The payments system, in effect, is the plumbing for Britain's financial system, which is often said to be backward in comparison with other countries.

BBC: UK banking reforms: What's new?

In the first quarter, the company expects off-peak seasonality to dampen on-quarter growth, although demand will be up in comparison with the previous year.

ENGADGET: Samsung reports $8.27 billion in profits for Q4 2012 HD

But Mr Harvey said he expected the cost of the UK's involvement in Nato operations over Libya to be "modest" in comparison with other operations such as Afghanistan.

BBC: Liam Fox denies 'six-month Libya 'deadline'

Growth may be slowing in comparison to the last few years, but with nearly 2000 patents to its name, Tessera is not finished innovating and miniaturizing.

FORBES: Tessera Technologies Might Deserve Your Dollars

Instead, pupils should be given a score that would show how they ranked in comparison with other candidates.

BBC: Replace GCSE grades with scores, says exam board

In showing greater restraint over the hostage videos, Arab stations may even be appearing to play down the emotional impact of the killings in comparison with the intensity of their coverage of Iraqi or Palestinian casualties.

BBC: Ken Bigley

It can certainly be an uphill battle, with a user base that pales in comparison to the iOSes ad Androids of the world -- and then there's the fact that the OS hasn't actually launched in the States yet.

ENGADGET: The Engadget Interview: BlackBerry developer evangelist Tom Anderson (video)

This would measure the total amount of debt that can only be paid back by tax revenue or selling government assets, and so would be a more apples-to-apples comparison with historical Treasury debt, govt debt in other countries, etc.

FORBES: Monetary Watch February 2011: Obama's budget, the GOP and its implications for US inflation

In comparison with the last government's spending plans, a total of DM19 billion less will be spent on Germany's defence over the next four years.

ECONOMIST: German defence