The British government has halted its advertising on the social networking Web site Facebook over concerns about how its ads are displayed, its communication arm said in a statement.
Six major British companies, including mobile phone giant Vodafone , pulled their ads from Facebook last week because they were appearing on the profile page of the far-right British National Party.
Ads pop up on Facebook pages on a rotating basis, giving companies limited say over where they are displayed.
The Central Office of Information (COI) said it was seeking assurances that ads on social networking Web sites would reach desired audiences. It said it would not resume advertising until better safeguards were in place.
COI, which has one of the biggest advertising budgets in Britain, said on Tuesday it was still waiting for guarantees from Facebook but that it was satisfied with the safeguards in place on the rival MySpace and Bebo Web sites.
"Advertising has been paused temporarily on any Web sites that have not provided COI and i-level (COI's online media-buying agency) with the further assurances our bookings require," Jamie Galloway, COI director of digital media said late on Monday.
Facebook, which has seen membership spike to more than 30 million and is rapidly becoming one of the most popular sites on the Internet, was not immediately available for comment
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Police close to naming schoolyard slaying suspect
Police were close Wednesday to identifying at least one suspect in the execution-style slayings of three college students last weekend, a spokeswoman for Mayor Cory A. Booker said.
A photo of victim Dashon Harvey, 20, is left at a makeshit memorial on the schoolyard.
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The spokeswoman, Lupe Todd, would not say when an announcement might come or how the possible break in the case was made.
Newark has become accustomed to violence but the killings Saturday night touched a nerve. Various groups have contributed to a $50,000 reward in the case.
Four friends, ages 18 to 20, were shot while hanging out in a school yard.
Three of them -- Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20; and Iofemi Hightower, 20 -- were forced to kneel against a wall and were shot at close range.
The fourth, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, Terrance Aerial's sister, survived a wound to her head and is hospitalized.
Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive.
All four victims were planning to attend Delaware State University this fall.
The New York Times reported in Wednesday's newspapers that Natasha Aeriel was able to give authorities an account of the shootings.
Officials have said that surveillance cameras trained on the school yard were not much help -- two of the three were not working
A photo of victim Dashon Harvey, 20, is left at a makeshit memorial on the schoolyard.
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The spokeswoman, Lupe Todd, would not say when an announcement might come or how the possible break in the case was made.
Newark has become accustomed to violence but the killings Saturday night touched a nerve. Various groups have contributed to a $50,000 reward in the case.
Four friends, ages 18 to 20, were shot while hanging out in a school yard.
Three of them -- Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20; and Iofemi Hightower, 20 -- were forced to kneel against a wall and were shot at close range.
The fourth, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, Terrance Aerial's sister, survived a wound to her head and is hospitalized.
Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive.
All four victims were planning to attend Delaware State University this fall.
The New York Times reported in Wednesday's newspapers that Natasha Aeriel was able to give authorities an account of the shootings.
Officials have said that surveillance cameras trained on the school yard were not much help -- two of the three were not working
HP buys Opsware for $1.6 billion
-- Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard said Monday that it would acquire Opsware Inc. for $1.6 billion to bolster its line-up of business software offerings.
HP said it would tender for all outstanding shares of Opsware, a supplier of software used to automate computer data centers, at $14.25 each, a 38.6 percent premium to Opsware's closing price of $10.28 on Nasdaq on Friday.
The deal comes on the heals of other software acquisitions by HP, including its purchase of Mercury Interactive last year for $4.5 billion and its purchase of Peregrine Systems for $425 million in 2005.
The $1.6 billion price tag on the Opsware deal is net of existing cash and debt, the companies said. Opsware said it has about $65 million of cash on hand and only $100,000 in debt.
After the deal is completed, Opsware will become part of the HP Software business. Most of Opsware's 550 employees are expected to move to HP, and Opsware Chief Executive Ben Horowitz will stay on to head HP's business technology optimization group.
The tender offer is subject to a number of closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in HP's fiscal fourth quarter.
HP said it would tender for all outstanding shares of Opsware, a supplier of software used to automate computer data centers, at $14.25 each, a 38.6 percent premium to Opsware's closing price of $10.28 on Nasdaq on Friday.
The deal comes on the heals of other software acquisitions by HP, including its purchase of Mercury Interactive last year for $4.5 billion and its purchase of Peregrine Systems for $425 million in 2005.
The $1.6 billion price tag on the Opsware deal is net of existing cash and debt, the companies said. Opsware said it has about $65 million of cash on hand and only $100,000 in debt.
After the deal is completed, Opsware will become part of the HP Software business. Most of Opsware's 550 employees are expected to move to HP, and Opsware Chief Executive Ben Horowitz will stay on to head HP's business technology optimization group.
The tender offer is subject to a number of closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in HP's fiscal fourth quarter.
IT companies move in on Romania
BUCHAREST, Romania (Reuters) -- In the mobile phone version of the "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" video game, the torches hanging along the dark walls of Hogwarts glow in an eerily realistic fashion.
Romania is known for its strong computing and language skills coupled with cheap labor.
"We invented the technology, it's called 'dynamic lighting'," said Mihai Pohontu, general manager of Romania's mobile phone branch of Electronic Arts Inc, the world's biggest video game publisher.
Romanian programmers, such as Pohontu's team, are among the most sought-after in the world as large international IT companies turn to the east European country to take advantage of strong computing and language skills coupled with cheap labor.
Its computer literacy is not without its dark side -- the country has an unenviable reputation as a hotbed for computer fraud and a large community of hackers.
But legitimate IT is one of Romania's fastest growing export sectors with turnover of about 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion).
Roughly 90 percent of some 1,000 IT companies in Romania are foreign-owned and the government hopes exports will reach 1 billion euros in the next couple of years.
In February, Bill Gates opened a Microsoft Corp. technical support center in Bucharest. The investment followed, among others, the launch of a development center by Amazon.com Inc in the university town of Iasi in 2005.
That is the online retailer's only software development hub in Europe besides one in Scotland's Edinburgh. Other centers are located in India, the United States and South Africa.
"Romanian programmers are exceptionally creative. And in games, you need to explore," said Pohontu.
Prospects for large cash inflows from the European Union after Romania joined the bloc this January, cut-rate taxes and low wages add to Romania's appeal.
"In Eastern Europe, Romania is appreciated as having the biggest growth potential together with Turkey and Russia," said Stefan Cojanu, head of Oracle Corp in Romania.
The software maker, which has a support and software development center in Romania, has doubled its local staff to 1,000 over the last year since opening a tower office in central Bucharest. It plans to hire an additional 500 employees.
"The geographical distance, the similar time zone and business mentality argue for us to develop our activities in a country where costs are also lower," Cojanu said.
Romania's low wages of around $600 a month compare with $1,050 in Poland and $950 in the Czech Republic. Both countries also attract hefty investment in the IT sector.
However, some see a risk the sector is overheating. Double-digit wage growth and a shortage of skilled labor is dampening the enthusiasm of some investors and Romania is struggling with emigration as workers leave for better pay.
"The battle for specialists is very intense," said Ana Ber, head of human resources firm Dr.Pendl & Dr.Piswanger.
"There aren't enough of them, especially as many emigrated."
Industry observers say this state of affairs has prompted companies to focus on building support or software development centers, which need cheaper and lower skilled labor, rather than hiring high-end programmers.
"Romania remains good for outsourcing but not for first-class software authors," said Dragos Stanescu, sales and marketing manager at GECAD, a Romanian company that sold RAV Antivirus technology to Microsoft in 2003.
"The brains are already with companies that have good salaries and it is costly to buy them. A good senior programmer can earn 2,000 euros gross a month. Plus a 30 percent raise to buy him, and you have a salary of a good programmer in Germany."
FBI data show Romania may be the biggest single source of online auction fraud in the world, a multi-million dollar industry that scams people using Web sites like eBay.
"It's highly organized. They create fake accounts to trick people into thinking they are insured," said Gary Dickson, FBI representative in Romania.
"If Romanians were stopped, the amount of online fraud would drop significantly."
Experts say some 70 percent of software used in Romania is pirated, and salesmen still visit office buildings in central Bucharest to sell pirated CDs and DVDs.
Some hackers hope their skills will help secure employment, although breaking into other people's networks for fame or as part of a job CV has its dangers.
"The Romanian hacking community is quite large. They see the computer as a ticket out of the country. It is the easiest way to get a better-paid job abroad," said Victor Faur.
He faces a potential 54-year jail term if convicted on charges of hacking into U.S. government computers, including NASA. He was indicted in 2006.
"I saw a computer for the first time when I was 14. And I was glued (to it)," said Faur, 23
Romania is known for its strong computing and language skills coupled with cheap labor.
"We invented the technology, it's called 'dynamic lighting'," said Mihai Pohontu, general manager of Romania's mobile phone branch of Electronic Arts Inc, the world's biggest video game publisher.
Romanian programmers, such as Pohontu's team, are among the most sought-after in the world as large international IT companies turn to the east European country to take advantage of strong computing and language skills coupled with cheap labor.
Its computer literacy is not without its dark side -- the country has an unenviable reputation as a hotbed for computer fraud and a large community of hackers.
But legitimate IT is one of Romania's fastest growing export sectors with turnover of about 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion).
Roughly 90 percent of some 1,000 IT companies in Romania are foreign-owned and the government hopes exports will reach 1 billion euros in the next couple of years.
In February, Bill Gates opened a Microsoft Corp. technical support center in Bucharest. The investment followed, among others, the launch of a development center by Amazon.com Inc in the university town of Iasi in 2005.
That is the online retailer's only software development hub in Europe besides one in Scotland's Edinburgh. Other centers are located in India, the United States and South Africa.
"Romanian programmers are exceptionally creative. And in games, you need to explore," said Pohontu.
Prospects for large cash inflows from the European Union after Romania joined the bloc this January, cut-rate taxes and low wages add to Romania's appeal.
"In Eastern Europe, Romania is appreciated as having the biggest growth potential together with Turkey and Russia," said Stefan Cojanu, head of Oracle Corp in Romania.
The software maker, which has a support and software development center in Romania, has doubled its local staff to 1,000 over the last year since opening a tower office in central Bucharest. It plans to hire an additional 500 employees.
"The geographical distance, the similar time zone and business mentality argue for us to develop our activities in a country where costs are also lower," Cojanu said.
Romania's low wages of around $600 a month compare with $1,050 in Poland and $950 in the Czech Republic. Both countries also attract hefty investment in the IT sector.
However, some see a risk the sector is overheating. Double-digit wage growth and a shortage of skilled labor is dampening the enthusiasm of some investors and Romania is struggling with emigration as workers leave for better pay.
"The battle for specialists is very intense," said Ana Ber, head of human resources firm Dr.Pendl & Dr.Piswanger.
"There aren't enough of them, especially as many emigrated."
Industry observers say this state of affairs has prompted companies to focus on building support or software development centers, which need cheaper and lower skilled labor, rather than hiring high-end programmers.
"Romania remains good for outsourcing but not for first-class software authors," said Dragos Stanescu, sales and marketing manager at GECAD, a Romanian company that sold RAV Antivirus technology to Microsoft in 2003.
"The brains are already with companies that have good salaries and it is costly to buy them. A good senior programmer can earn 2,000 euros gross a month. Plus a 30 percent raise to buy him, and you have a salary of a good programmer in Germany."
FBI data show Romania may be the biggest single source of online auction fraud in the world, a multi-million dollar industry that scams people using Web sites like eBay.
"It's highly organized. They create fake accounts to trick people into thinking they are insured," said Gary Dickson, FBI representative in Romania.
"If Romanians were stopped, the amount of online fraud would drop significantly."
Experts say some 70 percent of software used in Romania is pirated, and salesmen still visit office buildings in central Bucharest to sell pirated CDs and DVDs.
Some hackers hope their skills will help secure employment, although breaking into other people's networks for fame or as part of a job CV has its dangers.
"The Romanian hacking community is quite large. They see the computer as a ticket out of the country. It is the easiest way to get a better-paid job abroad," said Victor Faur.
He faces a potential 54-year jail term if convicted on charges of hacking into U.S. government computers, including NASA. He was indicted in 2006.
"I saw a computer for the first time when I was 14. And I was glued (to it)," said Faur, 23
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