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IT hubs launched for Kenyan schools

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 19 September 2013 | 23.35

18 September 2013 Last updated at 13:22 ET

Eighteen digital hubs for Kenyan primary schools, allowing pupils access to computers and the internet, have been officially launched.

Funded by the British council and Microsoft, they are intended to serve more than 100 schools.

The BBC's Frenny Jowi says a hub she visited in Nairobi had 21 computers.

Give the numbers, they seem like a drop in the ocean, but the scheme is a significant step for Kenya's state education sector, she says.

Kenya's 639 state primary schools are often overcrowded, with up to 1,000 pupils at each institution, our reporter says.

The hub at the Kilimani School in the capital, Nairobi, will be serving five schools altogether - and sessions will be timetabled.

Continue reading the main story

It has motivated them and has raised their esteem and their interest in learning"

End Quote Gideon Wasike Kilimani School headmaster
'Easy to use'

But our reporter says it was evident that the pupils at Kilimani were enjoying the computer lab.

"The computers are easier to use and give a lot of information about what you are studying," one 10-year-old boy told the BBC.

Each desktop computer is loaded with Microsoft's Encarta reference encyclopaedia.

The digital hubs now also have full and free internet access following a three-year deal with telecoms giant Bharti Airtel, the British Council said.

They have been built over the last year and during that time, some 2,000 teachers have been trained in IT skills, it said.

Kilimani's headmaster Gideon Wasike said there has already been a positive effect on students since the pilot hub had opened in August 2012.

"It has motivated them and has raised their esteem and their interest in learning," he told the BBC.

"They're able to do a lot of research on their own."

Our correspondent says the hub project - dubbed Badiliko, meaning "change" in kiSwahili - was officially launched at a ceremony at Kilimani school on Wednesday morning.

The scheme has also been launched in eight other sub-Saharan countries, establishing 127 digital hubs in total.

In recent years, Kenya has become a centre for information technology - and the government has launched a project to build a new city by 2033 intended to be an IT business hub called Konza Technology City and nicknamed "Africa's Silicon Savannah".

Our reporter says that while Kenya's many private schools have long had computers for students, the state sector struggles even to provide enough text books.

One of President Uhuru Kenyatta's election pledges this year was to provide pupils starting junior school next year with a free laptop.

But it has proved a controversial plan, with critics saying it is a luxury given that many state schools do not have enough classrooms, teachers and even toilets, our reporter says.


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Diablo 3 auction houses are doomed

18 September 2013 Last updated at 13:36 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Video game Diablo 3 is to ditch its auction houses after its developer acknowledged the facility "undermines" gameplay.

Players are currently able to buy and sell weapons, armour and other virtual items to each other using either real-world cash or in-game gold.

Blizzard took a cut of any transactions involving real-world money, offering it an extra source of income.

But it has now acknowledged that the facility "short-circuited" the title.

It follows complaints from gamers that the auction houses made the game less satisfying to play as they undermined the challenge of the battle to defeat Diablo, the "lord of terror".

The company said that the auction houses would be removed on 18 March 2014, giving users a chance to adjust.

"We firmly believe that by shutting down the real-money and the gold auction houses, it really paves the way to make sure that killing monsters in-game is the most rewarding, the most satisfying, the most compelling way of getting your hands on those items," said Josh Mosqueira, Diablo 3's game director.

Although the move may please many, it is has caused controversy with some as it effectively makes their virtual possessions worthless outside the game's horror-themed fantasy environment.

"You might as well be robbing us," wrote one user on the company's forums.

"I have accumulated about $100 [£62] on the real-money auction house... if you allowed me to transfer it to Paypal even, that would be something, but you basically just ripped off every successful player on your game."

'Glacial speed'

Although people had long traded other games' items with each other ahead of Diablo 3's launch, these transactions had typically been private affairs arranged outside of a game-world, sometimes in breach of the rules.

Blizzard itself had banned players of another game - World of Warcraft - from buying and selling gear outside the title.

Diablo 3 marked a change of strategy. UK users, for instance, now faced a £1 fee for each item sold in the real-money auctions and 15% charge of the final sale price for in-game commodities including "gold", which itself could be used to make purchases.

Bearing in mind Diablo 3 proved to be the fastest ever selling PC game in the weeks after its launch, it offered a potentially lucrative way for the company to continue making money after players had bought the subscription-free title.

"Blizzard were leading the way with the real-money auction house, designed to take what was being done in a grey economy and making it legitimate, and indeed profitable," John Walker, editor of PC gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun told the BBC.

"They just did it in the wrong game. The very purpose of Diablo is to run around killing stuff and having them then drop new weapons and new equipment which allows you to kill more creatures, letting you gather better items - creating a cycle which drives you to carry on.

"There's no doubt that what went wrong was always going to go wrong, and at its glacial speed Blizzard have acknowledged this."

Despite the firm's U-turn another industry watcher said it would not spell the end for real-money auction houses.

"This is not a condemnation of the model itself but rather its implementation," said Ed Barton, director of digital media at the consultancy Strategy Analytics.

"Diablo the game itself obviously went through two previous iterations where it didn't have an auction house and was not designed with the assumption that one would exist as a additional revenue stream for the developer.

"For success at charging for this type of transaction between users, that has to be baked into the design from the moment the initial game design document is drawn up."


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Facebook sorry for suicide dating ad

18 September 2013 Last updated at 06:21 ET

Facebook has apologised for publishing a dating ad featuring a photo of a 17-year-old who had killed herself after complaining of being cyber-bullied.

Canadian Rehtaeh Parsons took her own life in April having been severely bullied after a separate photo, showing her alleged rape by four boys, was circulated online, her mother has said.

Her father said on Wednesday that he had been "disgusted" by the advert.

Facebook said it had banned the company involved from the social network.

"This is an extremely unfortunate example of an advertiser scraping an image from the internet and using it in their ad campaign," a spokesman said.

"This is a gross violation of our ad policies and we have removed the ad and permanently deleted the advertiser's account.

"We apologise for any harm this caused."

The advert had used the title "Find Love in Canada!" and referred users to ionechat.com.

That website is no longer online and its owner could not be reached for comment.

According to Rehtaeh's mother, Leah, the Nova Scotia-based teenager had attended a party two years earlier where she had got drunk and been raped.

And a photo of the incident had subsequently been circulated online.

"People harassed her, boys she didn't know started texting her and Facebooking asking her to have sex with them since she had had sex with their friends. It just never stopped," Mrs Parsons told CBC News in April.

Two 18-year-old men have since appeared in court charged with child pornography offences. They are expected to enter pleas on 19 September.

Ms Parsons's father was alerted to the advert earlier this week and posted a message to his blog to express his anger.

"I am completely bewildered and disgusted by this," wrote Glen Canning in a message titled "Possibly the worst Facebook ad ever".

"This is my daughter, Rehtaeh. They have her in an ad for meeting singles. I don't even know what to say."

Nova Scotia's government passed a law following Ms Parsons's death, creating a police unit dedicated to pursuing cyber-bullies. The government expects it to become active before the end of the year.


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Brazil moves to shield data from US

18 September 2013 Last updated at 09:20 ET

Brazil is considering ways to make local use of the internet less dependent on US-based services, following leaks about Washington's cyberspy operations.

The South American nation has suggested forcing internet firms to open data centres in Brazil, which would be used to store locally generated material.

It is also pursuing a plan to build a new internet cable.

The project would offer a way for data to bypass the US.

Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, has postponed a state visit to Washington after allegations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had targeted her emails and phone calls.

It has also been alleged that the NSA hacked state-run oil company Petrobras and intercepted billions of emails and calls to Brazilians.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has previously defended the NSA's actions, saying they were necessary to combat terrorism.

"Brazil and other countries will understand exactly what we are doing, why and how - and we will work together to make sure that whatever is done is done in a way that respects our friends and our partners," he said last month on a visit to the country.

Brics cable

Brazil's IT policy secretary Virgilio Almeida has suggested that internet firms would have to operate data centres in the country, which would make them subject to local privacy laws.

Continue reading the main story

The Brazilian president was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Her decision to cancel (or officially, to postpone) the Washington visit will be seized upon by some as an act of petty nationalism.

Some Brazilian business leaders, worried by the precarious economic climate, will question the wisdom of antagonising such an important business.

But the political pressure was greater still. There was fury in Brazil, not only at the revelation that the president's own conversations and communications may have been spied upon by the NSA but that US interests were allegedly involved in blatant economic espionage against major Brazilian interests, including Petrobras.

Dilma Rousseff will have been aware of the feelings of ordinary Brazilians had her Washington trip gone ahead.

The perception here in Brazil is that the Obama administration has yet to give an adequate response or an apology.

In addition, he said, the government might move to ensure that its own data about tax information and other sensitive subjects would be stored locally rather than in the cloud.

Last week a Brazilian official specifically named Facebook, Google and Microsoft as examples of companies that would have to change their practices, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.

The three companies are among those that have acknowledged handing over data about "national security matters" after legally binding requests from the US authorities.

However, there is no suggestion that Brazilians would be barred from using US-based storage services.

Brazil is also backing a separate plan to create the Brics Cable.

This would see a fibre-optic link run from the Brazilian city of Fortaleza to Vladivostok, Russia. The link would pass through Africa and Asia and connect with cables running to mainland Europe and the Middle East.

There would also be a link between Fortaleza and Miami, but it would mean data would not need to go through Florida before travelling elsewhere.

At present the vast majority of Central and South America's internet data is routed through a single building in Miami known as the Network Access Point.

According to documents leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, the NSA and its UK counterpart GCHQ have used cable taps to collect "vast amounts" of data passing though their countries, which are then analysed using encryption-cracking tools.

The Brics Cable's organisers hope to have their 34,000km (21,000 miles) link ready to use by the end of 2015.

Brazil's telecom firm Telebras is also planning to launch the country's first communications satellite in 2016. Its military currently relies on a system run by Mexico's Embratel.

In addition the country's postal service has announced plans to create an encrypted email service to offer the public an alternative to Gmail, Yahoo email or Outlook.com.

Limited effect

One expert warned that such measures would give Brazil only a limited degree of protection from the NSA.

"They are a step towards getting out the very strong control the US has over the internet infrastructure," said Dr Joss Wright, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute.

"But if you send an email from your encrypted Brazilian provider to somebody else who has a Gmail account then Google is getting to read the thread of information anyway.

"Regarding the new cables, you can't say, 'My data should go from here to here across this particular path.'

"It's calculated on a very ad-hoc basis where it is going to go... which means you can't guarantee that just because there is a new high-capacity cable running from Brazil to Russia that all the data will go through it rather than an alternative."

He added that taking steps to make firms subject to local data protection laws might also be easier said than done.

"Look at the EU - it already has very strict rules about sharing and processing data and the general rule is that you can only share data if you share it with a country that has equivalently strong protection laws," he told the BBC.

"However, the US being the US has a get-out-of-jail-free card with what are called the 'safe harbour provisions'.

"They are an industry self-regulatory agreement which says they will treat data according to EU standards. But there is no oversight, there's no comeback if they do not live up to them."


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Microsoft in temporary browser fix

18 September 2013 Last updated at 09:59 ET

Microsoft has released a temporary patch to fix a "zero-day", or previously unknown, vulnerability in its Internet Explorer (IE) web browser.

The software giant said the bug, which relates to the browser's memory, could affect all versions of IE6 to 10.

Attackers could set up websites specifically designed to exploit the vulnerability, Microsoft said, and then run malicious code on users' computers.

Targeted attacks directed at IE8 and 9 had already been reported, it said.

"This is a serious vulnerability potentially affecting millions of Windows computers," Dana Tamir, director at security company Trusteer, told the BBC.

"Hackers are already exploiting this so I hope Microsoft produces a full patch within a few days," she said.

In a blog post, Microsoft's Dustin Childs advised concerned users to set internet and local security zone settings to "high" to block ActiveX controls and active scripting.

He also recommended changing IE settings to prompt users before running active scripting.

But doing this "may affect usability", he said, so users should add sites they trust, and visit often, to the IE trusted sites zone.

Microsoft's Fix It patch applies only to 32-bit versions of IE. It is not being rolled out automatically and is not intended to be a replacement for scheduled security updates, the company said.

"This temporary workaround is like applying a Band-Aid to a wound," said Ms Tamir.

Last week, Microsoft admitted that it had been forced to rewrite four of its security updates just three days after they had been issued.

Customers had reported receiving repeated demands to install the updates even after they had already done so.


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Blackberry announces big handset

18 September 2013 Last updated at 11:40 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Blackberry has announced its biggest smartphone to date.

The Z30 features a 5in (12.7cm) screen and a relatively large battery, which, the company says, should last more than two days between charges.

It is the first product to be released by the Canadian company since it announced last month that it was considering putting itself up for sale.

Some analysts have suggested a deal could result in its handset division being shut down.

They say the company's patents, software and cash reserves could make it worth about $5bn (£3.1bn).

However, they add the hardware unit itself has "negative value" and any suitor might wish to do a deal in which they did not have to acquire it.

"Why would you want to own a platform that is obviously in decline?" asked Colin Gillis, director of research at investment advisers BGC Financial.

"Android is clearly number one, Apple's iOS is number two, and now Windows Phone is number three.

"Blackberry's hardware and operating system themselves are fine, but there's not much more beyond that - it's not a meaningful platform."

App store gaps

According to market-research company IDC, Blackberry accounted for 9.3% of all smartphones shipped to the UK during the first half of the year, thanks in part to interest generated by the launch of its new operating system BB10.

But its position elsewhere is much weaker. The company only accounted for 1.7% of all smartphones shipped to the US and 0.1% to China, the world's biggest markets, during the same period, according to IDC.

The announcement of the new handset indicates the company wish to emulate the several Android manufacturers who have found success with larger screens.

Samsung and Sony are among the companies that have recently unveiled new so-called "phablets".

But Blackberry faces the problem that its app store is still missing several of the big-name programs available for Google's operating system. One expert warned that the current uncertainty over its future might discourage software writers from filling in those gaps.

"The rumours might affect developers and that in turn might affect consumers - even if many are not aware of the problems that Blackberry currently finds itself in," said Tony Cripps, principal analyst at the telecoms consultancy Ovum.

"The same issue really surrounds a 5in Blackberry device as their other smaller ones.

"By going it alone as far as its platform and ecosystem strategy is concerned, it's pretty much left itself at great risk of not putting together an offering that is very appealing either to the end user or the third-party developers."

System update

Blackberry said the Z30 would be released in the UK and Middle East next week, ahead of other regions.

It is also releasing an update to its operating system - taking it to version 10.2 - which it said offered "hundreds of refinements plus many new features".

These include the ability to preview and respond to messages without having to switch out of whatever app the owner is using, and the introduction of a "priority hub" that groups together information and emails that the device judges to be most important to the user.

The firm said that the update should be available to owners of its existing Z10 and Q10 devices from mid-October.


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Nintendo visionary Yamauchi dies

19 September 2013 Last updated at 07:08 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Japanese businessman credited with transforming Nintendo into a world-leading video games company, has died aged 85.

Mr Yamauchi ran the firm for 53 years, and was its second-largest shareholder at the time of his death.

The company confirmed the news in an emailed statement.

A spokesman said the firm was in mourning over the "loss of the former Nintendo president Mr Hiroshi Yamauchi, who sadly passed away this morning."

He died of pneumonia at a hospital in central Japan, the company said, adding that a funeral will take place on Sunday.

Mr Yamauchi ran the company from 1949 until 2002.

In that time, he took what was a small-time collectable trading card company and built it into one of the most recognisable - and successful - video games brands today.

"Hiroshi Yamauchi transformed a run-of the-mill trading card company into an entertainment empire in video games," said Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and former chairman of publisher Eidos.

"He understood the social value of play, and economic potential of electronic gaming. Most importantly he steered Nintendo on its own course and was unconcerned by the actions of his competitors. He was a true visionary."

Rob Crossley, associate editor of Computer and Video Games magazine, told the BBC: "You cannot overestimate the influence the man had on the games industry."

"He spearheaded Nintendo as they moved into the arcade business, with hits such as Donkey Kong.

"This man was the president of Nintendo during the NES, the SNES, the N64 and the Gamecube - the first two were transformative pieces of electronic entertainment."

Household names

Mr Yamauchi took over at Nintendo after his grandfather suffered a stroke. After several years developing the firm's existing trading card business, Mr Yamauchi turned to electronic entertainment.

He utilised the work of legendary games designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who had made Donkey Kong, as a way of breaking into the US arcade game market.

Mr Miyamoto's later work was pivotal in the success of Nintendo's home entertainment systems - titles such as Super Mario, Legend of Zelda and Starfox became commercial smashes and household names.

Mr Yamauchi stood down as president in 2002, taking a place on the firm's board of directors. In 2005, he left the company entirely.

Since his departure, Nintendo has gone on to produce the hugely successful Wii console, but has floundered in the past 12 months due to disappointing sales of its latest effort, the Wii U.

Mr Yamauchi, one of Japan's richest men, also used to own the Seattle Mariners major league baseball club before selling it in 2004 to Nintendo's US-based operation.

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC


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Blackberry messaging goes to rivals

19 September 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET

From this weekend, users will no longer need to own a Blackberry device to access its BBM messaging service.

Blackberry has confirmed BBM will be available as a free download for Apple and Android devices but not for Windows phones.

The move comes as the Wall Street Journal reports that Blackberry will lay off 40% of its staff before 2014.

Widening the appeal of BBM could be a clever way for the company to reinvent itself, said experts.

"Blackberry is having a tough time, sales are down, it is losing market to Windows phones and it needs to do something to stop the rot. This is as good a move as any," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe.

"Offering it across other platforms broadens the appeal of BBM," he added.

BBM will be available for Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean while iPhones running iOS 6 or iOS 7 can also download it. It will be available for Android from Saturday and for iOS from Sunday.

"With more than a billion Android, iOS and Blackberry smartphones in the market, and no dominant mobile messaging platform this is absolutely the right time to bring BBM to Android and iPhone customers," said Andrew Bocking, vice-president for BBM in a blogpost.

Reinventing itself

BBM has been described as Blackberry's "crown jewels" and the service hit a chord with a mass consumer audience.

Offering it to a wider public will not make any money for the company.

"It could even cost it money," said Mr Green.

"The firm is having to reinvent itself and whether that will be by focusing on software, monetising BBM, licensing its products or joint ventures is not yet clear. At the moment it is throwing everything out there," said Mr Green.

Blackberry chief executive Thorsten Heins revealed the plan at the company's annual developers conference in May.

At the time, Mr Heins said that the move was a "statement of confidence" and would allow Blackberry Messenger to "become an independent multi-platform messaging solution".

It could prove disruptive to other messaging services such as Skype and Whatsapp.


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Android alternative gets $7m funding

19 September 2013 Last updated at 07:34 ET

A team of Android programmers has raised a $7m (£4.3m) investment to turn their hobby project into a rival to Google's phone operating system.

The CyanogenMod (CM) lets phone users swap the official version of Android for one that gives them more control over their phone or tablet.

It has reportedly been installed on over seven million Android devices.

The investment has helped found a company to employ the coders, who have been working on the project unpaid.

Cyanogen Inc will be based in Seattle and have as its technology chief Steve Kondik, who did a lot of the early work on the Android mod.

Installing the mod lets Android owners clean out unwanted apps and programs put on a phone by manufacturers and mobile operators.

In addition, it gives them access to apps and features developed solely for Cyanogen.

The first job of the company, wrote Mr Kondik, was to make a universal installer that eased the process of replacing the official Android code found on a phone with Cyanogen.

The current installation process was "hideous", admitted Mr Kondik, adding that the new installer would be available in a few weeks.

Taking a longer view, Mr Kondik said the goal of the company was to outdo Google and create an operating system for a phone that was "actually designed by and for the people who use it".

"We think that the time has come for your mobile device to truly be yours again, and we want to bring that idea to everybody," he wrote in a blog on the company's website.

In a separate blogpost Mitch Lasky, one of the venture capitalists who helped raise the cash, said Android's growth was opening up opportunities for companies such as Cyanogen that could improve on the experience provided to users by Google, handset makers and operators.

The fact that more than half of all Android owners ran an old version of the operating system showed there was room to improve that experience, he added.

"We believe that CM is poised to become one of the largest mobile operating systems in the world," he wrote.


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Google aims to help us live longer

19 September 2013 Last updated at 11:11 ET Jane WakefieldBy Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

Google has a history of left-field projects, from self-drive cars to weather balloons.

So it will come as little surprise that it is now addressing one of the biggest issues of all - ageing.

It has formed a company named Calico, which will be led by Apple chairman Arthur Levinson.

Google co-founder Larry Page said it would focus on "health and wellbeing, in particular the challenge of ageing and associated diseases".

Moonshot thinking

There were few details about how the firm would tackle the issues, but experts think that it is likely that it will use Google's vast databases to search for solutions.

"Google is exceptionally well placed to get involved through their understanding of consumer activity in the delta between big data and information," said Ovum analyst Joe Dignan.

Mr Page has high ambitions for the spin-off.

"Illness and ageing affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives," he said in a blog post.

Increasingly big data is being used to help "solve" health issues.

Information management firm EMC is heavily involved in healthcare, using data analytics to predict, for example, who may be more prone to getting MRSA.

"There is a focus on big data now. It is about changing the current model of healthcare to a wellness model by combining genomic data [information about DNA] with clinical data to give personalised medical care," said Chris Roche, EMC's chief technology officer for big data.

In an interview with Time magazine, Mr Page questioned whether current scientific enquiry was focused in the right direction.

He said he found it surprising that finding a cure for cancer would only add three years to average life expectancy.

"When you really take a step back and look at it, yeah, there are many, many tragic cases of cancer, and it's very, very sad - but in the aggregate, it's not as big an advance as you might think."

Crazy ones

He himself has had health issues. He revealed in May he had been diagnosed with vocal cord paralysis, a nerve condition that affects his ability to speak.

Meanwhile co-founder Sergey Brin has been funding research into Parkinson's disease since he learnt in 2008 that he has a flawed gene that means that he has a 50% chance of getting the disease.

So far he has donated $132m (£82m) to help create a DNA database of 7,000 patients and to support work on treatments for the condition.

Some may raise an eyebrow that Google has chosen rival Apple's chairman Arthur Levinson to head up Calico but chief executive Tim Cook had no such concerns.

"For too many of our friends and family, life has been cut short or the quality of their life is too often lacking. Art is one of the crazy ones who thinks it doesn't have to be this way. There is no one better suited to lead this mission and I am excited to see the results," he said in a statement.


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