Articles
A day without COBOL
Try to imagine what you would do if ATMs stopped working, credit card transactions couldn’t be processed, online purchases weren’t recognised and retail registers refused to work causing shops to shut down. [ + ]
No new NBN Co CEO before election
With Mike Quigley retiring as NBN Co’s CEO, analysts believe the company will be on the hunt for a successor with a track record of managing large projects and negotiating with contractors. [ + ]
How green is my strategy?
Very few business decisions are now made without some consideration of the environmental impact. But decision makers are also sick of the ‘greenwash’ that is applied to almost every product and service. Is green a big issue or just more hype? [ + ]
Graphene switches could boost internet speed 100x
Researchers have produced an optical switch using graphene that can achieve a response rate nearly 100 times faster than current technologies allow. [ + ]
Apple guilty of price-fixing conspiracy
A US judge has found Apple guilty of conspiring to raise e-book prices. [ + ]
Russia buying typewriters to avoid data leaks
The Russian agency responsible for Kremlin security is reportedly buying typewriters in an effort to avoid digital data leaks. [ + ]
Breakthrough could cut data network energy consumption
German researchers have set a world record in the energy-efficient integration of silicon for waveguiding in optical networks. [ + ]
Why the ‘dirty cloud’ is misleading
There’s recently been some backlash against cloud providers, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, for having ‘dirty clouds’. [ + ]
Solving the Aussie ICT skills shortage
A new government report details the circumstances contributing to a shortage of domestic ICT skills and recommends a series of potential solutions. [ + ]
UK academics set up SETI research network
A group of academics involved in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI) have formed a research network dedicated to sharing existing data and promoting more research. [ + ]
Unions oppose Telstra’s plan to outsource 170 jobs
Telstra is considering plans to cut about 170 full-time jobs from its Network Applications and Services (NAS) division in Australia and outsource them to India. Workers’ unions have said they will try to prevent the job cuts. [ + ]
Four ways to cut office printing costs
Office printing can be quite costly for businesses small and large. And while some organisations have implemented basic measures to reduce printing costs, there’s potential to cut these costs even further. [ + ]
Flinders Uni to build $14m campus network
Flinders University has teamed with Cisco and Dimension Data to build a campus network - including 802.11a/c Wi-Fi and a dedicated high-speed research network - for students and staff. [ + ]
The perils of early adoption - and of moving too slowly
Humanity has a tough time keeping pace with technological advancement. We run into trouble when we embrace our inventions too soon, but also when we adapt to them too slowly. History is littered with examples, and a couple have emerged quite recently. [ + ]
Sydney kids’ hospitals, Huawei team for e-health trial
The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network and Huawei have presented results from a trial involving issuing APAC paediatric doctors with tablets loaded with up-to-date training materials. [ + ]