oday's other stories in brief

Google's truce with newspaper industry?

Google is developing a payment system that is designed to help newspapers sell their articles online. While advertising will remain the main source of revenue for news, a paid model can provide additional revenue, Google told the Newspaper Association of America. Google has fought with the industry over its news search engine, which organises and sorts stories from media outlets.

Google said its Checkout product could be adapted for newspaper sites. – (Bloomberg)

Over 500 websites in running for annual Irish Web Awards

More than 500 websites have been nominated by 600 different people for the second annual Irish Web Awards, which will be presented at an event at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Dublin on October 10th.

Judging by 85 volunteers will whittle the nominees down to a shortlist for each of the categories which will be announced on September 18th.

Organiser Damien Mulley said the scorecards for each website will be published publicly shortly after that date.

Alimentary Health to lead C difficile fight

Thuricin CD, a new antibiotic agent that can specifically target the hospital “superbug” C difficile, has been licensed to Alimentary Health, a spin-out from the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) in Cork. Thuricin CD kills C difficile but not the beneficial bacteria in the intestines, and was discovered by scientists at the APC, a research centre based in University College Cork and Teagasc.

WiFi access is moving up

FleetConnect, a provider of WiFi internet access systems for trains, buses, coaches and taxis, has announced that there have now been 100,000 sessions using its Moovbox technology. By the end of August, over 68,000 passengers had used the service which is offered by a range of coach operators.