adopting new software ahead of changes within the company

Aviation and defence company Saab AB has picked Agresso for a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool to run across its operations....

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IT students not being educated on security

Tom Young — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:41:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 12:41:00

Twenty per cent of UK computing undergraduates get no more than five hours education on software security

IT students are not being educated on how to "bake in" security when designing and developing new software applications, according to research....

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Centrica sues Accenture over flawed billing system

Janie Davies — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:32:00 GMT

Janie Davies, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 12:32:00

The energy giant has "no option" but to seek compensation after IT system failed

British Gas owner Centrica has initiated a £182m lawsuit against IT supplier Accenture, which it hired to implement a customer billing system in 2001....

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Facebook takes out $100m server loan

Neon Kelly — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:49:00 GMT

Neon Kelly, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 10:49:00

New infrastructure will help the social network to support its growing user base

Facebook has borrowed $100m (£51m) as part of plans to expand its core infrastructure. The money raised from Triplepoint Capital will be used to buy new servers for supporting the...

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NHS trials remote monitoring of patients

Tom Young — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:44:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 10:44:00

Three-year £31m test programme aims to improve services for ageing population

The government today launched a £31m programme to test the effectiveness of remote health monitoring. The pilot scheme - being rolled out across Kent, Cornwall and Newham - will see...

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Budgens starts biometrics trial

Angelica Mari — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:22:00 GMT

Angelica Mari, Computing, Monday 12 May 2008 at 10:22:00

The retailer is using a fingerprinting system to avoid staff entering hours for each other

Food retailer Budgens is using a biometric system to avoid staff clocking in absent colleagues on their behalf. The fingerprinting software is currently being trialled in six franchised stores and...

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Microsoft to appeal EU fine

Tom Young — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:42:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 17:42:00

Commission says it is confident the fine is legally sound

Microsoft has said it will appeal against a record €899m (£681m) fine imposed by the European Commission in February for using high prices to discourage software competition....

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Encryption software deployed on 20,000 MoD laptops

Janie Davies — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:04:00 GMT

Janie Davies, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 16:04:00

Ministry of Defence (MoD) buys licence to protect restricted information

Advanced encryption systems will protect classified data on British Army, Royal Navy and RAF laptops working outside the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII), the secure military network....

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DWP sending sensitive data with passwords

Tom Young — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:58:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 15:58:00

Email indicates that security measures introduced after HMRC breach are not working

Government staff in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) have been sending out sensitive data in packages containing passwords that provide access to the information....

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Air transport industry set for e-ticketing deadline

Angelica Mari — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:55:00 GMT

Angelica Mari, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:55:00

There are no plans to postpone May deadline despite protests, says IATA

National network of travel agents Advantage believes the switch to e-tickets will create a "shambles" in the sector and is urging authorities to delay the 31 May implementation deadline for...

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Microsoft signs up for IT based city of the future

Janie Davies — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:41:00 GMT

Janie Davies, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:41:00

The world's first purpose-built business city will run on Microsoft

Microsoft will play a key role in building the IT infrastructure for a $35bn (£18bn) Songdu International Business District in South Korea....

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Schmidt: Google will explore further Yahoo collaboration

Neon Kelly — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:32:00 GMT

Neon Kelly, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:32:00

The recent trial of advertising co-operation could lead to further partnerships, says head of Google

Google will continue to consider co-operation with long-term rival Yahoo, according to chief executive Eric Schmidt. Last month Yahoo began a two-week trial of running adverts provided by the Mountain...

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Toshiba sets tough targets

Tom Young — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:20:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:20:00

Nuclear business a key part of new strategy

Japanese chip maker Toshiba yesterday forecast a doubling of its operating profits in the next three years on the back of increased sales of semiconductors and nuclear equipment....

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Digital divide set to close for 10,000 citizens

Janie Davies — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:09:00 GMT

Janie Davies, Computing, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 17:09:00

Milton Keynes Council has teamed up with Microsoft to bridge the digital divide

A social inclusion initiative launched by Milton Keynes Council could benefit up to 10,000 citizens in the area. Milton Keynes is refurbishing ex-council PCs and laptops and loading them with...

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BA: software failures key in T5 fiasco

Tom Young — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Tom Young, Computing, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 17:00:00

Glitches and lack of training caused baggage disasters

Software failures were a key part of the Terminal 5 fiasco (T5) last month, but it is still unclear whether British Airways (BA) or BAA are responsible, a Commons Transport...

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Microsoft looks into Facebook purchase

Neon Kelly — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:42:00 GMT

Neon Kelly, Computing, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 10:42:00

Rumour mill goes into overdrive that the software giant is interested in a takeover, following the collapse of Yahoo talks

Microsoft is considering acquiring Facebook in the wake of its failed bid to buy Yahoo. Earlier this week, the software giant's lawyers approached the social network about the possibility of...

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Time we stopped passing the buck

Computing — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:32:00 GMT

Computing, Computing, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 09:32:00

All employees must realise the value of personal data and stick rigidly to data-protection rules

The realisation is growing that data protection is not somebody else's responsibility. Moves to make individuals liable for the loss or disclosure of personal information held by public sector bodies...

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P&O Ferries embraces Web 2.0 trend

Angelica Mari — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:58:00 GMT

Angelica Mari, Computing, Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 17:58:00

Analysis tools will help the ferry operator in monitoring behaviour on its web site

P&O Ferries is using a Web 2.0 tool to manage the content of its web site and gather information about consumer behaviour online....

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Silver service from MySpace

Neon Kelly — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:56:00 GMT

Neon Kelly, Computing, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 17:56:00

New platform will attract businesses to the social network

MySpace will launch a platform for promoting small businesses, to expand its user base. The Silver Squirrel service will offer templates to help firms build a customised business profile, said...

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Web openness under threat

Neon Kelly — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:52:00 GMT

Neon Kelly, Computing, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 17:52:00

Free tools could give large companies an unfair position of strength, says Mozilla head

The open nature of the web is being threatened by the spread of media plug-ins from Adobe and Microsoft, according to Tristan Nitot, founder of the Mozilla open source browser....

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