Coding Pays Off for Student
Stanford University junior Dan Wright earned $100,000 just by tapping out a few lines of Java code.
Wright beat more than 500 students in the Sun Microsystems and TopCoder Collegiate Challenge held at MIT early last week.
The competition, which began in February and progressed through three elimination rounds, concluded with 16 U.S. college students engaging in two days of head-to-head coding. In each of three rounds, Wright and the others were given 75 minutes to write a program that answered several problems.
One problem asked the coders to write an algorithm that plotted a course through a rainstorm so that they would be touched by the fewest number of raindrops possible. Another sought a program to design an electronic pinball game.
Wright said that he hoped the award would help him land a better job after graduation.
NAI to Restate Years Earnings
Network Associates last week said it had discovered accounting inaccuracies in its 1999 and 2000 financial statements and has begun an internal investigation.
As a result, the security software vendor will restate its results for these years and has withdrawn its offer to buy shares of McAfee. com. NAI officials said the true scope of the issue isnt clear at this point, but they said they didnt believe it extends to last year or the first quarter of this year. The inaccuracies likely will affect revenues and expenses.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an investigation into alleged accounting problems at the company.
Xerox Tool Aids Crime Fighters
The congressional internet Caucus last week recognized Xerox for its contribution to a new Web portal for crime fighters.
The Law Enforcement Data Exchange Portal lets law enforcement officials share over the Internet information on child pornography and other crimes against children. It is available to about 30 agencies that are members of the U.S. Justice Departments Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.