I have been personally impacted by Eircom's downtime, as my home broadband is Eircom DSL. To be fair this is the first major service interruption in over 5 years. The problem seems to be a combination of DNS attacks and more general DDoS attacks, but the full nature has not yet been acertained.
It is good to see Ireland's now strategy for software embracing software as a service and open source, and recognising the dynamic SME sector Now we just need to figure how to link research and industry in this sector -- and even though I'm in Higher Education, I do not think it's about more PhDs in Computer Science as the SSTI seems to do.
EI Launches 4year Software Strategy | Irish Developer Network ICT Portal
The Tánaiste made the announcement at the launch of Enterprise Ireland's four-year strategy for the Irish software industry. The strategy aims to drive the sector's revenues to over €2.5bn by 2013 by capitalising on changes in the global software market. Research undertaken by Enterprise Ireland, in association with international industry analysts IDC, identified a New Software Economy, driven by the growth of the Internet and changes in end-user demands. The New Software Economy is characterised by demand for greater flexibility, global delivery and cost-effective solutions*. The unique profile of Ireland's software sector with its strong base of small flexible companies is particularly suited to these emerging trends. The strategy aims to position the Irish software industry to maximise its potential in this new market environment. Launching the strategy, the Tánaiste said, "Building Ireland's Smart Economy is about establishing Ireland as an innovation hub. It involves building the innovation or ‘ideas' component of the Irish economy and developing a high-value, research-intensive, multinational community alongside thriving innovative Irish companies." "Enterprise Ireland's new Software Strategy, reflecting the Government's Smart Economy blueprint, sets out to achieve that precise model for the software sector. I am confident that this strategy will ensure Ireland's software industry meets these new market opportunities delivering more highly skilled, sustainable and well paid jobs in our economy."
In this post last April (that I've only just found), Dave Shea explains why he's moving back to HTML 4.01 strict from XHTML: mezzoblue - Switched.
This is newsworthy, as the W3C have just announced the effective merger of the XHTML2 and HTML5 efforts, as the former's charter expires at the end of this year. It's not that XHTML will go away, but the XHTML2 efforts will be de-emphasised, and having an XHTML compatible version for HTML5 will become the priority.
From W3C News Archive 2009-07-02
2009-07-02: Today the Director announces that when the XHTML 2 Working Group charter expires as scheduled at the end of 2009, the charter will not be renewed. By doing so, and by increasing resources in the HTML Working Group, W3C hopes to accelerate the progress of HTML 5 and clarify W3C's position regarding the future of HTML. A FAQ answers questions about the future of deliverables of the XHTML 2 Working Group, and the status of various discussions related to HTML. Learn more about the HTML Activity.
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