Google open Base for payments
February 27, 2006
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thank you for visiting!
Google will soon be allowing people to trade goods on Google Base, using their newly unveiled Google Payments system.
A reputation system may also be built into the payment system, allowing buyers to recognise which merchants have a good […]
Windows Vista: Six versions coming
February 27, 2006
Microsoft have announced that their follow-up to Windows XP will come in 6 versions.
Named Windows Vista, it has been under development with the codename “Longhorn” since the development of Windows XP.
It plans to feature key improvements to graphics, multimedia, and search functions.
The planned versions include 3 different levels of home licences, and 3 different levels […]
Mobiles pick up speed, but Vodafone overvalued
February 27, 2006
The BBC reports that mobile phone operators are looking at HSDPA technology to speed up 3G download times for mobile devices.
Additional speed increases are being planned with 3G-LTE technology.
The developments come at a time when mobile devices are still limited by the speed of the mobile network connections, and while many companies want to push […]
Windows Servers sales beat Unix
February 22, 2006
According to Server Tracker as reported at CNet, Windows Servers accounted for $17.7 billion in sales over 2005, while Unix servers accounted for $17.5 billion.
Linux server sales were third at $5.3 billion.
While these figures mean that Microsoft now leads the server market, this shouldn’t be confused with server use - according to Netcraft, Linux servers […]
Broadband reaches 64% of UK
February 22, 2006
The BBC reports that broadband now accounts for 64% of internet use in Britain.
It also suggests that broadband will continue to become more widely used in Britain as companies compete for the market, and greater broadband speeds are made available.
Additional information on internet use comes from figres from the ONS for December.
According to these figures […]
Nominet faces rebellion on changes
February 22, 2006
Nominet, the governing body in charge of overseeing UK domains, is facing rebellion over plans to overhaul the company.
Advocates say that Nominet needs to change because it wasn’t structured to cope with the vast market in UK domain names that now exists.
Critics are concerned that the changes will jeopardise the body’s non-profit status, and […]
WiFi Cloud over London
February 21, 2006
The City of London is get its wireless internet access over the Square Mile.
Provided by The Cloud, it is expected to provide full coverage of the area within 6 months, with equipment installed in lamposts.
The network be available to customers of The Cloud, but also other network providers.
The move shows a growing movement towards wireless […]
Worm finds Apple
February 17, 2006
The Apple OS X computer operating system has ordinarily been safe from virus attacks - but yesterday security companies revealed that malicious software targeting Apples is on the loose.
According to Security Focus, the new virus was named OSX/Oomp-A by Andrew Walsh and has been given the designation of OSX/Leap-A by Symantec.
While the virus is believed […]
Mobile phone sales over 800 million a year
February 11, 2006
Over 812 million mobile phones are claimed to have been sold in 2005.
This is up from 713 million the year before.
Both figures dwarf PC sales, which in 2005 are estimated to have been at just over 200 million in 2005.
According to CNet, the mobile market share is taken by:
Nokia - 32.6%
Motorola - 18%
Samsung - 12.1%
The […]
Yahoo! helps China jail dissidents - claim
February 11, 2006
Yahoo! has been accused of helping Chinese authorities jail a second dissident.
Li Zhi was jailed for 8 years in 2003 for posting messages criticising corruption in the Chinese government. It is claimed that data provided by Yahoo! was instrumental in his convinction.
The claim comes after the company came under fire last year for collecting data […]
Freakonomics
February 10, 2006
Freakonomics, by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner, opens up claiming to be an enigma.
It states there is no unifying theme - then begins with the assertion that information is controlled by experts who misuse their position.
And then Freakonomics seems to do precisely that.
There’s a lot of interesting information in Freakonomics - but it’s […]
Businesses warned on software modifications
February 10, 2006
Businesses were today warned to be vigilant when using third-party modifications to their online software.
It comes after it was found that a developer providing modifications on the popular Invision Power Board software, was discovered to be secretly adding code to promote another website.
The method - known as cloaking - ensured that search engines found content […]
Ericsson mobiles flawed as Microsft and RIM add protections
February 10, 2006
Security companies in France and Denmark have warned that a flaw in how bluetooth operates in some Sony Ericsson mobile phones, could make them vulnerable to attacks.
While the flaw is rated as low risk, it continues a disturbing trend in mobile phone technology that leaves handsets and the software they use as vulnerable […]
Users warned on Google privacy
February 10, 2006
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has warned that Google latest software release may be a serious threat to user privacy.
Google launched Google Desktop Search 3.0 this week, with an increased number of user features, such as data sharing.
While groups such as Gartner warned business against using Google Desktop when originally released, the US rights advocacy […]
Property market slows, but may roll on yet
February 9, 2006
Data from the Land Registry has shown that house prices over 2005 grew at their lowest level since records began in 1995.
Meanwhile, the Halifax Building Society has reported a 0.5% fall in house prices for January.
However, the Nationwide claims that “seasonally adjusted” figures have the housing market as rising 1.4% over January.
The apparent confusion in […]
Danish websites hacked in protest
February 9, 2006
The BBC reports that around 2,500 websites - 1000 of them Danish - have been hacked and defaced by Muslims, in protest of cartoons published showing Mohammed.
The new protest has been swift in targeting Danish-owned websites, and security experts expressed surprise at the speed at which the current campaign has been carried out.
It is believed […]
Yahoo! seeks search incentives
February 9, 2006
Yahoo! is in consultation with its email users - to find out what incentives would persuade them to make Yahoo! Search their prefered search engine.
The consultation comes only weeks after Yahoo! Chief Financial Office, Susan Decker, was quoted as saying that Yahoo! was happy to take second place behind Google - a statement the company […]
EU seeks cap on mobile network charges
February 9, 2006
Mobile phone operators could have their “roaming” fees capped by the European Union.
It comes as Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information, Society & Media, outlines price cap plans to national regulators.
Roaming fees are the costs incurred to users when they have to rely on other networks, such as when calling from abroad.
The EU has been […]
New Internet Explorer could pose risks to users
February 7, 2006
There are concerns that the coming release of Internet Explorer 7 later this year, could bring a new wave of phishing scams and confusion about the identity of websites.
While only beta versions of Internet Explorer 7 are currently available, a feature built into IE7 is the ability to recognise and use domains with non-English alphabets, […]
BT suspends SMS trials over data protection
February 7, 2006
British Telecom is to suspend trials of its new SMS system - after users were able to look up sensitive information on other telephone numbers.
Short Message Service (SMS) allows users to send short text data between mobile phones, IP addresses, and fax machines.
The BT SMS Self Service was supposed to allow users to find out […]