document.writeln("
US
stocks close higher
New
York: Upbeat comments about the US economy from Federal
Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan along with a number of
strong quarterly earning results helped boost US stocks
to a higher close.
Greenspan's
comments that 'interest rates will in all probability
rise at a "measured" pace' was in expectation
with the streets own assesment. While
the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 55 points
or 0.54 per cent to 10,149, the Standard & Poor's
500 Index gained 7 points or 0.71 per cent to 1,108. Technology
bellwether Nasdaq Composite Index was up 33 points or
1.76 per cent to close at 1,917.
Back
to News Review index page
Open
access to scientific and medical research
San Francisco, USA: The report released by the
Science and Technology Committee of the United Kingdom's
House of Commons, "Scientific Publications: Free
for All?" insists that the "published output"
of UK higher education institutions must be made available
such that "it can be read, free of charge, online,"
and provides a practical roadmap for achieving this goal.
According to the report, "It is not for either publishers
or academics to decide who should, and who should not,
be allowed to read scientific journals." The report
dismisses arguments made by publishers against open-access
publishing, and urges the government to take concrete
actions in support of open access.
In conjunction with other recent developments in the UK
and the United States, this report suggests an international
consensus growing in support of the open access movement.
Last week, the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House
of Representatives recommended that the NIH immediately
develop a policy to make the results of research it funds
free online.
Back
to News Review index page
MessageLabs:
W32/Bagle.ai virus spreading in the wild
New York, USA: MessageLabs, the leading provider
of managed email security services to businesses worldwide,
as of yesterday has intercepted more than 20,000 copies
of the latest variant of Bagle, W32.Bagle.ai@mm.
More than 15,000 copies of the virus were intercepted
within the 45 minutes of the virus being detected by MessageLabs'
proprietary Skeptic technology.
Name: W32/Bagle.ai@mm
Time & date first captured: July 19, 2004; 11:22 ET
Origin of first intercepted copy: UK
Bagle.ai is a mass-mailing worm with its own SMTP mass-mailing
engine that harvests addresses from infected machines
and includes a remote access program. The virus is being
sent with multiple attachment types. In some cases, the
body of the message contains a password for attached password-protected
ZIP files. The virus can copy itself to file sharing folders
common, for example, with peer-to-peer networks, and can
terminate existing security applications processes.
Attachment names (with com, cpl, exe, scr, zip extensions)
are:
Cat, Cool_MP3, Dog, Doll, Fish, Garry, MP3, Music_MP3
Email Characteristics
From:
Random, spoofed email address
Subject: Random
Size: Varies
MessageLabs is in the process of confirming spreading
methods, which may include peer-to-peer networks. MessageLabs
is the leading provider of managed email security services
to businesses worldwide.
Back
to News Review index page
Social
Benefit entrepreneurs meet
Santa Clara, USA: Entrepreneurs and technology
innovators from around the world will be coming to Santa
Clara University (SCU) in Santa Clara, California, on
July 26 to participate in a two-week incubator program
that will allow them to network with Silicon Valley foundations,
technologists, and business executives.
Sponsored by the Center for Science, Technology, and Society
at SCU, the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) supports
the work of innovators and entrepreneurs who have demonstrated
their commitment to applying technology to address urgent
human needs throughout the world.
The
15 projects that represent the class of 2004 are from
10 countries: South Africa, Nepal, Nigeria, Laos, India,
Costa Rica, Argentina, Jordan, Canada, and the United
States. Living and learning together, participants develop
know-how in the areas of marketing, finance, business
planning, and organizational capacity building. The incubator
combines classroom instruction, case studies, and best
practices with carefully matched mentoring on the sustainability
challenges of each participating organization. Freeplay
Foundation of South Africa is one of the 2004 GSBI participants.
Freeplay provides wind up and solar-powered radios and
life-saving information to some of the poorest people
in Africa. Equal Access, a San Francisco non-profit that
brings educational radio programming via satellite to
remote villages in Nepal and was one of the five winners
of the Tech Museum's "Technology Benefiting Humanity
Awards" will also be attending.
The incubator brings together grass roots innovators and
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with university faculty to
support the scaling up of technology applications that
serve the common good all over the world. The Center for
Science, Technology and Society (CSTS) is one of four
Centers of Distinction at Santa Clara University. CSTS
is a global network of academic and industry experts that
promotes dialogue and studies issues related to the influence
of new technologies on social and economic development,
innovation and organizational change, and law and public
policy.
Back
to News Review index page
