Communications Technology

Half of Australians think pirated software is OK: Microsoft survey

The survey found 45 per cent regarded pirated software as acceptable in some situations, with the 16-24 age group coming in at 64 per cent.

Microsoft has launched a campaign and new software to help stamp out piracy of their popular Office programs, the Herald Sun reports.

A voluntary software download called Office Genuine Advantage checks whether your copy of Office is genuine.

Microsoft Australia spokesman Steve Johns said serious security risks from using pirated software ranged from losing data such as photos and music to the theft of bank details.

“Aussies are putting themselves at risk by using pirated software, which independent studies have shown to be 43 per cent more vulnerable to viruses and spyware,” Mr Johns said

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Child prodigy programmer Lim Ding Wen makes Doodle Kids iPhone application
WHILST most children sketch on paper with crayons,9 year old Lim Ding Wen, has a very different plan - his iPhone.
Lim, who is in grade 4 in Singapore, writes applications for Apple’s popular iPhone.
His latest, a painting program called Doodle Kids, has been downloaded over 4000 times from Apple’s iTunes store in two weeks, the New Paper reports.
The program lets iPhone users draw with their fingers on the touchscreen and then clear the screen by shaking the phone.
“I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw,” Lim said. His sisters are aged 3 and 5.
Lim, who is fluent in six programming languages, started using the computer at the age of 2. He has since completed about 20 programming projects.
His father, Lim Thye Chean, a chief technology officer at a local technology firm, also writes iPhone applications.
“Every evening we check the statistics emailed to us (by iTunes) to see who has more downloads,” the older Lim said.

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Scientists stat that lumpy-hand skin disorder come from Playstation controllers
Keeping too tight a grip on the console and furiously pushing the buttons can cause a newly identified skin disorder marked by painful lumps on the palms, Swiss scientists have warned.
Called “PlayStation palmar hidradentitis” by the scientists, the skin disorder can cause painful lesions on the palms similar to patches found on the soles of children’s feet after taking part in heavy physical activity, they said.
“The tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produce minor but continuous trauma to the (palm) surfaces,” Vincent Piguet and colleagues at University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva reported in the British Journal of Dermatology.
A spokesman for Sony, which makes the PlayStation, noted the study involved one person and said the company had sold hundreds of millions of the consoles since the product was introduced in 1995.

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