SA slips in ICT rankings
South Africa has fallen even further in the global ICT readiness stakes, according to the 2015 edition of The Global Information Technology released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The country fell from a dismal number 70 out of 143 countries to 75 in the 2015 Networked Readiness Index. Although South Africa performed well in its policy and regulatory framework score, ranked at number 24, other areas didn’t perform so well. South Africa was ranked 55 for its business and innovation environment; 85 for its infrastructure; 107 for affordability; 95 in terms of skills; 68 for individual usage; 34 for business usage; 105 for government usage; 58 for economic impact; and 110 for social impact.
Curiosity finds water in Mars soil
Martian weather and soil conditions that NASA’s Curiosity rover has measured, together with a type of salt found in Martian soil, could put liquid brine in the soil at night. Perchlorate identified in Martian soil by the Curiosity mission, and previously by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander mission, has properties of absorbing water vapour from the atmosphere and lowering the freezing temperature of water.
IBM drives tape density further
IBM scientists have demonstrated an areal recording density of 123-billion bits of uncompressed data per square inch on low cost, particulate magnetic tape – a breakthrough which represents the equivalent of a 220Tb tape cartridge that could fit in the palm of your hand. To put this into perspective, 220Tb of data is comparable to 1,37-trillion mobile text messages or the text of 220-million books, which would require a 2 200km bookshelf spanning from Las Vegas to Houston, Texas.
Lexmark rebrands for the future
Reflecting both the evolution of the company as well as its vision for the future, Lexmark International has introduced a new corporate brand and logo. “Lexmark’s rebranding represents its successful and ongoing transition to a company well beyond its hardware heritage,” says Nathan Nayagar, Lexmark MD – South Africa & English Speaking Africa.
