Native Win32 and .Net framework support for new Delphi

Delphi, the grand-daddy of visual programming environments has been updated by Borland. Delphi 2005 works with both Win32 and .Net frameworks, and also supports Microsoft's C# as well as the Delphi language itself, which is based on Object Pascal. ...more

US tech companies snub China talks

Efforts in the US Congress to agree on ways to halt the ease with which the country's tech companies bend to the demands of Chinese authorities ran aground today, when four of the biggest names turned down an invitation to discuss how best to go about it. Red Herring reports that the Congressional Human Rights Caucus interest group had set up a briefing on how to deal with human rights and Internet issues in China and invited Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and Cisco among others. However, all four said they were unable to attend despite the poor image this sends out at a time when these companies claim to be thinking long and hard about how to deal with these very issues as they march into China. ...more

eBay to pay $29.5mn over lost patents case

A US federal judge has ordered eBay to pay $29.5mn to one Thomas Woolston, an electrical engineer. This is the price the company will pay for infringing an e-commerce patent that related to credit card-backed online bidding, reports Reuters. ...more

21st century bullying, a modern menace

UK charity claims one in four youngsters subject to bullying by threatening emails or text messages. According to a survey commissioned by the children's charity NCH, bullying by means of mobile phones and PCs is widely prevalent. Figures quoted by NCH include 16 per cent of young people receiving bullying or threatening text messages, and a further four per cent receiving threatening emails. ...more

Microsoft no longer 'pioneering marvel'

Graham Brant, Microsoft's top executive in Hong Kong, has quit, insisting that the software giant is not the 'pioneering marvel' it once was, reports the South China Morning Post. Brant has become disillusioned with Microsoft, saying that it has become a different company to the one he joined, less adventurous and more concerned with defending its market dominance. People, he said, are getting tired of the company's flagship products: 'How many more Windows and Office upgrades do you think people will want to go through? I love the stuff, but it even starts to turn me off after a while. ...more