Computer knowledge undervalued

Computer skills are still undervalued in the UK board room, according to software giant Microsoft. It surveyed 500 UK business leaders and found that a knowledge of information technology (IT) was seen as the seventh most important workplace skill. Instead, team working and interpersonal skills were seen as the core factors, followed by initiative.Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said IT skills were needed from the shop floor to the chief executive. "One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker," said Gates... BBC

Iraqis demand better life amid new calm

With security improved in the Iraqi capital, the BBC's Crispin Thorold meets Iraqis who want to see other things get better, and meets the man charged with getting it done. Now that bombs are relatively rare, and the gunfire is sporadic, the gentle whirring of generators have become the sound of Baghdad.Electricity supply in the Iraqi capital is scarce at best. People have to make do with just a few hours of power every day, and sometimes there is none... BBC

Greener way to recover methane

Report in Nature has shown how crude oil in deposits around the world is naturally broken down by microbes to methane. Scientists say that increasing microbe activity would produce a more energy-efficient method of methane recovery.It is likely field tests will start by 2009. The ability to recover methane directly from deeply buried oil reserves means energy-intensive and thermal polluting processes are removed. But methods like injecting steam into the reservoirs to heat and loosen the heavy viscous oil, so it can be pumped to... BBC

US sets terms for climate talks

Delegates at the UN summit in Bali have agreed a deal on curbing climate change after days of bitter wrangling. Agreement was reached after a U-turn from the US, which had wanted firmer commitments from developing countries.Environment groups said they were disappointed by the lack of firm targets for reducing emissions. The "Bali roadmap" initiates a two-year process of negotiations designed to agree a new set of emissions targets to replace those in the Kyoto Protocol... BBC

UN warns on soaring food prices

Soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in poor countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. Food prices have risen an unprecedented 40% in the last year and many nations may be unable to cope, the agency says. It is calling for help for farmers in poor countries to buy seeds and fertiliser, and for a review of the impact of bio-fuels on food production.FAO says 37 countries face food crises due to conflict and disaster. "Without support for poor farmers and their families in the hardest-hit countries, they will not be able to cope... BBC

China's economic muscle shrinks

China's economy, the world's second largest, is not as big as was thought, a report by the World Bank has claimed. According to the bank, previous calculations have overestimated the size of China's economy by about 40%.The revelation came after the bank updated the way it calculated the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The bank said the findings meant China would not become the world's biggest economy in 2012 as forecast. It also meant China was poorer than estimated.This in turn would influence future aid and investment plans, the World Bank said. China gains extra aid from international institutions and has asked for help in climate change talks because of its status as a developing country... BBC

Ageing threatens China economy

China's position as the world's major supplier of low-cost labour could be eroded by an ageing population, the authorities have warned. There are six workers for each retiree in China, but that could narrow to two-to-one between 2030 and 2050, the National Committee on Ageing says. Officials say the economy will suffer as there will be fewer people working and more older people to support.China's low-cost labour has provided the base for its economic growth. Improved living standards and strict family planning laws have contributed to the demographic change."We might encounter the heaviest burden especially after 2030... BBC

Corn's key role as food and fuel

Price of food is on the rise. On the Chicago markets, the price of a bushel of wheat has gone over $10 for the first time. Soybeans are at a 34-year high. And corn is hitting new highs as well. International Monetary Fund says that over the past 12 months, "the world has experienced a substantial inflationary shock in the form of higher food prices".Simon Johnson, chief economist at the IMF, points to three factors as responsible for the spike in prices. First, increased demand from emerging economies like India and China, where consumers are demanding more calories in their diet. Second, weather. Droughts have had an impact in some parts of the world.But third is the contentious relationship between food and fuel... BBC

Why Pregnant Women Don't Topple

Scientists think they have figured out why pregnant women don't lose their balance and topple over despite ever-growing weight up front. Evolution provided them with slight differences from men in their lower backs and hip joints, allowing them to adjust their center of gravity, new research shows. This elegant engineering is seen only in female humans and our immediate ancestors who walked on two feet, but not in chimps and apes, according to a study published in Thursday's journal Nature."That's a big load that's pulling you forward," said Liza Shapiro, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas and the only one of the study's three authors who has actually been pregnant. "You experience discomfort. Maybe it would be a lot worse if (the design changes) were not there." Harvard anthropology researcher Katherine Whitcome found two physical differences in male and female backs that until now had gone unnoticed: One lower lumbar vertebra is wedged-shaped in women and more square in men; and a key hip joint is 14 percent larger in women than men when body size is taken into account... AP

Billionaires connect with the masses

Stuck in traffic jam in Istanbul in his bulletproof BMW, the richest man in Turkey lets loose with a satisfied grin. Since 2000 Husnu Ozyegin has spent more than $US50 million ($58 billion) of his money, building 36 primary schools and girls' dormitories in poor parts of Turkey. Next to the Turkish Government, Ozyegin is the country's biggest individual supporter of schools - and an official from the education ministry has told him his market share is increasing."Not bad," the founder of the corporate bank Finansbank says in his gruff, cigarette-scarred voice. "If I can have an impact on 1 million Turkish people in the next 10 years, I will be happy." The global wealth boom has created a new breed of billionaire in once-destitute countries like Turkey, India, Mexico and Russia. Propelled by their rising economies, robust currencies and globally competitive companies, they have ridden a surge in local stockmarkets that have reached previously untouchable heights in the past five years. Now a number of them are using their wealth to bolster their standing and push for social changes in their homelands... The Age

Bill Gates - Skills you need to succeed

One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker. In almost every job now, people use software and work with information to enable their organisation to operate more effectively.That's true for everyone from the retail store worker who uses a handheld scanner to track inventory to the chief executive who uses business intelligence software to analyse critical market trends. So if you look at how progress is made and where competitive advantage is created... BBC

What is Bill Gates Learning From Open Source?

"In the world of Free Open Source Software communities, Microsoft is often viewed as the very epitome of the Cathedral-style model of software production. But is Bill Gates learning from the software development phenomenon that he once compared loosely to communism? In commenting on the results of a Microsoft-commissioned survey of approximately 500 board-level executives about the importance of interpersonal skills versus raw IT coding skills, Gates starts to sound a bit more like a member of the Apache Foundation than the take-no-prisoners king of cut-throat competition: 'Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs... Slashdot

Caution urged in new method for stem cells

Stem cell wars are not over, say leading researchers at Harvard and other universities who believe that the cloning of human embryos still represents the key to developing effective treatments for an array of horrific diseases. Recent weeks have seen spectacular breakthroughs in creating embryonic-like stem cells without making or destroying human embryos. Politicians, including President Bush, together with religious activists and some highly visible biologists have been quick to proclaim that the new technique for genetically "reprogramming" ordinary adult skin tissue into stem cells marks the moral high road to the future.It is a route that bypasses thorny issues raised by the use of frozen or cloned human embryos, and is also technically simpler than cloning... Boston

Analysts exurberant about Macworld Expo

Does anyone else remember a time when the days leading up to Macworld would be filled by web sites and message boards gossiping about fantastic new products from Apple? It's still that time, but now instead of some guy sitting in his underwear and posting from his parents' basement, the lead rumor mongers are CNBC reporters with slick hair and six-figure financial analysts in corner offices. AppleInsider has the latest research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who is now predicting... well, everything."We believe the timing is right for Apple to update most of its Macs. Some models may only see minor specification upgrades to newer, faster Intel processors. The Mac Pro will likely get Penryn CPUs from Intel and maybe BTO Blu-ray drives, while the laptops will likely get more storage and a CPU bump... Ars Technica

Facebook Sues Porn Company Over Hacking

The social network claims a bot from the Canadian porn site tried to gather its members' data. Facebook is suing seventeen people and a Canadian Internet porn company for allegedly trying to mine the popular social networking site for its users' personal details.Facebook alleges that in June servers controlled by the defendants used automated scripts to make more than 200,000 requests for personal information stored on Facebook's site... PC World

Black hole 'bully' blasts galaxy

Powerful jet of particles from a "supermassive" black hole has been seen blasting a nearby galaxy, according to findings from the US space agency. Galaxies have been seen colliding before, but it is the first time this form of galactic violence has been witnessed by astronomers.This could have a profound effect on any planets in the jet's path and could also trigger a burst of star formation... BBC

Jet From Supermassive Black Hole Seen Blasting Neighboring Galaxy

Jet of highly charged radiation from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is blasting another galaxy nearby - an act of galactic violence that astronomers said yesterday they have never seen before. Using images from the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other sources, scientists said the extremely intense jet from the larger galaxy can be seen shooting across 20,000 light-years of space and plowing into the outer gas and dust of the smaller one.The smaller galaxy is being transformed by the radiation and the jet is being bent before shooting millions of light-years farther in a new direction... Washington Post

Planning your future career is a tough job

Gearing up for the workforce is a bittersweet sensation for any young adult. After years of academic hothousing and competing for a coveted degree, picking from the current smorgasbord of opportunities comes with some sense of grief.Okay, so you have fantastic grades which qualify you for an entry-level position - just slightly above that of an intern, but still at the bottom of the corporate food chain - but it seems the battle has only begun. What awaits us is a matter of clocking overtime, spending weekends in the office to prove our commitment, in a job that we picked not because we were driven by passion, but because it made practical, financial sense... AsiaOne

China to survey dialects to better protect them

China will next year survey the thousands of dialects spoken in the country with an eye to protecting ones which are threatened with extinction, a state newspaper said. The survey will also look at the influence of dialects on Mandarin, the official national language, and set up a database to record them, the China Daily said on Tuesday, quoting Mr Li Yuming, deputy head of the state language affairs committee.Focus will be the Shanghai dialect, 'as it is one of the most popular', the report said. 'As more and more young people in Shanghai use the dialect to communicate online, and as its vocabulary expands, it will be standardised and promoted as a distinct local language... AsiaOne

Asia shares bruised by stagflation worry

Shares in Asia took another beating on Tuesday, with financial stocks and exporters hardest hit on concerns that a slowing economy in the United States combined with accelerating price rises could lead to stagflation. Investors shunned riskier stocks and sought comfort in government bonds, worried that stagflation, which refers to when prices rise and growth stagnates, would curb spending and drag out the credit crisis. Stagflation was last seen in the 1970s following a massive spike in oil prices.Oil prices edged up towards US$91 (S$133) a barrel on Tuesday, while Japanese government bonds firmed, tracking gains in Treasuries. News that sentiment among US home builders held at a record low for a third consecutive month in December intensified worries about the US housing market slump - the trigger for the credit crisis... AsiaOne