Computer Weekly – More businesses block social networking sites
More businesses are blocking social networking sites for security reasons than three years ago, an IDC security conference in London has heard. There has been a significant increase in the number of businesses taking a more stringent view on access to sites like Facebook, said Eldar Tuvey, chief executive of web security firm ScanSafe.

BBC News – Silicon Valley ‘seeing revival’
Silicon Valley is stirring back to life, following a bruising economic downturn, according to industry insiders and start-up entrepreneurs. The view seems to underscore Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s belief that the US recession has ended.

Silicon.com – White House looks to the cloud for IT cost-cutting
The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a long-term cloud-computing policy intended to cut costs on infrastructure and reduce the environmental impact of US government computing systems.

IT PRO – UK shines when it comes to IT competitiveness
In the wake of economic turmoil, the UK ranks sixth in the world in IT competitiveness, according to study released by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The study, now in its third year, surveys the IT industry environments of 66 economies to discover the extent to which they enable IT sector competitiveness. The UK scored a 70.2 out of a possible 100 in the index, a figure that pushed the country down three places from 2008.

New Scientist – Super-dense data stores cool down
Engineers in Korea have created a material that could allow super-dense “millipede”-style data storage systems to work at room temperature. The discovery brings the technology closer to commercial reality – good news for people struggling with over-full digital memories.