Vittorio Hernandez

With no near term catalysts emerging from the northern hemisphere since weeks end, Consolidation was the main theme for local stocks as the new trading week got underway.

Following a strong week for the local market, local shares were off to a positive start this morning. At lunch however, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is largely flat, down just 0.05 per cent or 2.2 pts to 4792.5. The XAO is one of the most popular ways for investors to measure Australian sharemarket performance. The local market rose by 1.3 per cent last week and rose on four occasions.

Millions of young Australians will head back to school next week. Although everyday learning is acquired beyond the classroom and is part of daily lives, the latest technology from the Digital Age has offered more opportunities to learn almost anything using smartphones and tablets.

Java fault-finder Adam Gowdiak found a vulnerability to the Java 7 update 11 and claims that Oracle should "bring security research to the new level." The Oracle's most recent patch shows vulnerability to hackers which may affect users without their knowledge that their computers or mobile devices are being hacked or penetrated by another individual.

Facebook recently got an update and it features Voice Messaging in its app for Android. The users can expect full support for voice messages and faster image rendering. Facebook users can also share their friends' stories directly on their own timelines which before was exclusive to the desktop version.

Although the firing of Tom Albanese on Thursday night caught Australia's mining industry by surprise, many industry observers agree his exit is good for Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), the country's second-largest miner.

Due to reports that traces of horse meat were found in hamburgers sold in some of UK and Ireland supermarkets, McDonald's Australia launched a new app that would allow diners to track where the ingredients came from, including if horse meat was used.

All eyes were on American cyclist Lance Armstrong as he came clean over the weekend in Oprah Winfrey's talk show. The TV programme, aired unedited the two-hour interview with the controversial athlete on Friday and Saturday.

Last week, reports of an American software developer who outsourced his job to China went viral. While outsourcing is a long accepted business practice, what interested the public about Bob's case was that he did it surreptitiously until tech experts investigated and found log-ins in the company's computer system from Shenyang, and Bob whiling away the eight hours he was in office supposed to be working but actually watching mostly cat videos.

Reports said that single Australian mothers are turning to the flesh trade to pay their bills due to the recent cut in welfare payments by the Gillard government.

To mark the first year anniversary of police storming into the Auckland mansion and arrest of former Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom over online piracy, Mr Dotcom launched on Sunday a new portal - mega.co.nz.

One of the main points to emerge this week has been the almost surprisingly constructive tone of the market. In recent days the index has been moving higher whilst volumes have been increasing, indicating a higher level of investor participation. At face value it appears as though investors are prepared to accept the higher prices on offer. One of the questions to keep front of mind in coming weeks will be whether or not this price acceptance remains in place in the event of any weakness.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the fourth time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.3 per cent or 12.8 pts to 4792.5. Over the past five sessions, the market has improved by around 1.5 per cent. Almost all sectors are high, with the exception of the utilities and the consumer staples. At first glance, the quarterly economic growth reading out of China came in a little better than expected, with the Chinese economy growing by 7.9 per cent over the past year.

Facebook dashed this week rumours that it will roll out a smartphone which will possibly challenge the iPhone. Instead, the most popular social networking site rolled out the graph search. Despite the denial of a Facebook smartphone, speculations would likely go on and these features are what many FB fans would want to see in such a device.

It's usual for Apple devices such as smartphone and tablets to be cloned by Android-based ones, but this new China-made tablet was probably inspired by Asus and Google-made Nexus 7.

Sprint Galaxy Nexus just received an Android 4.2 Jellybean update available live from Google servers.

Trading on Rio Tinto's (ASX: RIO) stock opened on Friday at $64.50, a 1.45 per cent drop from Thursday's closing price of $65.55, indicating the minimal impact of the Thursday night announcement of Tom Albanese's departure as chief executive of the mining company.

CEOs - they are powerful, rich, intelligent, loved, envied, feared, and sometimes fired.

From chief executive officer to jobless - that's what these nine CEOs recently experienced in the past few months which created headlines and shocked the corporate world.

Australia's mining industry was rocked on Thursday night, not by volatile iron ore prices or another tax on resources, but by the sudden firing of Tom Albanese as chief executive of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO).

Despite a slight tick-up in Australia's unemployment rate, the local share market rallied today edging 20 month highs. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up 14.7pts or 0.3pct to 4779.7.

An IT company investigation over apparent hack attempts from China uncovered a thriving and secret outsourcing operation by the firm's top software developer. The probe found that the employee, identified as Bob, spent the whole day watching cat videos while paying Chinese developers one-fifth of his salary or about $850 a month.

A video blooper caused a slight embarrassment to the federal government which launched a new cyber-safety campaign on Wednesday. The video mistakenly named former magazine queen Ita Buttrose as the 2013 Australian of the Year.

Despite the release of some disappointing employment numbers this morning, the Australian sharemarket is improving for the third time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 0.7 per cent or 34.1 pts to 4799.1. Most sectors are trading higher, with the exception of the telcos which are slipping modestly.

Push-to-talk (PTT) service is similar to a walkie-talkie with radio devices and usually has a limited range. In mobile devices, PTT can have unlimited range using an Internet connection and individuals conversing can be from both ends of the world. GroupVox developed their PTT service app which allows Facebook users to send text messages to one another and voice messages similar to a walkie-talkie.

Tablet devices may take over the existence of laptop computers in the future due to its great potential on delivering mobility, functionality, and battery life. Unlike laptops and netbooks, tablet devices are light and usually thin with capabilities to make office documents and presentations, multimedia functions, and have loads of applications.

The popular online information Web site Wikipedia just opened a site for travelers. The interface and link locations of the Web site are similar to Wikipedia, therefore, there is no need among visitors for any adjustment when browsing the site.

While the world of cycling will have to wait one more day for the airing of Oprah Winfrey's interview with disgraced athlete Lance Armstrong, the accusations of doping threatens to overshadow the triumph of the ex-medaled athlete over testicular cancer.

Yaya Lu, a 16-year-old resident of Hobart, Australia, has developed a voice-controlled system for a wheelchair, which could benefit quadriplegics. For this invention, the teenager, who has Chinese ancestry, won the Gold CREST Award, a top science award for students given by the Commonwealth Science Agency CSIRO.