Did you know that London was the original robot battlefield, using radar unit produced by the Radiation Lab at MIT, creating automated anti-aircraft fire to bring down German V-1 flying bombs? Terminator must have spoke cockney, originally, albeit designed by American Hendrik Wade Bode?
“B&B has been hit hard by fears that its portfolio of buy-to-let and self-certified mortgages will generate huge losses as the credit crunch begins to bite and house prices fall. Rich-ard Pym, B&B’s new chief executive, has axed 370 jobs, in effect wiping out its sales force.” (B&B CEO’s troubles given a typographic twist in the Times.)
I guess even buying washington mutual (fast frwd to 4:44) is off the cards for now;-) http://tinyurl.com/3ddj7f
I guess it really is ‘banking another way’ (cue advert)
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s brutal attack on Ognian Stefanov, editor of the investigative news Web site Frognews, in Bulgaria. The editor and his family had recently received anonymous phone calls warning Stefanov to stop his journalism or face consequences, Stefanov’s deputy, Aleksandar Ivanov, told CPJ. The site publishes investigations into the activities of public officials, and particularly those in the state security services.
Stefanov is hospitalized in critical condition, with broken arms and legs, a brain concussion, and severe blood loss; he is unconscious, Ivanov told CPJ. According to the Bulgarian Web site News, prosecutors are investigating the case as an attempted murder.
Stefanov, 54, was leaving a restaurant called Kiparisite in Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, at around 11 p.m. on Monday, when he was approached by four men in black clothes and hats. The men reportedly asked the journalist if he was Ognian Stefanov; when he confirmed his identity, they started beating him with hammers, according to multiple local press reports. The Bulgarian Interior Ministry issued a statement saying witness accounts could not confirm the exchange. The statement also denied a report that said the attackers had introduced themselves as police officers. Ivanov has not regained consciousness since the incident. (Read more in Scoop)
The ICAEW’s IT Counts website is now open to the public. It’s already won a Web 2.0 Strategies award, and is shortlisted for the 2008 Accountacy Age Awards. Be interesting to see what kind of demographic visitor profile it attracts with its focus on accountancy, IT and business with topics ranging from better use of MS Excel (did I mention it’s sponsored by Microsoft?) to the latest SocialCalc wiki spreadsheet from Socialtext, with the chance via Dennis Howlett to become one of the first users. There’s even mention of the credit crunch. Of course if you want to use the site to make contacts, post blogs and comments you have to register but at least now the content is open for all & Google to read.
Social networking sites are increasing in popularity and web surfers care more about politicians’ image than their policies, according to a new study.
Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, has been studying internet usage patterns and found that social networking sites are receiving more and more hits, particularly in the 18 to 24 age bracket.
He also found that images of Sarah Palin were searched for more than her policy statements and ditto with Barack Obama, with many particularly interested in his height.
More people visited celebrity websites that those for religion, wellbeing, politics and diets put together.
He worried, however, about the amount of bad information now available.
‘With the explosion of this type of false information on the internet, I think we will see someone come forward and develop a new type of software that can filter for the most accurate information, he said.
‘Maybe accuracy is the next thing we will all search for.’
Internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee also recently stated that there should be a mechanism to control falsehoods spread online.
BCS, 19/09/08, ‘Online search habits revealed’.
Science unveils hidden drivers of stock bubbles and crashes from PhysOrg.com
Many economists believe that investors make decisions rationally, weighing up corporate data and other pricing signals to evaluate gain or risk before buying or selling stocks.
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I see IBM are working with Dow Jones and Thomson Reuters’ healthcare arm on a new web 2.0 software center in the US. Nice, I used to work with Thomson Reuters’ healthcare arm in the UK (with the affable Jeremy Snelling) and talked with them on improving their data feed for Medicexchange.com. Now I’m working in the finance sector through the ICAEW on ION, the social networking community. All pretty interesting from a business viewpoint for my part, + a nice coincidence from a nerd standpoint.
