Young should help older net users

A campaign is urging the six million older people in the UK who have never been online to get connected as a way to help stave off loneliness.A campaign is urging the six million older people in the UK who have never been online to get connected as a way to help stave off loneliness.

Read full story at BBC News Technologies.  


American Heritage of Invention and Technology 
What Technology Wants

Microsoft Sets IE9 Launch Date for March 14

Microsoft says 36 million copies of the beta and release candidate have been downloaded in the last seven months.

By Greg Keizer, Computerworld    Mar 10, 2011 1:08 am

Microsoft today announced it would launch Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) on Monday, March 14.

The announcement was no surprise: A month ago, Microsoft issued invitations to the press for a March 14 event at SXSW (South by Southwest Conferences and Festivals) in Austin, Texas. The company had also promised to ship IE9 in the first quarter, which ends in three weeks.
IE9 will be available for download from Microsoft's servers beginning at 9 a.m. PT Monday, said Dean Hachamovitch, the head of IE's engineering, in a blog post today.

At some point after the "release to the Web," or RTW of March 14, Microsoft will start offering the new browser to Windows Vista and Windows 7 users. If it hews to its usual practice, those offers will begin to appear about six weeks later.

Previously, Microsoft has given users the opportunity to reject or delay the installation of major browser upgrades. It has also published a blocking toolkit that enterprise IT administrators can use to insure IE9 doesn't make it onto company PCs.

Windows XP users will not see the IE9 RTW offer because the browser does not work on the still-dominant operating system, an omission that rivals have used to their advantage.
The launch of IE9 comes one year after Microsoft delivered the browser's first "platform preview," a bare-bones early build that lacked an interface and basic navigation tools. IE9 follows its predecessor, IE8, by two years, a slightly-shorter cycle than the two years and five months between IE7 and IE8.
Microsoft released a public beta of IE9 last September, and followed that with a "release candidate," (RC) a month ago.

According to Microsoft, 36 million copies of the beta and RC have been downloaded in the last seven months.

While the numbers may be impressive, IE9 has yet to make an impact on Microsoft's global browser usage share. Statistics from Web metrics company Net Applications pegged IE9's share in February at 0.6%, the same as IE8 had six months before that browser's March 2009 launch.

IE's total usage share has slipped about three percentage points since Microsoft introduced the beta of IE9.
However, it appears likely that Microsoft will beat Mozilla to the upgrade punch Monday. The latter's Firefox 4, once slated to ship in November 2010, is nearing completion -- Mozilla has wrapped up the first RC of Firefox 4 -- but will apparently go final after IE9.

Like Microsoft, Mozilla has high hopes its newest browser: Firefox's share has dropped three percentage points since it peaked at 24.7% in November 2009.

IE9 RTW should be available at several locations on Microsoft's site, including its Download Center and the IE page.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack (3-User)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit System Builder 1pk
Microsoft Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade [Home Premium to Professional]

UN chief urges young people to use the Internet for positive social change

Here ICTs & Technologies want to share the below significant statement by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 


3 March 2011 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged students to use information technology and the Internet creatively to chart a better future for humanity, saying that the web is a powerful resource and a tool for development.

“The web is integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Online classrooms and e-learning are creating new opportunities for education,” the Secretary-General said in a message to the 35th UN International School-UN Conference, whose theme this year is “The Web: Wiring the World.”

“Web-based data collection is a key to charting our progress and identifying areas requiring extra attention. Mobile phones with broadband technology are helping to identify malnourished children and to connect HIV counsellors with patients,” Mr. Ban told the conference in New York.

He underlined the UN’s commitment to the freedom of information, as proclaimed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to promoting universal access to the information and communications technologies (ICTs) that are central to realizing that right.

“One initiative through which we are pursuing this effort is the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which was launched last year by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO [UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] and which aims to bring broadband technology to everyone, everywhere, so that countries at all stages of development can benefit,” Mr. Ban said.

Emphasizing the power of the Internet to bring about social change, the Secretary-General cited the “dramatic events in North Africa and the Middle East,” where young people have used the web “to help transform societies and turn the tides of history.”

“It is young people like you who are leading this revolution, who are not only finding their voices online but are using the technology to shape a better future for all of us,” said Mr. Ban.

Young people from 48 schools representing 19 countries are taking part in the two-day conference, which is examining such issues as the role of the Internet in political movements, the moral and ethical questions concerning the privacy of information, and the potential use of the Internet during conflicts such as cyber warfare.