Government websites failing
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The University of Southampton has released a study that shows that 60% of UK government websites contain serious HTML errors, and fail W3C standards on website design.
A big part of the problem is that the websites are designed […]
March 29, 2006
Google deletes GoogleBlog - by accident
by Brian Turner
Google today admitted that an employee accidentally deleted the company’s official blog.
The Google Blog is an online journal that Google has primarily used as a public relations tool and method of communication with the public.
Although Google attempted to make light of the issue, it comes after a series of mistakes by Google employees.
These include private […]
Huge numbers of websites attacked
by Brian Turner
Huge numbers of websites are being indirectly attacked, as the nameservers that tell the internet where to find them are directly targeted.
Using Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, the servers are flooded with useless information that can cause them to crash.
Individual servers and websites have been previously targeted in DDoS attacks, most recently by East […]
eBay threatened with closure for infringement
by Brian Turner
eBay, the huge online sales and auction service, is being threatened with closure of a key service over patent infringements.
The dispute is with the company MercExchange, who have already successfully argued in the American courts that two of its patents have been infringed by eBay.
The infringements primarily relate to the use of the “Buy it […]
Superfast Bluetooth for next generation wireless
by Brian Turner
A superfast form of Bluetooth - a wireless technology for connecting computer devices - is on its way, and supported by industrial heavy-weights in hardware and software.
Promising speeds nearer 100 megabits per second, as compared to the standard 1 megabit per second at present, the new Bluetooth technology is expected to be primarily used for […]
Beatles fight Apple
by Brian Turner
The Beatles Apple Corps record company is taking Apple Computers to court.
The row is over the use of “Apple” as a trademark for the music business.
Both companies have been in conflict before, and the current action is over a claim of breach of argument made in the High Court in London in 1991.
Apple dispute timescale:
1968: […]
March 28, 2006
Pensions protests halt Britain
by Brian Turner
Over 1 million Council Workers have gone on strike in the UK, bringing large parts of local government to a halt.
The strike is over protests to back-date new pension rules, which will prevent any council worker from retiring on a full-pension at age 60.
It comes at a time when pension funds are in crisis - […]
March 27, 2006
More serious bugs bite Internet Explorer
by Brian Turner
Microsoft was today warning that three new Internet Explorer vulnerabilities put users at risk.
One simply causes IE to crash, but the other two are more malicious, and allow a third-party to take control of a users PC.
The warning comes as the security record of Internet Explorer continues to be an embarrassment, and Microsoft are left […]
London prices blow housing bubble bigger
by Brian Turner
Property prices in London have started going up again, pushing overall UK lending figures up on the month.
While it has been predicted already that house prices would see a small revival early 2006, few are optimistic that house prices will do anything but stagnate over the second half of this year.
It’s also worth noting that […]
March 23, 2006
Search online for offline shopping
by Brian Turner
According to ComScore, 63% of search-related purchases happen offline.
The study, sponsored by Google, was run in December 2005, and tracked 11 retail categories and the search behaviour of 83 million Americans.
Certainly it underlines an important point - simple stats tracking of online PPC will not give an overall picture of search marketing success.
For a start, […]
March 22, 2006
Gordon Brown delivers…speech
by Brian TurnerGordon Brown today delivered his budget speech, which for all intents and purposes was more talk than action.
Having failed their own targets for reducing child poverty, Gordon Brown went into damage limitation by announcing a round of increased funding for schools - something that’s hard not to read as the creation of a new tier […]
Windows closed for Christmas
by Brian Turner
Microsoft have announced that release of their next-generation Operating System for Windows - Vista - will now be delayed to January 2007.
Business users will have access to Windows Vista from November of this year, but normal consumers will have to wait until after the important Christmas shopping season before they can buy a new PC […]
French bite Apple; Apple bitter-sweet
by Brian Turner
Yesterday, the French lower Parliament voted to force all music downloads in the country to be cross-compatible between different services and devices.
Today Apple responded angrily, calling the proposed law “state-sponsored piracy”.
However, they also bullishly suggested that sales of iPods - Apple’s key music playing hardware - would increase, as other people would likely make the […]
Defamation ruled in messageboard case
by Brian Turner
A man has been awarded £10,000 in damages, after a woman posted repeated abuse and allegations against him on a Yahoo! message group.
The man in question was a member of the UK Independence party, and the allegations made against him varied from simple name-calling, to accusing him of sexual harrassment and indecency.
While the case showed […]
March 20, 2006
Online banking struggles with IE7
by Brian Turner
The Royal Bank of Scotland is warning users that it’s online banking facility will not work with Internet Explorer 7.
The warning comes as Microsoft prepares to launch Internet Explorer 7 this summer.
Some banks use somewhat antiquated online banking systems, and the Royal Bank of Scotland online banking system suffers especially from being an older set-up.
To […]
March 16, 2006
Retail sales continues weakness
by Brian Turner
Retail sales saw another fall last month according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), continuing a trend in weak consumer spending.
In a year-on-year comparison, retail sales were down 0.9% on the same period in 2005.
The figures also co-incide with a slight rise in unemployment, and could finally signal the first real signs of a […]
RFID tags vulnerable to virus attack
by Brian Turner
Radio Frequency ID tags - aka RFID - are smart barcodes using radio signals, that allow for easy tracking of goods from suppliers to distributors to consumers.
Made from a tiny computer chip and radio emitter, they are expected to eventually replace barcodes.
Unfortunately, they’ve also been proven now to be as vulnerable to virus attacks […]
March 13, 2006
Police threaten copper bloggers
by Brian Turner
“These blogs reveal what actually goes on behind the glossy, PR-friendly corporate image put across by most forces, and threatens to actually inform the public as to what police officers do.”
That’s the statement of police blogger Bow Street Runner, who claims that recent blogging guidelines issued within the Metropolitan Police are intended to prevent the […]
CIA secrets found online
by Brian Turner
Just searching the internet, the Chicago Tribune claims to have uncovered a list of 2,653 CIA employees, and details of 24 secret CIA facilities.
While the information behind the claims has not been published, it highlights the freely available nature of information on the internet and the dangers it can bring to confidentiality.
It also highlights the […]
March 8, 2006
MPs for tougher sentencing on hackers
by Brian Turner
Cross-party support for a bill amendment in the House of Commons could see substantial increases of maximum sentences handed out to hackers.
The move could also see other attempts to damage or disable websites as carrying a stronger criminal penalty.
The amendment is being made to the Police and Justice Bill, after campaigning by Tom Harris, MP, […]