Woman jailed for killing virtual husband

A 43-year-old Japanese woman has been jailed for "killing" her virtual husband to revenge an unexpected in-game divorce, says The Register.

The unhappy couple's characters had been "married" in the side-scrolling Korean massive multiplayer game, MapleStory. Not in real life, mind you, just within the game. But e-vows were too soon discarded, bringing rise to a plot of digital murder.

She was arrested on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data.

Ferrari is introducing a series of measures to cut the cost of its IT systems as it faces mounting pressure from Formula One's governing body to reduce spending, reports Computing.co.uk.

The F1 team has been through an IT investment review, so further belt-tightening will mean a shift in strategic technology planning, said Piergiorgio Grossi, head of information systems at Ferrari Racing.

“Budgets have already been cut and the situation may get worse,” Grossi told Computing.

One million UK consumers have exceeded or come close to exceeding their broadband usage limit, research from consumer group uSwitch has found, reports The BBC.

So-called usage caps, where Internet service providers limit the amount of bandwidth users can have in any given month, are standard practice.

But the majority of users are still confused by the bandwidth curbs imposed on them, the research found.

The world's largest printing and document services company plans to cut 5% of its workforce and has lowered its forecast for the next quarter, says CNet.

Describing current economic conditions as a "tough business environment", Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy said that, by trimming 3 000 jobs over the next six months, the company will save $200 million, according to a Reuters report.

Xerox's third-quarter net income was $258 million, or 29c per share. But excluding one-time charges and the settlement of tax benefits, the company earned 26c per share. Most analysts were expecting profits of 28c per share.