Although software would probably need to be customised to local linguistic and legal requirements, sharing these eGovernment tools could lead to across-the-board improvements in efficiency of the European public sector. According to another report published in the European Information Technology Observatory, EU public sector expenditures on eGovernment are set to rise by 28% to E 6.6 billion this year.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 12:43 PM

To make Quake work for a blind player, the team had to create a world of aural cues that evoked the complex visual world of Quake. When a hallway comes up on the right, for example, the player can hear a slight rushing of air off to the right. Other things in the game - objects like guns or competing players - were programmed to give off characteristic sounds, their direction indicated by their relative volume in the ears. For their version, a pair of headphones are important.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 12:29 PM

"All of a sudden we were blocked. Our main access was blocked," said Cree chief George Wapachee. "We had about 350 people here to evacuate by road and we couldn't do anything. We were literally just trapped."

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 11:25 AM

Most of these infected men perceived themselves to be at low risk of being infected, despite having engaged in frequent high-risk sex like unprotected anal intercourse, said Duncan MacKellar, an epidemiologist from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which conducted the study.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 11:16 AM

Dr. Douglas Black, a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, and web site developer says, "I registered this name because I am Canadian and want to develop a Canadian business directory and on-line meeting place for Canadian business people." Robert R. Merhige, Jr., a retired U.S. Judge and former World War II fighter pilot, disagreed and instead found that Mr. Black had "no legitimate interest" in the domain name and registered it in "bad faith."

I'm Canadian and I can't even drink beer. Go, Dr. Black, stomp Molson's instep!

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 08:43 AM

...Wallace still hungered for recognition, and in January 2000, he decided to stress-test Alice by entering her in the annual Loebner Prize competition, in which artificial-intelligence developers from around the world pit their programs head to head before a panel of judges, who rank them based on how ''lifelike'' they are. The contest is both well known and controversial within the tight circle of A.I.; winning programs are closely studied by both academics and corporate centers like Sprint Labs. Up against competitors from major corporations and well-financed universities, Alice won. It was, officially, the most human robot in the world. Too exhausted to celebrate, Wallace returned to his motel and slept clutching his award medallion.

I tried out Alice this morning and found her totally incoherent and obviously a bot.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 08:23 AM

"There were questions about how many other women I had sex with before I was married," Mentuck said of the examination under oath by a male lawyer acting on Ottawa's behalf. Mentuck was also asked at the fact-finding hearing last month whether he had oral sex with his wife, he said.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 06:39 AM

...unless there's a commission to lead the SEC, and a competent staff to carry out its dictates, it doesn't matter who's in charge.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 06:06 AM

The company told The Wall Street Journal that its accounting practice meet generally accepted standards and that it also counts co-payment amounts as expenses, meaning the practice does not effect its net income.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 05:21 AM

Access-to-Information documents reveal that every distributor, importer and processor of semen inspected over the past few months had deficiencies. So far, 21 inspection reports have been obtained; the remaining 106 facilities either have yet to be inspected or are in the midst of it.

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 05:15 AM

"The big problem now is, who are the real parents of the twins?"

Posted by GeeTee at July 08, 2002 05:10 AM