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Dec |
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Newsletter | |
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Issue 17 |
Christmas Stocking Filler |
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Boffins beat web censors |
What are going to be the biggest selling big boys toys this Christmas. Here are a couple of recommendations. Games Heaven Nintendo Wii is released in the next few days. This wont be the biggest selling console this Christmas, that will be the Xbox 360 but the Nintendo console brings a whole new dimension to games playing with its clever wireless control systems making the games unique. The Wii will have less games than the Xbox but Nintendo games tend to bring an intelligence and freshness rarely seen in games on other platforms.
Where are we going The satellite navigation revolution started a number of years a go but the predication this year is that its time to start giving them as gifts. There are a vast number of devices to choose from. My advice is to stick to a Tom Tom based device. They cost a little more but they tend to be the easiest to use and send you less often down a dead end.
By Grant Peck
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Boffins at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab have created a free tool designed to circumvent internet censorship. Available from December 1, Psiphon essentially turns a home computer into a server and allows the operator of the host computer to send a unique web address to friends or family members living in one of the 40 countries worldwide where internet use is censored. Those in the censored country can then connect to the server and use it as a host computer to surf the net freely and gain access to websites censored or blocked in their own country. Professor Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said: "We wanted to create an easy to use, efficient and secure means to allow citizens to exercise their basic human rights by accessing information now currently blocked by their governments." "We've made this user-friendly. Anyone can install it and use it. Their connection is encrypted, so no one can eavesdrop on it," Deibert added. "Authorities wouldn't be able to spot what websites are being visited by the user at risk." |
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| European Commission calls for real fight against spam |
First customers move to BT's 21st Century Network |
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The European Commission has said member states must do more to fight the spread of spam. Despite existing EU legislation to outlaw spam across Europe, the region continues to suffer from illegal online activities from inside the EU and from other countries, the Commission said internet safety has been on the political agenda for some time, national authorities had to step up their actions to prosecute illegal online activities. "It is time to turn the repeated political concern about spam into concrete actions to fight spam," said Viviane Reding, commissioner for information society and media. "In line with EU legislation outlawing spam, the Dutch authorities have managed to cut domestic spam by 85% - I'd like to see other countries achieving similar results through more efficient enforcement, said Reding. Security software firms estimate that spam could represent up to 85% of all e-mail. From being a nuisance, said the Commission, unsolicited e-mail has become increasingly fraudulent and criminal. Criminals are luring users into revealing their sensitive data and finances via so-called "phishing" The EU-wide “ban on spam” adopted in 2002, as part of the ePrivacy Directive, is clearly not being fully adopted by most member states, said the Commission. The Information Commissioner in the UK is currently responsible for enforcement action when it comes to the ePrivacy Directive, but the organisation said it is not geared up to fight spam. This may now have to change. The Commission will revisit the legislative framework when it introduces new proposals to strengthen user privacy and security in 2007. The proposals may oblige service providers to report security breaches that have led to personal data loss and/or to interruptions of service supply. Under the proposals national regulatory authorities would have the power to ensure operators implement adequate security policies. In addition, member states would need to ensure that any person or organisation with a legitimate interest in combating infringements under the ePrivacy Directive may take legal action and bring them before a national regulatory authority. |
BT has implemented the first phase of its next generation internet protocol (IP) network in South Wales. Customers in the town of Wick, near Cardiff, were the first to be put onto the IP-based 21st Century Network, known as 21CN, which BT plans to create across the UK by 2011. Access to the system means business and domestic customers will be able to get voice, internet and multimedia services quicker than before with download speeds of up to 24Mbit/s, BT claims. The UK telecoms corporation has already done a large amount of infrastructure work to prepare for the first customer users, laying down more than 2,300 kilometres of new fibre optic cable in South Wales and creating IT systems to support the new network. The beginning of the IP network roll out is a momentous occasion for BT, says BT Wholesale and 21CN sponsor, Paul Reynolds. 'Years of research and development, network build and design, rigorous trials and testing, together with open collaboration with the communications industry have culminated in this historic moment,' he said. 'A network transformation on this scale has not been attempted anywhere else in the world, it’s happening now in South Wales, and the rest of the UK will follow over the next few years.' |
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Ultra-thin LCD on way for mobiles |
Zune branded 'a complete, humiliating failure' |
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An ultra-thin flat panel screen the thickness of a credit card could revolutionise display technology and mobile devices when it arrives next year. Samsung Electronics has developed what it claims is the thinnest mobile liquid crystal display screen to date. It plans to mass produce the screen technology in the second half... The screens are no thicker than a credit card at 0.82mm, which is 0.07mm thinner than the panel previously reported to be the world's slimmest, said Samsung Electronics.
The company has also developed a mobile technology, called i-Lens, with which it can integrate the entire screen panel assembly, including a protective layer, into a single, thinner module that is designed to be more shock-resistant and easier to read than conventional display panels. To achieve the slimmer size, Samsung's Mobile Display Team redesigned the display's light guide plate subassembly and the glass substrate, which has previously accounted for most of the LCD module's thickness. |
A damning review of Microsoft’s new Zune media player has predicted that the player will be dead in the water within six months. Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, reviewer Andy Ihnatko pulled no punches in his assessment of the player. He found it difficult to install and lacking compatibility with either Windows Media Player or Microsoft’s Playsforsure scheme. It is also, he believes, loaded with features that record companies like but which users will hate. "Avoid, is my general message,” he writes. “The Zune is a square wheel, a product that's so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity.” Other points of contention include the lack of support for podcasts (described as “insanity”), Wi-Fi that can only be used to send heavily DRMed tracks rather than useful features like wireless synchronisation, and the fact that Microsoft pays a fee to record companies for each player it sells. |
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