SOA adoption slows down

A growing number of firms are deferring or shelving plans for service-oriented architecture (SOA) implementations, because of a lack of skills and expertise, or because the business case does not add up, according to new research from Gartner, says Computing.co.uk.

The report found 53% of organisations are already using SOA in some part of their organisations, and 25% have plans to do so in the next 12 months.

But the number with no plans to use SOA jumped from 6%, in 2007, to 16% this year.

People in at least seven states - six of them considered battleground states - are reporting that bugs and malfunctions with electronic voting machines are hampering their ability to cast votes in a presidential election that is expected to bring out a record number of voters, reports The Register.

In Florida, a state that is no stranger to controversial election results, the problem was with optical scan machines, which, coincidentally, many e-voting sceptics have said are less prone to error than other ballot machine types.

In the sunshine state's Palm Beach County, election officials have said creases in absentee ballots are causing some votes to be misread by machines made by Sequoia Voting Systems. It seems that in some cases, the crease can be misinterpreted as a black arrow that's supposed to indicate a voter's choice.

A report from Verdict Research says UK sales of games will outstrip music and video for the first time in 2008, says The BBC.

A huge shift in consumer attitudes has turned video games into the UK's most popular form of entertainment, says the retail analyst.

It predicts spending on games will rise by 42%, to £4.64 billion, in 2008, with sales on music and video at £4.46 billion.

Xhead = AT&T tests subscribers' limits

In an effort to keep "bandwidth hogs" in check, AT&T is testing the idea of placing limits on how much Internet data its subscribers can transfer each month, reports CNet.

The test, which began being applied in the Reno area on Saturday, limits customers of AT&T's slowest DSL service to 20GB of monthly data transfers, while users of the fastest service will be limited to 150GB. Customers will have access to an online tool to track their usage and will receive notification when they reach 80%. Those who exceed their limits will be charged $1 per GB.

Existing subscribers will be assigned the 150GB limit regardless of their subscription level. The limits will apply only to new subscribers in the Reno area.