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March 30th, 2010 by Steve

Daily News 29/03

BBC – Introducing UK broadband’s first customer, 10 years on

The UK’s first broadband customer celebrates 10 years with the faster internet connection this week. Single parent Mark Bush was spending £300 a month on his dial-up connection before pre-registering for broadband with Virgin Media.

BBC – Sensors turn skin into gadget control pad

Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets. US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players.

BBC – US credit card hacker sentenced

Computer hacker Albert Gonzalez has been jailed for 20 years in the US for his part in stealing the details of more than 130m credit and debit cards.

Computing.co.uk – What happens when your cloud bursts?

Steve Prentice, vice president and fellow at research firm Gartner, reminds organisations not to rush into cloud service agreements or tryst any third party provider with mission critical data and applications without following appropriate risk management procedures.

The Guardian – We’re staying in China, says Microsoft, as free speech row with Google grows

Hopes that Google’s forthright stand on censorship in China would inspire other companies to follow suit appeared unfounded today.

Computer Weekly – Millions of e-mail users still respond to spam, survey reveals

Despite more than 80 per cent of e-mail users being aware of bots, tens of millions respond to spam in ways that could leave them vulnerable to a malware, a worldwide online survey has revealed. Half of the 4,000 people surveyed by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) said they had opened spam, clicked on a link in spam, opened a spam attachment, replied or forwarded it.

The Register – Third of UK students would strip their way through college

A third of female students would happily top up their funds by stripping while four per cent would consider escort work as a way to make ends meet.

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March 15th, 2010 by Steve

Daily News 15/03

Computing.co.uk – Report suggests multi-tasking ahead for iPhone

Apple may be preparing to allow multi-tasking on the iPhone, according to media reports. Apple news site AppleInsider cited anonymous sources in reporting that the iPhone OS 4.0 release will allow users to launch and access multiple applications at once, including those from third-party developers.

BBC – Dotcom web address celebrates silver anniversary

The internet celebrates a landmark event on the 15 March 2010, the twenty-fitth birthday of the day the first dotcom name was registered.

The Register – Google ’99.9 per cent’ certain to pull China search plug

Google is now “99.9 per cent” certain it will shut down its Chinese search engine, according to a report citing “a person familiar with the company’s thinking”.

Computerworld UK – Humans continue to be ‘weak link’ in data security

Nearly 90 percent of IT workers in the UK have said a laptop in their organisation has been reported lost or stolen, new research has found.

Computerworld UK – Virgin runs fibre broadband via telegraph poles

Virgin Media will use telegraph poles to extend the reach of fibre-to-the-home in a test in the UK village of Woolhampton, it said today.

The Daily Telegraph – Man fined over Facebook insult to ex-girlfriend

A man has been ordered to pay £165 for calling his ex-girlfriend an offensive name on Facebook, in one of the first cases of its kind.

SC Magazine – Former Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair speaks on the danger cyber terrorism could have on the UK, along with organised hackers and the insider threat.

Sir Ian Blair speaks of how information communication technology security was potentially the greatest threat to the UK by the end of this decade.

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February 16th, 2010 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Speed Quiz: @sarahp1986 wins a bouquet

Sarah Porter (@sarahp1986) has won Speed’s weekly quiz. She correctly identified that ntl:Telewest Business relaunched as Virgin Media Busienss last week. Sarah wins a floral bouquet.

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

Click here to find out a bit more about our weekly competition.

November 27th, 2009 by Lisa Francis

Daily News: 27/11

Computing.co.uk – Virgin Media to roll out copyright infringement detection tool
Virgin Media is trialling a copyright infringement tool that could be built into the technology underpinning its upcoming music download subscription service.

BBC – Court ruling forces Mininova to end illegal torrents
The Netherlands-based file-sharing website Mininova has removed all torrents that enabled users to download copyright-protected material.

BBC – Hacker Gary McKinnon to appeal after extradition blow

The “devastated” lawyers for computer hacker Gary McKinnon are to challenge the home secretary’s decision not to block his extradition to the US.

IT PRO – ICO: Stolen laptop contained data on 110,000 people

Verity Trustees has had its wrist slapped by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after a laptop was stolen containing data on 110,000 people. The laptop was taken from the locked server room of Northgate Arinso, which supplies pension management software to Verity.

The Times – Playcast brings video games to TV without the need for a console

The days of the PlayStation and Xbox could be numbered, if a new video game service lives up to its promises and launches in the UK next year.

April 1st, 2009 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

News-jacking case study: desktop research

Initiative:

News-jack for business communications provider ntl:Telewest Business to target Twitter’s third birthday and an announcement by analyst house, Gartner

Approach:

  • Carried out research in advance to find out how many large technology companies in the UK and the US have embraced Twitter for business communications
  • Used Twitter to pre-pitch the results of the study to a few key journalists
  • Pitched the story the following day to journalists and bloggers, and tweeted about the research with a link to the press release just three times
  • Followed up with journalists who hadn’t covered the story the next day to flag a press release released by Gartner that morning highlight 4 ways that enterprises can use Twitter

Results:

  • More than 150 clicks on the link to the press release, and three retweets
  • More than 35 pieces of coverage, including two pieces in the national press
  • Dozens of tweets commenting on the research, and linking to articles about it

Coverage:

Twitter’s potential overlooked by UK technology companies, says report, The Daily Telegraph
4 out of 5 UK tech companies aren’t using Twitter. So what’s the excuse?
, Econsultancy
UK’s leading tech firms fail to grasp Twitter potential, Brand Republic
Enterprises turning to Twitter, says Gartner, IT Pro
Top UK firms slow on Twitter take-up, VNU Net