silicon.com : Weekly Round-Up

The Weekly Round-Up: 06.11.09

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:17:01 GMT

Question: What do Britain's hairdressers and IT technicians have in common?

Answer: A shared love of getting a bit on the side.

The Weekly Round-Up: 30.09.09

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:01 GMT

It's almost that time of year when nameless horrors not of this world crawl shrieking into the light, creating terror and provoking instant madness in all that see their horrible, bloated faces.

No, the Round-Up doesn't mean consultants doing the annual software audit. It's Halloween tomorrow.

The Weekly Round-Up: 23.10.09

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:23:01 GMT

We British love our broadband. We're compelled to hug it, to adore it, to nuzzle it lovingly. It is our North, our South, our East and West; our working week and our Sunday rest. It completes us.

Broadband speed is now the number one national preoccupation, just ahead of property prices and gossiping about the neighbours. In fact, as serendipity would have it, news this week manages to combine all of middle England's obsessions: fast internet access, property and what the Joneses are up to.

The Weekly Round-Up: 16.10.09

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:50:02 GMT

How many times have you heard a tale of woe that features 1) an incriminating photo from an office party and/or 2) a comment on the skills of a co-worker along the lines of "witless, talentless buffoon of a man" and 3) ends with a shake of the head, a wince and the punchline: "And then I realised that I'd sent the email to my boss Andy and not my mate Andy."

Plenty of times, the Round-Up is sure.

The Weekly Round-Up: 09.10.09

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:03:02 GMT

How often have you had the following conversations with your significant other?

"I've just been speaking to Tim, he's madly in love." "Really? I didn't hear the phone ring." "No, it was through instant messenger."

The Weekly Round-Up: 02.10.09

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:19:01 GMT

Over the years, the internet has been blamed for many of the world's ills. Sometimes fairly, though often not.

'The internet is corrupting the nation's youth!' 'The internet is giving us terrible piles!' 'The internet has led to a massive drain in revenues in traditional advertising channels!'

The Weekly Round-Up: 25.09.09

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:12:02 GMT

Every once in a while an application comes along that defines a platform.

For the Apple II it was the early spreadsheet VisiCalc. For the IBM PC it was another spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3. Later, sales of the Macintosh surged on the back of desktop publishing software from Aldus and others.

The Weekly Round-Up: 18.09.09

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:37:02 GMT

A lot of people think their broadband service is bad. You probably think your broadband is bad. Even people that don't have broadband have an opinion about how bad their broadband would be, if they had it.

It's Britain's new favourite topic to moan about, now that we can't really moan about our national performance at cricket or football.

The Weekly Round-Up: 11.09.09

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:47:00 GMT

Microsoft, eh? It seems like there's any excuse for a party these days.

It emerged this week that Microsoft is offering people the chance to hold parties in their homes to celebrate the launch of Windows 7. No, honestly - the Round-Up isn't making this up.

The Weekly Round-Up: 04.09.09

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:47:01 GMT

It was only last week that the Round-Up was complaining about how much like hard work it is to slack off in the office these days.

But now it seems that workers at one council will shortly face the prospect of life without status updates, comments on baby pictures and tossed sheep. During the day, at least.

The Weekly Round-Up: 28.08.09

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:56:01 GMT

Gone are the days when slacking in the office would encompass doodling, staring into space and elaborate daydreams about what to say to the boss upon winning the lottery.

Loafing is now actually really hard work, what with Twitter to keep up with, Facebook to update and all manner of RSS feeds to scan for morsels of info. It's almost less hassle to just keep working.

The Weekly Round-Up: 21.08.09

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:52:02 GMT

Ah, the lazy days of summer in the IT department. Cricket and cream teas in the air-conditioned oasis of the server room, while the boss thinks you're doing a major systems upgrade.

With the office deserted for the holidays, there are fewer stupid users assuming you can remember their passwords or demanding you fix their self-inflicted tech woes with their bleats of "but it said I should click on the link because I had won a million dollars"

The Weekly Round-Up: 14.08.09

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:05:02 GMT

Every so often there comes a piece of news that makes you stop in your tracks. Something so mind-boggling, you can't help but wonder if you've slipped into some parallel universe where cats lie down with dogs and a member of the Nigerian royal family really does want to give you a cut of their millions.

This week, there was such a news story. Are you sitting down? OK, the Round-Up will break it to you gently.

The Weekly Round-Up: 07.08.09

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:45:02 GMT

When T.S. Eliot wrote "April is the cruellest month" he had clearly never faced the prospect of writing pithy news round-ups in August.

Silly season is well and truly upon us and real news is thin on the ground but happily there are all manner of research reports and other snippets to keep us all amused during the holiday month.

The Weekly Round-Up: 31.07.09

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:26:02 GMT

Twitter is known for its brevity so it was inevitable that Whitehall's guidelines for departmental microblogging would stretch to 20 pages.

The guidance note on the government use of Twitter went viral this week after being placed on the Cabinet Office blog.

The Weekly Round-Up: 24.07.09

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:34:01 GMT

Phishing has become a constant nuisance for the good denizens of Planet Interweb. Rarely a day goes by when you don't get a badly worded email from a bank you aren't a customer of asking you to give up your personal data for some spurious reason.

This week it's the turn of HM Revenue and Customs, or at least phishing villains purporting to be HMRC. Warnings have been issued about the actions of a shadowy organisation that aims to drain our bank accounts of all our hard-earned cash without giving it a second thought.

The Weekly Round-Up: 17.07.09

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:03:01 GMT

This week Bill Gates revealed more details of Project Natal, the gesture recognition system that Microsoft is working on.

The idea is by using full body motion capture and facial recognition, Natal means you can control games with your actions rather than having to rely on a controller (and it also means you won't face the frustration of the batteries running out just as you're about to finally dispatch the big end-of-level boss).

The Weekly Round-Up: 10.07.09

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:48:02 GMT

Despite the best attempts of the political correctness lobby, appearance and image are very important, especially to middle-aged men working in corporate IT.

Yes, personality counts but unless you've got a lot of stickers on your side telling the world how official and accredited you are, there's just no point showing up in the office.

The Weekly Round-Up: 03.07.09

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:06:02 GMT

Glastonbury - home to ley lines, juggling hippies, gurning students covered head-to-toe in mud and publicity-hungry minor celebrities showing off in their wellies.

And, this year, they were joined by 407 BBC staff. Yep, 407.

The Weekly Round-Up: 26.06.09

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:10:02 GMT

The Round-Up is a big fan of Scandinavian countries. They've got some of the most stirring landscapes, tastiest beer and best reindeer steaks in the world. Granted, there's not a lot of competition in the reindeer steak stakes, but still, you've got to take your successes where you can.

More importantly, they're a fiercely techie bunch with a proud reputation as Europe's cradle of mobile civilisation: a Nokia engineering student reportedly sent the first GSM text message, the Round-Up will have you know.

The Weekly Round-Up: 19.06.09

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:34:01 GMT

The Round-Up is sure you've had a boss who, quite frankly, was a complete git. We all have.

Maybe you are such a boss, in which case the Round-Up suggests you take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself where it all went wrong.

The Weekly Round-Up: 12.06.09

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:29:01 GMT

'Web 2.0' has become the one millionth word to be 'accepted' into the English language.

That's according to the Global Language Monitor, a company which sifts the web for neologisms in search of formal recognition. Once a word has been used 25,000 times, it gets the stamp of approval.

The Weekly Round-Up: 05.06.09

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:38:01 GMT

Bada Bing!

Some more on Microsoft's latest attempt to catch up with Google in the search engine race - Bing. Or, rather, as The Round-Up likes to think of it - Bing!

The Weekly Round-Up: 29.05.09

Fri, 29 May 2009 17:32:01 GMT

Never say those Redmond guys give up easily - Microsoft has tilted its lance at Google once more in the search engine wars. Microsoft's latest charge at its multi-coloured search windmill is underway again after Steve Ballmer unveiled the follow-up to Live Search.

Except this time it isn't a search engine it's a 'decision engine'.

The Weekly Round-Up: 22.05.09

Fri, 22 May 2009 15:17:02 GMT

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin.

Oh, what's that? You're not sitting comfortably at all, but sprawled on your super-king sized divan and you want the pillows plumped up and the duvet straightened?