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2002 Best Inventions
Web Site

This site is actually a sub-site of TIME magazine. It's truly a geek's playground, with 100 of the best inventions from 2002 listed in six different categories. I just can't decide between the Phone Tooth, the Mini Sub, and the Wheelman -- a sort of clown-sized motorbike you steer like a skateboard. Then again, the Dog Translator might come in handy too...


To suggest Web sites for Pick of the Web mail us at Reviews

Click here to view Archived Issues


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::WEEKLY DIGEST No. 184 -- 6 October 2003

Welcome to ENN's weekly e-mail digest, brought to you in association with Esat BT.

Do you need an e-mail newsletter? ENN writes and manages newsletters for the public and private sector. Whether you need a little content or a lot, we can help. E-mail me for more info or call +3531 676 9995.

Sheila M. Averbuch, Editor

Esat BT
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TOP STORIES THIS WEEK...

OBJECTIONS RAISED OVER NEW TELCO PRODUCT

BROADBAND BRINGS KIDS ON-LINE

SKILLS CENTRAL TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY

JOBS TO GO AT ORACLE IRELAND

ROAMING AND DSL DOMINATE COMREG EVENT

MICROSOFT SHIFTS JOBS TO DUBLIN

FLEXTRONICS TO SHUT TULLAMORE PLANT

ADAPTEC CLOSES EUROLOGIC SITE, CUTS JOBS

SINGLE TIP SMASHES CHILD PORN RING

NTL TO RAISE USD1 BILLION TO PAY DEBT
 

OBJECTIONS RAISED OVER NEW TELCO PRODUCT

Eircom is due to make partial private circuits available from 3 October, but an industry group has already expressed dissatisfaction with the process. Since partial private circuits (PPC) -- a kind of leased line that uses part of Eircom's network -- are designed to open up the leased line market to Eircom's rivals, it is thought that PPCs will be sold for about 50 percent of the price that leased lines go for. However, the pricing scheme that has been proposed by Eircom has been deemed confusing by ALTO, an organisation that lobbies for entrant telecoms in Ireland. ALTO has said that its members have not been able to determine exactly how the existing PPCs pricing scheme works, or whether the new products are any cheaper than a new leased line.
FULL STORY

BROADBAND BRINGS KIDS ON-LINE

The introduction of broadband has resulted in more children going on-line in the UK than in any other European country, according to new research. A dramatic 58 percent surge in the number of under-18s on-line in the UK is being driven by rising broadband usage, according to a report from audience measurement and research service Nielsen//NetRatings. Nielsen also said that the number of children on-line in eight European countries has grown by 3 million in the last 12 months. The research, which combined data from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands, says that there are now 13.1 million European kids on-line. This breaks down to about 4 million under-12s and 9 million 12- to 17-year-olds.
FULL STORY

SKILLS CENTRAL TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Forfas has warned that an inadequate supply of skills across the Irish workforce will hamper Ireland's future economic prosperity. The fourth report of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) identifies the issues that need to be addressed in order to ensure that Ireland benefits fully from an assumed world economic upturn. It reviews seven key sectors of the Irish economy, including ICT, biotechnology and financial services. Sectors as diverse as biotech, engineering and logistics are primed for significant growth from 2005 onwards, Forfas said, warning that if current trends in the supply of skills by the education and training sector are left unchecked, there will be a significant shortfall in the skills needed to fuel this growth.
FULL STORY

JOBS TO GO AT ORACLE IRELAND

Business software company Oracle is expected to shed over 100 jobs at its Irish facility over the next 10 months. According to reports, the jobs will be lost in the firm's shared services centre in Dublin, and the big software maker said it expects that most of the positions will go through natural attrition. However, if an insufficient number of workers have left by mid-2004, redundancies could be implemented. Once the restructuring is complete, the firm should have about 950 employees in Dublin, or about 25 fewer than it had in January 2002, when it promised to hire another 200 Irish workers. In fact, the IDA has said that Oracle has only ever committed to employ 950 people in Ireland, with just 200 staff allocated for the shared services centre.
FULL STORY

ROAMING AND DSL DOMINATE COMREG EVENT

Two controversial telecoms-related issues were tackled at a recent ComReg conference: poor broadband uptake and the high cost of mobile phone roaming. At the telecoms regulator's "Getting Connected" event in Dublin, John Dunne, CEO of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, launched an attack against the government and the country's main fixed-line telecoms over the poor uptake of broadband by SMEs. He said that small firms don't trust the telecoms firms that are offering ADSL and added that the government had done little to stimulate demand for the service. At the same event, Communications Minister Dermot Ahern predicted the end of roaming charges in the island of Ireland early next year, branding such costs as a "rip off." Ahern also said he would raise the issue with his Northern counterpart, Minister Ian Pearson.
FULL STORY

MICROSOFT SHIFTS JOBS TO DUBLIN

Close to 50 Microsoft jobs from around Europe are set to be shifted to Ireland as the company further integrates the Navision business it picked up last year. The company said that over the next several months, 46 existing positions within Microsoft Corporation will be shifted to the company's EMEA operations centre, Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited. The re-organisation, part of a global re-alignment following Microsoft's purchase of Denmark-based Navision, will take place over the next few months. It's understood that Microsoft will offer workers in existing EMEA sites the posts in Ireland before seeking to fill the positions with new workers. Of the 24 existing Navision operational sites in Europe, 17 are affected by the re-organisation, a spokesperson said.
FULL STORY

FLEXTRONICS TO SHUT TULLAMORE PLANT

Contract electronics maker Flextronics is shutting its Tullamore plant, with the loss of 80 jobs. The job cuts were blamed on the loss of contracts, as well as the relative high cost of manufacturing in Ireland compared to lower-cost economies in Asia and elsewhere. The announcement came on the same day that storage system maker Adaptec announced the closure of its Dublin plant, citing similar reasons (see below). Last month, network equipment maker 3Com announced the closure of its Blanchardstown plant, with the loss of over 600 jobs, in favour of overseas manufacturing. At its peak in Tullamore, Flextronics employed over 400 people, but last year around 320 permanent jobs and 50 temporary jobs were cut at the plant. Since 2001, Flextronics has also slashed hundreds of jobs in Limerick and Cork.
FULL STORY

ADAPTEC CLOSES EUROLOGIC SITE, CUTS JOBS

After being acquired just six months ago by US storage company Adaptec for USD30 million in cash, Eurologic is set to close its Irish operations as work is shifted overseas. The company said that about 40 jobs at its facility in the Clonshaugh Industrial Estate in Dublin would go before the end of the year. Any remaining Dublin-based staff working at the former Eurologic site will be made redundant by March 2004, when the Dublin manufacturing operation will be shut down. In total, 75 jobs will be lost in Ireland as a result of the moves. It is understood that former Eurologic workers in the company's overseas locations, most notably the US, will be unaffected. A spokesperson for Adaptec said the firm is moving Eurologic's network storage operations from Dublin to Singapore.
FULL STORY

SINGLE TIP SMASHES CHILD PORN RING

Thanks to a single tip-off to a hotline a year ago, one of the biggest child pornography rings has been smashed. Operation Marcey kicked off in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on 26 September, involving 1,500 police officers who, over the course of a day, confiscated 745 computers, over 35,000 CDs, 8,300 diskettes and 5,800 videos, all thought to contain illegal child pornography that had been traded over the Internet. The operation saw police forces identify 26,500 suspects in 166 countries around the world. Irishman Cormac Callanan, secretary general of INHOPE, a confederation of child pornography hotlines, said that a tip-off to German police last year from Spanish hotline Protegeles began the investigation that ballooned into what may be the largest ever child porn raid by police.
FULL STORY

NTL TO RAISE USD1 BILLION TO PAY DEBT

UK cable company NTL has said that it will raise over USD1 billion through a rights issue in order to cut debt. The company, which operates in the UK and Ireland and only came out of bankruptcy earlier this year, filed papers with the SEC which confirmed that it was seeking the cash. The company said that the USD1.05 billion raised through the scheme would be used to repay a loan it agreed to under the terms of its bankruptcy proceedings. Some of the money will also be paid to its USD650 million working capital facility, and the remainder will go toward subsidiaries and general corporate purposes. The filings also revealed that former NTL CEO Barclay Knapp was paid USD2.1 million in severance fees after resigning in August. Knapp is also understood to be collecting USD6,000 a day in consulting fees.
FULL STORY


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Fluke Networks, addressing network issues
With modern network designs becoming more sophisticated Fluke Networks aims to bring network professionals up to speed on appropriate network analysis tools and how to use them.
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Conor O'Connor, CEO of Enterprise Equity
Face to Face in association with Deloitte & Touche IrelandIn the last two years, small tech firms have complained about the lack of venture capital in Ireland compared to the heady days of 2000. But when he spoke face to face with Matthew Clark, Conor O'Connor -- the man with the memorable name -- said the cash is there for the taking, if a company has the right plans.
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9 OCTOBER
Distributed Network Analysis Workshop City West Hotel, Saggart, Co Dublin

10 OCTOBER
The Impact of Changing Global Markets on Supply Chain Activities SerCom Solutions, Raheen Business Park, Limerick

14 OCTOBER
Mobile Computing -- Understanding the Risks with Wireless and Home Working Belfast Hilton Hotel, Belfast

16 OCTOBER
eSecurity 2003 -- "Room for Improvement" Berkeley Court Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

16 - 17 OCTOBER
Broadband and wLANs for Connected Communities Caherciveen, Co. Kerry

For more information on the above events go to the ENN Events Directory.

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