Singapore to upgrade broadband network

Singapore moved a step closer to setting up its ultra-fast broadband network today, when two consortia came forward with plans that promised a futuristic network that would open the floodgate to new online services.

The network, to be rolled out islandwide in the next few years, will offer speeds 10 times faster than now.

By the time the deadline came for tender submission on Monday, two consortia including heavyweight telecom operators like SingTel, StarHub and M1 had submitted their bids in their respective consortia.

Winning this bid would avail them of up to $750 million in government funds. This will be used to lay cables to hook up homes, schools and offices. (story)

New camera to help police catch auto thieves

The police may soon have a gadget that can quickly detect blacklisted vehicles - like stolen cars or those used in crime getaways.

The technical trial was completed last week on the Mobile Automated Vehicle Screening System (MAVSS), which comprises a car-mounted camera and a laptop computer.

The camera, which sits on the roof of police patrol cars, can scan up to six licence plates of parked or moving vehicles every second and feed the scans into a laptop in the police car. The scans are then compared against a database of stolen or wanted vehicles for matches.

The system, customised from a similar one in use by European crime enforcement agencies, does away with manual screening.

The police said it is not certain when the system will be introduced here. (story)

China launching cyber attacks against India

China’s cyber warfare army is marching on, and India is suffering silently. Over the past one and a half years, officials said, China has mounted almost daily attacks on Indian computer networks, both government and private, showing its intent and capability.

The sustained assault almost coincides with the history of the present political disquiet between the two countries.

According to senior government officials, these attacks are not isolated incidents of something so generic or basic as “hacking” — they are far more sophisticated and complete — and there is a method behind the madness.

Publicly, senior government officials, when questioned, take refuge under the argument that “hacking” is a routine activity and happens from many areas around the world. But privately, they acknowledge that the cyber warfare threat from China is more real than from other countries. (story)

Wendy Cheng takes on Apple fanboys

Whether you love her or hate her, you have to admit she’s entertaining. Even if you’re the one she’s insulting you’ll probably be back for more the day. She’s got some funny videos. Check out the latest one where she is tricked into reviewing the iPhone vs the fake Chinese version.
Gizmodo

Singapore drops to 5th in Network Readiness index

Singapore fell two notches on the Networked Readiness index, an annual ranking released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum.

The index, which measures the impact of infocomm policies and usage in 127 economies, ranked Denmark as the most ready to take advantage of technology.

It is followed by Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Singapore.

This is the lowest Singapore has ranked since topping the chart in 2005. It was second in 2006, and third in 2007.

In this year’s ranking, the Republic was top in the quality of math and science education and the Government’s vision of infocomm, areas in which it had done well in the past.

But it only scored 15th on the accessibility of digital content, a new indicator measuring whether content is widely available on platforms such as the Internet, mobile phones and cable television. (story)

Sufiah Yusof has been soliciting clients online for months

Sufiah Yusof, the child Maths genius who was found working as a hooker had been using the Internet to solicit for clients since December.

She also used a UK-based Internet sex forum and her own website “Exotic Manchester Asian escort” to promote her services.

However, the site, which she had registered and maintained herself, has been removed after News of the World broke the news of her working as a hooker.

Checks with the Internet registrar on domains revealed that Sufiah started the website on Dec 3 last year.

She bought the domain name for her webpage for two years.

Sufiah, 23, called herself Sufiah Marshall, borrowing the family name of her former husband, Jonathan Marshall, to register the website via a German domain handler.

The checks also revealed she had used a German server to host her website pages but with a United Kingdom domain name. (story)

IOC to China, open up the Internet for us

Internet censorship is practically synonymous with China these days. The Chinese government is often used as the poster child for restrictive governments that restrict the free flow of information to its residents. That could be why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is getting antsy, as Beijing is bound by contract as this year’s Olympic host city to allow the press to report as usual during the games. And reporting as usual means unrestricted Internet access.

The IOC “discussed and insisted” with the Chinese government again this morning that the Internet is required to be “open at all times during Games time,” IOC coordination commission vice chairman Kevan Gosper told Reuters. “There was some criticism that the Internet closed down during events relating to Tibet in previous weeks, but this is not Games time.” (story)

Korean virtual star JoA, creepy?

She is hailed as the first ‘cyber actress’ in Korea, complete with simulated good looks and a faux biodata.

But JoA’s first attempt at dancing has been gunned down by netizens who slammed her animated moves as ‘creepy’ and ‘disgusting’.

Created by two CGI companies in Korea, she exists only in cyberspace, reported My Daily.

Her photos and profile - born in 1986, 1.69m tall - were first released to the media last November, spawning much discussion online.

Her so-called managers announced plans to launch an official fan club and a series of products starring JoA, such as online games and mini-dramas.

If successful, JoA could be as famous as Japanese manga character Sailor Moon, or the virtual actress Simone in the Al Pacino movie named after her. (link)

JoA Tell Me dance video

Yes, creepy. It’s the lack of facial expressions and hands and fingers do not bend. You have to admit though the motion is fluid. Not bad for a first attempt, but stick to stills until the you get the realistic body motions down.

Baidu.com blamed for spreading sexy Edison Chen photos

China’s top Internet search engine has been censured for allegedly helping spread sexually explicit photos. The government-sponsored watchdog group is demanding both action and an apology from Baidu.com over the online availability of the photos, which feature several Hong Kong celebrities.

The photos appear to show actor Edison Chen and several female stars performing sex acts or in sexually suggestive poses.

They are widely available in Hong Kong, where the scandal has dominated the headlines for several weeks.

The watchdog group, called the Beijing Association of Online Media, praised other Chinese sites such as NetEase.com, Sina.com and Sohu.com for urging their users not to spread the photos. (story)

Edison quits
Triads offering HK $500,00 reward …
Maggie Q linked …
Singapore stars dragged …

Formula One ticket buying process a major hassle

When tickets for the world’s inaugural Formula One night race went on sale on Thursday morning, fans were expecting a well-oiled ticketing machinery at work. Instead, what happened when the starting flag came down was complete chaos.

A server error caused the entire ticketing system to foul up. Fans tried for hours to get through the ticketing website and failed.

Even as late as 5pm, fans called up The Straits Times to say they were having problems getting into the F1 website to buy tickets.

Those who tried calling also could not get through.

Some who tried both and failed rushed down in the hope they would have better luck buying over the counter. They were wrong. (story)