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. Three-hour written finals over, exams chief says. Software developed for widespread e-assessmentFor generations, hundreds of thousands of pupils have spent the end of the school year in gymnasiums scrawling answers to the sound of the ticking clock. And every summer they have endured a nerve-wracking two-month wait for their results.Exams have been a rite of passage for millions, but within a decade they could be consigned to history, according to one of the most senior figures in the system.Simon Lebus, chief executive of Cambridge Assessment, said that traditional examinations are likely to disappear within 10 to 15 years, to be replaced by computerised testing.Instead of three-hour written exams, there will be continual e-assessment throughout pupils' courses. Exam boards are investing millions of pounds in developing the technology - and, Lebus claimed, it's not 'science fiction'.He said: 'The likelihood is that in the next 10 to 15 years it will change almost out of recognition

LONDON (Reuters) - An opposition blogger in Azerbaijan has been remanded in custody pending trial on hooliganism charges, prompting protests from his employer, oil major BP Plc, a media rights group said on its website.

Microsoft's ace in the hole in its upcoming battle against Google Chrome OS, the search giants new browser-based operating system, could be a browser-OS hybrid project code-named Gazelle. As more and more applications move into the cloud, the need for a browser-based OS, one that can intelligently interface with a PC while managing Web resources, may become more intensive than ever for both microsoft and Google as they compete for market share. - The media cycle of past few days has been dominated by word of Microsofts apparently imminent demise at the hands of Google Chrome OS, the search-engine giants newly announced operating system initially intended for mini-notebooks, known popularly as quot;netbooks. quot; While predictions of ...

The subtle relationship between privacy and control has complicated things for marketers.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center has found that, while the American public holds a high opinion of scientists, a minority feel that U.S. scientific achievements are best in the world. At the same time, scientists felt the biggest impediments to their research were lack of funding and difficulties in the H1-B Visa process for foreign scientists and students. - The nation's scientists see H1-B Visa issues are a major barrier to scientific achievement, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 56 percent surveyed felt that issues with the Visa process for foreign students and scientists represented a massive impediment, second only...