Best-case cloud computing years away

Technology and security issues will continue to deter corporate IT departments from migrating internal applications and services to public clouds for the next 10 years, notes Computing.

Many of these will be pushed into exploring the more dubious benefits of private cloud implementations in the meantime. But these solutions arguably lack the same cost and flexibility advantages afforded by the public cloud.

“Cloud computing is over-hyped right now and will be adopted and embraced much more slowly than people believe,” said John McHugh, chief marketing officer at data centre infrastructure firm Brocade.

A soon-to-be-released study will reveal that Taiwan-based manufacturer Foxconn engages in widespread employee abuse, harsh punishment, illegal labour practices, and unsafe working conditions, reports The Register.

The Beijing-based Global Times reported Friday that the study was conducted by 60 students and teachers from 20 universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and involved 14 investigators who were able to “enter the company and experience 'life inside Foxconn' themselves”.

Foxconn is manufacturing, or has manufactured, products for Intel, Nokia, Dell, HP, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and others - some of which have stepped in at different times to attempt to mitigate employee abuse.

Bill Gates has been taking online classes for years. Now, he thinks it's time to make sure a whole lot more students do the same, says CNet.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will announce a new multiyear grant programme that will give millions of dollars to those with novel ideas on how to use technology, and in particular online courses, to improve education.

The Next Generation Learning Challenges are aimed at funding new ideas and getting various groups to partner and expand on some of the good ideas that are being tried out, but only on a small scale.

North Korea's celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party were marked by an expansion of the nation's online presence, reports the BBC.

Official statements about the celebrations were shown on a Web site for the nation's news agency. It is one of about 1 000 North Korean domains reserved for the country that have yet to be used.

Despite the expansion, use of the Internet inside North Korea is still tightly controlled. Before now, North Korea's Web presence, including its official announcements, has been done via sites operating outside the country or via direct links to China.