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/ 26 February 2004
United States voters will go to the polls in November using electronic voting machines that cannot be verified, a computer scientist warned last week. David Dill of Stanford University said that 1 600 technologists and 53 elected officials had now joined his crusade for a ”paper trail”, so that electronic voting machines could be checked.
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/ 26 February 2004
”Woof!” It might sound like a meaningless bark but, in fact, the dog is saying ”Ya ne! Soba ni konai de! [Hey! Don’t come near me!]”. And while a European might make the mistake of approaching the diffident hound, Japanese dog owners would know to steer clear. Why? Because their phones would translate for them.
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/ 26 February 2004
Scientists have discovered a protein in monkeys that can block infection by the virus that causes Aids.
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/ 26 February 2004
Researchers in Washington on Wednesday said they had identified a protein able to block the replication of the HIV virus in monkeys, a key discovery that sheds light on halting the spread of Aids among humans. Humans have a similar protein, but it is not as effective at stopping HIV, according to the researchers, whose work is published in the journal Nature.
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/ 26 February 2004
Information technology group Mustek on Wednesday reported a sharp decline in net profits for the six months ended December, with profits dwindling from R50-million to R7,4-million. Headline earnings per share shrank from 75,43 cents to 8,34 cents for the half year.
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/ 26 February 2004
The PSG Group announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a partnership with a new black empowerment company, Arch Equity, which will acquire for cash 10-million shares in the PSG Group as its first transaction. Desmond Lockey is the controlling shareholder of Arch Equity and will serve as CEO of the new company.
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/ 26 February 2004
A recent working paper by Eric Parrado of the International Monetary Fund’s monetary and financial systems department argues that flexible inflation targeting, which takes into account inflation as well as output, is superior to strict inflation targeting, where meeting the inflation target is the unique objective.
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/ 26 February 2004
With the rand continuing to maintain its strength against major international currencies, local prices of bottled wines should fall in line with decreasing input costs, and those wine producers who opt to hike the prices of their brands are liable to lose market share to other wines, an industry expert warned on Thursday.
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/ 26 February 2004
The Namibian government announced on Wednesday that it will expropriate a select number of white-owned farms to accelerate its efforts at redistributing property to landless blacks. ”Our young nation still struggles to bring about balance and undo the effects of the unjust land redistribution,” said Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab.
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/ 26 February 2004
There is something significant in the run-up to the election that will likely have far-reaching consequences for the country. Unfortunately, it is obscured by the intensity of political party campaigns. Contemporary alliances between some political parties raise the possibility of a positive shift in South African politics. Sadly, society and political parties are really not appreciative of what is afoot.