Washington, October 26 : An American research team has created a new cast stainless steel that is 70 percent stronger than comparable steels.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U. S. ITER Project Office, the minds behind the innovation, are currently evaluating the new steel for use in the huge shield modules required by the ITER fusion device.

ITER as a multibillion-dollar international research and development project, aimed at determining the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power and enabling studies of self-heating burning plasmas.

Washington, October 26 : YouTube CEO Chad Hurley has opposed the probability of introducing a rating system to the content uploaded on the popular video sharing website.

He said that it was unlikely that YouTube would ever introduce a ranking system since they did not want to come in the way of a viewer’s freedom to select a video he/she wished to see.

"I''m not sure it is our job to solve the world''s problems," Wired News quoted him as saying.

"I''m not trying to hide from responsibility but we also have to respect freedom of speech," he added.

Taipei - The global financial crisis and soaring oil prices have hit the airline and car industries, but for the likes of Taiwanese bicycle maker Giant the crisis proves a boon.

The bike industry has seen its sales soar as people abandoned their cars and motorbikes for bicycles.

Giant Bicycles, the world's largest manufacturer of high-end bikes, said its sales have spiked in recent months, causing the company to raise its 2008 growth target from 
10 per cent to 20 per cent.

Berlin - Laptop sales may have caught up with PC sales in Germany, but that's by no means an argument to make the jump. The old PC still has a lot of life in it, often offering similar service at a cheaper price and more options for expansion.

If a PC and a notebook cost about the same, the odds are that the desktop will offer more computing power and accessories. "And some high-end software is only available in a PC," says Christof Windeck of the Hanover-based c't magazine.

Don't buy a PC at random. Instead, go over it thoroughly, look at its inner workings to see how much noise its ventilation system makes when running and then make a decision.

Cupertino, California - Quicker graphics, cutting edge processors, and a completely novel aluminium casing: those are the highlights of the completely reworked laptop line from Apple, as presented by CEO Steve Jobs at a recent press conference in Cupertino.

Apple also used the occasion to announce new lower prices for its portable computers, including a MacBook starting at 950 dollars. Many fans were nevertheless disappointed that Apple chose not to enter into the inexpensive netbook market, a class that includes machines for less than 300 dollars.

Berlin - Job prospects for IT specialists continue to be bright. A survey conducted by the industry association BITKOM in Berlin found that almost one-third of the companies polled had vacant positions.

By far the most jobs were available at software publishers and IT service companies. The results are not surprising: most IT projects now include consulting, individual programming services, and training phases, BITKOM president August-Wilhelm Scheer notes. Projects of that complexity require a high number of employees.

Software publishers and IT service companies have created roughly 100,000 new jobs in Germany alone since 2000. With 518,000 workers, the majority of the 829,000 jobs are in the information technology and communication (ITC) branch.