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The investment banking industry is heading into a digital revolution that could redraw not only its business model but also the traditional image of its staff. Stuck with dwindling profits in an era of poor returns and heavy regulation, the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and HSBC are battling to hire the best software programmers, systems engineers and data analysts, to help them get ahead via new technology and cost-cutting.   With IT expertise now a must for the boardroom, banks' conservative workplaces are likely to undergo cultural change as they welcome ambitious, differently-minded people. "Traditionally, banks have been a lot more narrow in their (hiring) focus. Now collectively they have realized the need to be more creative," said Jeffrey Wallis, managing partner at SunGard Consulting Services, specializing in financial firms. Adopting new technology is an evident strategy for industries in economic distress and investment banks have already spent

France and Spain led a Europe-wide push on Thursday to get U.S. Internet giant Google to change its policies on collecting user data. News that the U.S. National Security Agency under the Prism surveillance program secretly gathered user data from nine U.S. companies, including Google, to track people's movements and contacts makes the timing especially sensitive for Google. France's data protection watchdog (CNIL) said Google had broken French law and gave it three months to change its privacy policies or risk a fine of up to 150,000 euros ($200,000).   Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) told Google it would be fined between 40,000 euros and 300,000 euros for each of the five violations of the law, that it had failed to be clear about what it did with data, may be processing a "disproportionate" amount and holding onto it for an "undetermined or unjustified" period of time. The CNIL, which has been leading Europe's inquiry since Google lau

The Obama administration has appointed Twitter lawyer Nicole Wong to a new senior advisory position to focus on internet and privacy policy, a White House official said on Thursday. _0"> Wong will work with federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, and will join the White House as Obama focuses more attention and resources on fighting hackers. Her appointment comes as the Obama administration grapples with issues that arose from the U.S. government's surveillance of internet and phone communications in its anti-terrorism effort.   Rick Weiss, a spokesman for the White House Office of Science and Technology, said Wong is joining as deputy U.S. chief technology officer and will work with Park on Internet, privacy and technology issues. "She has tremendous expertise in these domains and an unrivaled reputation for fairness, and we look forward to having her on our team," Weiss said. Congress and the White House have been arguing about how best to address cyb

Poodle Cat Poodle Cat , A Poodle Cat, the answer for the person who can’t decide between a cat and a dog? Is the Poodle Cat a mixture of cat and dog so you’re family doesn’t have to pick just one, a cat or a dog? No, but it sure looks that way. According to the Inquisitr on June 22, the Poodle Cat is a feline that has finally been given a breed of its own.The cat breed started in 1987 from one cat who was born with a dominant gene. The breed of the Poodle Cat is called, Selkirk Rex. It is a cat that has the curly hair like a poodle. Some of these cats in this breed have short hair and others have long hair. According to Yahoo Shine , the story starts back in 1987 when a feral cat in Montana gave birth to a litter of five kittens, but one was the black sheep of the bunch because of her looks. It was a female kitten who had thick curly hair, which is something that breeders had never seen before. Because she was so distinct from the rest, she caught the eye of Persia

Facebook Inc introduced video for its popular photo sharing application Instagram in an attempt to go to head-to-head with rival Twitter. The world's No. 1 social network said on Thursday its more than 130 million Instagram users can now record and post 15 second videos on the platform.   The move takes aim at Twitter's Vine video platform that allows users to record and share six-second videos. "There's definitely a one-upmanship going on," said Brian Blau, research director, at Gartner. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom were on hand to unveil the offering at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters. Among the features of Instagram video, which works with Apple's iOS and Google Android operating system, are a video stabilization technology and spate of custom design filters. Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in April 2012 as a way to keep its users hooked on new features weeks before the s

Sprint Nextel Corp raised its buyout offer for Clearwire Corp to $5 per share on Thursday and announced support from a key group of dissident shareholders, likely ending a bitter battle with rival suitor Dish Network Corp. Sprint, currently Clearwire's majority shareholder, has been fighting publicly with Dish over Clearwire since January as both companies want Clearwire's vast trove of valuable wireless airwaves to help them compete in wireless services.   Clearwire put its support behind the latest offer, representing the second major blow in a matter of days against Dish Chairman and founder Charlie Ergen, who wants to expand his satellite TV company into the wireless market. Earlier this week Ergen had to back out, at least for now, from a battle with Japan's SoftBank Corp to buy Sprint itself. Dish declined comment on the new Clearwire offer. Several analysts said they now expect Sprint to prevail. "We believe Clearwire shareholders will approve the $5 off

Oracle Corp missed expectations for software sales and subscriptions for the second straight quarter, sending its shares plunging as investors worried CEO Larry Ellison may have trouble getting the technology giant back on track. On Thursday, Oracle executives forecast that new software sales and subscriptions will rise 0 percent to 8 percent this quarter and blamed weakness in the past quarter on disappointing sales in Asia and Latin America. Oracle, which is trying to fend off Salesforce.com and other increasingly aggressive rivals focused on providing software over the cloud or Internet, plans to move its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange in July from the Nasdaq , a major win for the older bourse. Executives said the move was in shareholders' best interests, without elaborating. Oracle also said it would double its quarterly dividend to 12 cents a share. "Organic growth is slowing and the company has a lot of pressures it has to deal with. They're late