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Firenet Launches Broadband Service The 'Speedwire 500' package is aimed at both home and business users and has a price tag of £26.50 per month Firenet are also offering business customers a .co.uk domain, hosting and unlimited email service all free for a year. Also included in the offer; virus protection; anti-spam protection; and full free tech support with the domain for the whole year. Business users must sign-up before 1st August. Getting To Know More About XP Getting to know the full potential of XP takes time, as does getting used to the type of error messages that XP dishes out, which can sometimes be confusing, especially to new users. A great source of help for the beginner running any operating system is the often ignored and underestimated help and troubleshooting guide within the OS itself. This can often solve many common problems and using the 'troubleshooting in stages' method, it is a first aid stop to help you tackle issues and to rule out other causes. Using the help system in XP is relatively simple, and if you have never looked through it, have a peep when you have some spare time - even advanced users can benefit, as very often, the simplest of solutions are overlooked when faced with problems. Familiarising yourself with the help and troubleshooting guide can save a lot of time - learn how to use it effectively, and, even if the step-by-step method fails to solve a problem, you will have learnt along the way. Below are some common issues that users query when they have already upgraded to XP or are about to take the plunge: "NTFS OR FAT 32?" is just one of the many questions that are regularly asked, and the simple answer is, when the pros and cons have been investigated, that it is up to the user to choose. There are differences between the two file systems, although they both support file length names up to 256 characters. FAT is said to have limited security capabilities when compared to NTFS, which, while having extensive security and auditing options, this less-commonly used filing system lacks support for backward compatibility, unlike the FAT file system. The file caching that FAT (when used to recover lost data) is slower than the more accurate transaction logging that NTFS uses, however, FAT is compatible with floppy disks whereas NTFS is not, or, in other words, you can't format a floppy to the NTFS file system. There are more similarities and differences, but basically its swings and roundabouts, so don't ponder on the file system to be used too much unless the system is being used as a server, when NTFS would be more desirable because of its more rigid security settings. "WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?" is another question I get asked, and most of the time, its more about learning to understand how XP works rather than the user doing something wrong! If you are using XP as your main or only operating system, then it is essential to learn about the "Administrative Tools" section found in Control Panel, as this can be a vital source of information during troubleshooting. DRIVER/COMPATIBILITY ISSUES are often raised in problem solving, and it is advisable that before anyone upgrades to XP, that they run the compatibility test that is available, even if the machine is only a few months old. If you don't check first, it can be infuriating to discover that you have a device in your machine that is not supported under XP, and that there is no available compatible driver either. Many blame Microsoft for lack of driver support, but the manufacturer of the hardware can also be responsible in a way as they chosen not to develop a working XP driver, but their reasons can be valid for not doing so. "MY SYSTEM KEEPS REBOOTING!" is another common statement, and apart from hardware issues such as failing power supply, etc., most of the time it is due to a setting within XP to reboot on failure. In 98SE for example, users would be faced with the commonly named blue screen of death (BSOD) during some errors, but in XP, when certain errors are encountered, the operating system reboots automatically and usually informs the user that the system has recovered from a 'serious" error. You can turn off the reboot on error setting in XP by going in Control Panel to System and then clicking on the Advanced tab in system properties. Here you will find three different settings, Performance, User Profile and Start Up and recovery, which is the one you need to alter. Click on the Settings tab under Start Up and Recovery and untick "automatically restart" and you can also alter other settings too if desired - but be careful. In some ways though, switching reboot off may not be the solution because it is difficult to know if the problem is hardware related - trying to solve the reason why XP is rebooting before you change any settings is a good idea - remember do a back up beforehand too! SYSTEM RECOVERY in XP is more operational and reliable than the restore feature in Windows Millennium (IMHO), and, unless disk space or other lack of resources is a problem, it is a good idea to use this as opposed to a third party program. Ideally, creating a restore point should be carried out before any changes to the system such as installation of a program, an update or altering any settings takes place. However, if you at least set the system recovery console in XP to back up your files automatically once a week, this can save valuable time when encountering persistent problems. You can set your system recovery to carry out a back up by going to the "scheduled tasks" folder in control panel, and you can also set other programs to run from here, such as a virus scanner or a notebook reminder etc. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, the repair feature in XP is also something to consider before deciding to reinstall the complete operating system. The repair feature will correct any corrupt registry entries without loosing any installed programs or information that you may have saved. Repairing the OS is not the same as running System File Checker, which can also be done in XP. To run repair, you first need to set your system to boot from your CD-ROM drive via the BIOS and then insert your XP disk and reboot. You may be asked to press any key and your system will now boot from the disk drive. Follow the instructions for repairing the operating system and when the machine has finished, you can then set your system to boot from your hard drive. To run SFC in XP, place your Windows XP installation CD in your CD-ROM drive, go to Start and then RUN, and type the following in: sfc /scannow - make sure you leave a space between sfc and the forward slash / otherwise it won't work! Click OK and when the Windows File Protection dialogue box appears the system scan begins. You can also use the FILE SIGNATURE VERIFICATION UTILITY and to do this, click on Start, point to Programs, then to Accessories, System Tools, and then click System Information. From here, click on the Tools menu and then click on File Signature Verification Utility. You can click advanced before you start to make changes to way the utility works, and then click Start. During this process, you will be prompted if any altered or corrupt files are found - these may need to be reinstalled from your XP installation CD or other source such as relevant stored files on your hard drive. There are now many sites offering advice, tips and tweaks and issues with Windows XP, and the more you begin to explore this operating system, the more you will become accustomed to its nature. Below you will find links to some of the most useful sites and resources on XP that I have found - please also feel free to add your links to XP related sites that you feel would be of benefit on the talk-back page: BINK WINDOWS XP has been developed by Steven Bink, a Windows 2000 MCSE from Amsterdam, and is one of the first XP sites I stumbled across. An excellent resource for news, tips and downloads for Windows XP. The site is loaded with information and further links, and also houses one of the best XP FORUMS offering help and advice and has over 30,000 members so far - Unfortunately I don't manage to find the time to visit this forum anymore, but the site is not one to be missed! XP-ERIENCE.ORG is another great site, and definitely one for your favourites. Offering XP guides, tweaking, news, downloads, chat room and the latest XP drivers and add-ons, the site is very well laid out and offers easy navigation. MICROSOFT.COM/WINDOWS XP is the original Windows XP site from Microsoft, use this to keep your computer current with the latest fixes, enhancements, and drivers straight from Microsoft. YOUR XP.ORG is your one-stop resource site for Windows XP offering Critical Downloads, Product Updates, Add-Ons, Wallpapers, ScreenSavers, Logon Screens and much more... WINDOWS REINSTALL.COM will guide you via a step-by-step guide on installing, reinstalling, or upgrading to Windows XP and other operating systems. You can also check if you can upgrade to Windows XP from your present operating system. TWEAK XP is a definitive site offering tweaks, usability Tips, how-to guides, informative articles and much more - another one for your bookmarks! Between them, these sites all offer comprehensive information guides, advice, downloads, updates and troubleshooting tips, although there are, of course, many more good sites relating to XP and no doubt you will have your own. For further browsing, on the BINK WINDOWS XP site, all initial information and links are contained on the first page, and right at the bottom of this huge page is a list of many more links to other good XP sites, so check them out. That's all for a couple of weeks, and don't forget, if you have any downloads or sites to recommend, or you want a particular subject covering, please email me direct at Sarah@net4nowt.com, outlining your recommendation or subject suggestion with appropriate links. Have Fun! Chat Event With BT's Verwaayen ADSLguide are hosting an online chat event with the BT boss on Tuesday 2nd July from 4 pm. Questions are already being collected to put to Verwaayen and you can put your question forward by sending an email to bt-questions@adslguide.org.uk. It is thought that after BT's earlier announcement of their new ADSL order registration system, the event will be extremely popular. New Broadband Campaign Launched A new broadband campaign has been launched in an attempt to persuade BT to enable another exchange for ADSL, according to the North-West Evening Mail newspaper. Local businesses in Ulverston, South Cumbria, claim the lack of broadband Internet access is holding them back. Simon Butterfield, who runs computer and IT business PC Doctor, said, "It’s in Barrow and Kendal and should have been in Ulverston a year ago but it isn’t. Broadband would be beneficial to home owners and beneficial to business people." BT has asked people who are interested to register through their ISP but in order to make a more accurate assessment of the number of people interested, the newspaper is asking Internet users to fill in an online form to gauge the response. But with BT's new ADSL order registration system that goes live tomorrow, campaigns must work with an ISP who can enter the registration data into the system. In addition it also needs to be financially viable for BT, which could mean a figure of between 200 and 500 pre-registered customers before an exchange is enabled. Source: North-West Evening Mail BT Trials Mesh Broadband Technology At the start of the trial in Pontypridd, South Wales, BT Wholesale chief executive Paul Reynolds said that mesh radio had the potential to widen the reach of BT Wholesale's broadband delivery. Paul Reynolds said, "We are relentlessly pursuing all technological and partnership opportunities to bring broadband to more homes and businesses. This trial, with Radiant Networks mesh radio solution, will give us an extended look at the technology in a real-life situation and let us explore its suitability for BT to deliver broadband services in areas beyond the reach of ADSL." The trial of MESHWORKS, a broadband mesh radio solution developed by Radiant Networks, through to December this year will evaluate the technology for BT Wholesale. Households taking part in the trial will receive interactive television and video-on-demand (VOD) content from Cardiff-based interactive TV solutions provider Yes Television. Mesh radio solutions work on the principle that the small radio antenna installed at each household or business, transmits on to neighbouring users to form a network or "mesh". This approach does away with the need for large antennae or masts used to transmit to each individual customer in traditional point to multipoint wireless solutions. Freeserve Launches Mobile Message Service The launch of the SMS service comes at a time when there are over 43 million messages sent daily across the UK. TextMail has the added advantage of group messaging, which enables users to send a text message to a group of friends at the same time. Users must register to the service and make an initial £1.50 top up to their TextMail account. This buys 25 credits that can be used to send messages and purchase new ringtones or logos from Freeserve’s wide range. Freeserve is offering a free ringtone or logo of choice to all new users. TextMail is located on Freeserve’s ringtones channel at http://textmail.freeserve.com Gio Internet Dial-Up Subscribers Connectivity Issues Explained 0808 9909010 number coverage been withdrawn from 7 exchanges with immediate effect by one our carriers. The effect being customers cannot log in using the above number. Please email enquiry@giointernet.com with your Username, Password and your contact number. According to the ISP, NTL has reduced its coverage from 7 exchanges and subscribers are now being transferred to new dial-up numbers via Energis and are being connected. Number compatibility and the volume of subscribers being transferred has slowed the process and caused delays. However, Gio has specified that dial-up users who have been affected since last week are requested to forward their username@gio and CLI number as suggested in the service statement. Gio apologises for the delay, and anticipates that all customers will be connected within next 24 hours. New Microsoft Project AttemptsTo Ensure PC Privacy And Security Via "Virtual Vault" Palladium is Microsoft's combined software/hardware solution to the problem of security and privacy in the form of a new computer security chip and software protection that could be incorporated in a future version of Windows. (Longhorn?) However, industry experts are questioning Microsoft's chance for success according to a report by informationweek.com: "If this works, it will be the first time in the history of computing that it works,'' said Bruce Schneier, a cryptography expert and author of "Secrets & Lies, Digital Security In A Networked World." "Lots and lots of encryption is broken all the time because it's done wrong,'' Schneier said. "The odds are actually zero this will be secure." AMD and Intel have already signed up for the new project and company officials have told other executives in private briefings they don't expect to see mainstream products for at least five years according to the report. Under Palladium, Intel and AMD, the world's largest chipmakers, will redesign computer processors to include cryptography features. Palladium also will require changes to video and keyboard technologies to ensure that a customer's typed information is displayed without changes on the screen. That would require billions of dollars in new equipment upgrades by consumers, corporations, and governments. Palladium's security aspect will mainly focus on authentication and encryption and it is reported that the technology can be turned on and off and will be capable of distinguishing safe software from data containing viruses or other malicious computer codes. Already dubbed the "virtual vault", some rumours indicate that the new "secure" technology would allow companies to almost control its behaviour, so do you think that Palladium would limit the freedom of the user once implemented? Trust could play a key factor to its success, and as a user, would you trust a silicon chip/software combination to encrypt your personal and financial information? Source: Informationweek.com Nimda Virus Infects Popular Online Gaming Site GameSpy Arcade is used by many online gaming enthusiasts and the company is currently in the process of notifying those users who downloaded the infected file and directing them to free anti-virus tools to eradicate the worm from their systems. GameSpy Chief Executive Mark Surfas told Reuters that the virus infected one of their download servers for two hours on Tuesday and five hours Wednesday night, during a routine service: "We were doing some maintenance and we let our guard down," he said, adding that the company, which provides thousands of downloads every day, has never had a similar incident. "This registers with us as a serious, serious error," he said. "We're pretty upset about it. This is not cool." A total of 3,100 infected files were served according to Surfas, who added that, despite the outbreak, the company has not received any reports from users who have experienced any damage to their systems. Nimda was first discovered in September of last year and is estimated to have cost up to $500 million as corporations cleaned up their networks according to the report. Source: Reuters KPNQwest Network Set To Be Broken Up And Sold Off A person close to the negotiations was quoted as saying: "We have three days to sell what was once a 40 billion euro telecoms empire." The only bidder left for the entire system is Trimoteur, a Dutch private equity firm, but its chances are considered slim. Telia, the Swedish group, is also interested. According to the report, AT&T refused to put an offer in for the network by Friday, when funds to keep the system lit run out, and the company also found it "difficult to untangle the operator's assets" from around 10 European bankruptcy jurisdictions. Source: Ananova Net Security: "Critical" Vulnerabilities Found In Windows Media Player The maximum severity rating for the vulnerabilities is critical, and users who are running Windows Media Player 6.4, 7.1 or Windows Media Player for Windows XP should download and apply the patch immediately. The cumulative patch will eliminate the three newly discovered security glitches and includes the functionality of all previously released patches for Windows Media Player 6.4, 7.1 and Windows Media Player for Windows XP. The first is an information disclosure vulnerability that could provide the means to enable an attacker to run code on the user's system. The second is a privilege elevation vulnerability that could enable an attacker who can physically logon locally to a Windows 2000 machine and run a program to obtain the same rights as the operating system. The third is a script execution vulnerability that could enable an attacker to run a script as if the user had chosen to run it after playing a specially formed media file and then viewing a specially constructed web page. For further information, and to download the patch, please click HERE. Outage Affects UK Internet Users The incident occurred this afternoon shortly after 2.30 at LINX's Telecity centre in London's Docklands. Those hit by the problem would have had difficulty with their email and accessing the Web.A spokeswoman for LINX told The Register that it was not a major outage. Source: The Register Radical Reform Needed For Telecom Regulatory Policies National regulatory agencies (NRAs) need to ensure the best possible growth of telecommunications services by finding the right balance between incentives, requirements, competition and monopolies. The marketplace will do the rest, if allowed to operate. "The emphasis on having many competitors rather than strong competition has been the root of the problem in many countries, particularly in the United States and in the European Union," said Jean-Claude Delcroix, research director for Gartner. "Many small players who were encouraged by national telecom regulators to launch into a highly capital-intensive service environment simply could not counter the market presence of strong incumbent players." Gartner Dataquest recommends that regulators should, in some cases, facilitate the separation of the network ownership business from the service provision and provide the right incentives in the right contexts. BT Announces New Broadband Initiatives The new initiatives will mean broadband for several areas of the UK, where it has been previously uneconomic to install it, a computer subscription scheme and a trial of ground-breaking technology to meet the specialised needs of SME customers at the higher end of broadband usage. Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail, said all three initiatives were driven by the aim of meeting the needs of customers in the SME sector. "We have already been successful in connecting SMEs to broadband - we have more than doubled the number connected to 2,500 per week over the past two months. Now we must raise our game to another level." Following the success of the ACT NOW (Access for Cornwall through Telecommunications to New Opportunities Worldwide) initiative launched formally in late April, BT is working with partners to establish a further seven similar projects in different areas of the UK. These projects would result in enabling more than 90 exchanges with ADSL and bring an additional 45,000 SMEs within reach of broadband. Within just two months of the Cornwall launch, more than 600 ADSL lines have been installed. The project is expected to generate more than 1,000 jobs. Similar 'bespoke' partnership projects are being developed in Scotland; Cardiff; Wiltshire and Swindon; Devon; Hastings and West Sussex. The seventh project will be an extension of the existing Cornwall initiative, with the use of alternative technologies to extend the reach of broadband in the county. To reduce the hassle of managing complex new technology, BT today announced a UK-wide Subscription Computing service for SMEs, in association with Computacenter. This builds on a five-year agreement signed by BT and Computacenter earlier this year to deliver ICT support and services to BT's internal desktop users. In a third partnership announcement, BT said it would be working with broadband service provider, Bulldog, to run a SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) broadband trial in London from late autumn. This technology has the potential to offer significant cost benefits to companies, particularly design, visual, media and entertainment businesses in the SME sector, that need to run voice, data and Internet applications over a single connection. Paul Reynolds, BT Wholesale chief executive said, "SDSL is yet another move forward in tailoring our broadband capabilities towards broadband Britain and offers an exciting range of options alongside ADSL. Partnering with Bulldog, we have the opportunity to bring to market new products and technologies as quickly as possible while we also ensure that we continue with our drive to mass roll-out of ADSL to the consumer and business markets." The trial, planned for late autumn, will involve initially around 30 SMEs in Bulldog's central London coverage area, which encompasses 41 exchanges. Following a successful trial, it is expected that upwards of 500 customers will be connected to the service by the end of March 2004. Sniff Out Launches DreamTime ADSL Package DreamTime offers speeds up to 10 times faster than a conventional modem for £23.49 per month with a one-off activation fee of £58.75. A modem and filter is also required. With the introduction of the DreamTime high-speed ADSL option, Sniff Out now offers a range of 7 Internet access packages. There’s a choice of two subscription-free, call charge only packages; a flat rate option with call charges from only 0.5p per minute at all times; plus three unmetered packages for evenings and weekends, week-day peak, or 24x7 access. DreamTime is subject to a 12-month contract with payment accepted by credit and debit card. Like all Sniff Out unmetered packages, DreamTime offers unlimited email accounts and unlimited personal web space. In addition, DreamTime includes a local call rate dial-in connection for alternative remote access through a laptop or other device. Business Missing Out On Benefits Of Broadband From research undertaken at BT Openworld's series of broadband summits held throughout May, 45 per cent said that education and understanding was the prime catalyst to accelerate broadband uptake in Britain. This came well ahead of other perceived barriers, such as cost and availability. Tony Harris, president Business Internet Services at BT Openworld said, "Whilst broadband take-up is increasing at a rate of knots, there are still a large percentage of businesses in the UK failing to understand and take advantage of benefits which have the potential to improve performance significantly for minimum investment. This lack of understanding is a worrying indicator." BT Openworld has launched a campaign aimed at mobilising the industry to explain the business benefits of a high-speed Internet connection. The first stage of this initiative is a 'Superhighway Guide', available from BT Openworld. Based around a familiar theme, The Highway Code, the guide aims to cut through the hype and speculation and state explicitly how broadband access can impact the SME sector. The summits and guide are only the beginning of BT Openworld's campaign to play a leading role in the promotion of Broadband Britain to businesses, trade bodies and government. Quik Internet Review Residential Pricing For Off-peak Unmetered Access Also, for an extra £1 per month, Quik users can gain the added benefit of having their own Domain Name and Email addresses as well. Colin Macdonald Co Director of Quik Internet explains the reason for the change in pricing: “Most residential customers have an email address from their current provider for example john6429@anyisp.com, which is fine for that person to use, but what would happen if, heaven forbid, AnyISP.com shut up shop tomorrow and left all their users with no Internet Connection and Email." “What we are trying to achieve is to get people to realise that if they register a name for themselves it secures their email address no matter what ISP they are signed to.” After the re – launch of Quik’s 128K for Business and Residential earlier this month - ideal for those who are not yet in ADSL enabled areas - the company are confident that demand for both packages will increase to a substantial level. Sign up can be completed on line by clicking HERE or through calling or emailing the office. Dedicated Advisors To Help Boost Roll-Out And Take-Up Of Broadband Across UK 1. A new network of dedicated regional broadband advisors co-ordinated by the DTI, with the aim of increasing both availability and take-up of broadband in the regions; 2. A new team of procurement experts in the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), providing hands-on support and advice to enable smarter public sector buying of broadband; and, 3. New framework agreements between the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and suppliers. This will enable public sector organisations to buy broadband quickly and efficiently, without having to negotiate terms and conditions for each purchase whilst ensuring value for money. These latest plans follow the OGC's recent study of public sector broadband procurement, called for by the Prime Minister last year. Opening the Broadband Britain Conference in London, Mr Timms said: "There are still too many people, especially in rural areas, who cannot access affordable broadband. The new broadband unit and its network of advisors will use the public sector's spending power to boost availability and take-up in these unconnected areas." "It will bring together work focused on public sector procurement with work focused on increasing availability in the private sector. It will stimulate economic development and enhance the delivery of public services through extending broadband services - at the regional and local level." "The UK is making good progress on its journey towards Broadband Britain. These new initiatives mean that together, Government and industry can increase the momentum." According to the report, the regional broadband unit will be open for business in the autumn and will have a dedicated website and central telephone line. Companies Fear Virus Attacks Via Spam Mail Managing director of software provider SurfControl, Charles Heunemann Commented: "It is only a matter of time before blended threats such as Nimda begin piggy-backing off spam; it is up to IT to educate users not to respond to spam and encourage a reporting process whereby users can notify IT to stop further spam coming through." According to IDC, that world-wide revenue for content management software is expected to hit US$4.8 billion in 2006 compared to $2 billion in 2001 is indicative of the high level of employer concern: Spam and junk mail has replaced employee Internet abuse as the main explanation of organisations' rapid uptake of Internet filtering software. Less than two years ago it was the legal debate surrounding the misuse of the Internet by employees and porn surfing that led to the speedy adoption of content management software, but today the real nuisance is the constant flow of spam. Chain letters are at the top of the list of objectionable e-mail, followed by credit offers, money-making email and then porn according to the report. Source: Macworld Yahoo! To Scrap Two Streaming Services Yahoo! says the free offerings don't conform with its aim to reduce its reliance on advertising revenue. Last month, it announced the closure of five of its European auction channels. FinanceVision was launched during the height of the internet gold rush at the end of the 1990s. It operated like a mini-newscast, with business news updates and commentary. The technology behind its web radio service - acquired when Yahoo! bought Broadcast.com in 1999 - will be used for streaming-media services geared to corporations. According to the report, scrapping the services will result in around 30 job losses over the next week when the closures will take place. Source: Ananova NTL Group In Double Trouble With ASA "Twice as fast Broadband Internet Just £14.99 a month" (and stated) "128K Broadband Internet is now available in your area for just £14.99 a month. To get our 128K Broadband Internet service you must subscribe to our other services - which start from £27.99 a month." "128K Broadband Internet from ntl:home is now available in your area* * Services not available in all areas and subject to capacity." The complainants objected that the advertisement was misleading, because the headline claim "Just £14.99 a month" was contradicted by the copy "you must subscribe to our other services - which start from £27.99 a month," and the claim "now available in your area" was contradicted by the small-print statement "Services not available in all areas and subject to capacity." Both complaints were upheld by the ASA who reminded the advertisers that if the price of one product depended on the purchase of another the extent of a commitment by consumers should be made clear in the advertisement. It considered that the advertisers had not made it clear that customers were required to pay £27.99 a month for other services as well as £14.99 a month for the broadband Internet service. The advertisers acknowledged that the contradictory impression given by their advertisement might mislead customers, and gave their assurance that they would move the sentence referring to the compulsory charge of at least £27.99 a month for other services to follow the sentence that stated the £14.99 broadband product price. In the second instance, the advertisers maintained that, for any area in which they advertised, availability was at least 70%, which they believed justified the claim "now available in your area". They said they judged availability on the proportion of homes in cabled streets able to receive their service. The advertisers said they would send evidence to show levels of regional availability but did not do so, and the ASA was concerned that the advertisers did not send substantiation to support their claim. It considered that availability should be judged by the proportion of homes in any given area that could receive the advertisers' service. In the first instance, the ASA welcomed the advertisers' assurance that they would change their advertisement to make that condition clear and told them to consult the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Copy Advice team for guidance. In the second instance, the ASA concluded that, because the advertisers had not shown levels of regional availability, the advertisement was apparently contradictory and was misleading, and told the advertisers to amend their advertisement with help from the CAP Copy Advice team. ISPs Should Be More Security Conscious With an always-on broadband connection or an unmetered connection where the Internet user is online for long periods of time, the risk of an attack is greatly increased. UK Security Online states that ISPs must start to take security more seriously. "It is becoming increasingly inexcusable that passwords and even data for email servers, web servers, and any number of other servers are still being passed in clear-text when technologies exist to make this obsolete." states the security portal, "Furthermore, a failure to restrict outgoing traffic from their network to ONLY known IP addresses is making spoofed (forged) IP address Denial of Service attacks against others a trivial matter." UK Security Online was set up by Emeric Miszti who ran the successful ISP Cloud Nine before it was forced to close after a sustained hacking/DDoS attack. The site aims to raise general awareness of the very real threat that exists to all computer systems in the UK that are connected in any way to the Internet. The full press release, which also includes a security action list, can be found here. Pipex Broadband Struggling To Meet Demand Pipex is in the process of increasing its staffing levels to 90 in its support department after its customers are becoming increasingly frustrated when only around 20% of calls are getting answered. Customers of its Xtreme Solo self-install product have told us that contacting support has been impossible. One reviewer said, “I have sent, and this is no joke, over 100 E-mails and never had one reply. I have been trying to get through to them for over 5 hours. Don’t bother. Absolute rubbish.” Another review reads, “I cannot get through to Pipex on ANY of the support numbers. They have never replied to any of my e-mails. I want to cancel but how can I get through to them ???” David Rickards, the MD of Pipex, admits they have a problem and will be getting to the bottom of the problems in addition to improving the support issues. Source: The Register One.Tel Launches Cut Price Mobile Service Line rentals offered by leading mobile providers has been undercut by 60% - an annual saving of almost £100 per year. The mobile service complements One.Tel’s existing home phone and Internet services. "Most people already have a mobile and know all about them," said Phil Hendey, One.Tel's Commercial Director. "We believe consumers deserve a fair deal. At One.Tel we have combined nominal line rental charges with the low cost call rates that we are famous for." One.Tel's new mobile phone service also allows for up to five phones on one account, at an extra cost of just £2.99 per additional line. 1Mbps Broadband Service Attracts 5,000 Users Launched only a week ago, Telewest say that demand for the 1Mbps product would be driven by a growing number of sites offering video and large files for download. Chad Raube, head of Internet services at Telewest Broadband said, "We have been confident there is good demand for a further bandwidth boost, but consumer enthusiasm has been even better than we anticipated. It seems Blueyonder customers definitely want to go faster!" The new service boasts speeds of up to 20 times faster than traditional dial-up Internet access and is priced at £35 per month when taken with other Telewest Broadband services, or £39.99 on its own plus an installation fee of £50. Source: Vnunet BT Reveals Wireless Hotspots Visitors to the Heathrow Hilton, the BT Centre in London and the BT development centre in Suffolk can now connect to a wireless LAN using their laptop computer and a wireless LAN PC card. Users will be able to access the Internet and send email at broadband speed. BT has set out a schedule for the rollout and expects 20 wireless LAN hotspots to be operational by August 2002. December 2002 should see 70 hotspots up and running. A total of 4,000 are expected to be in place by June 2005. Pricing has yet to be confirmed and will be charged on either a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis. An average subscription is likely to be priced at £95 per month. A spokesperson for BT stated that it is too early to say how much occasional users will be charged. National Lottery Joins NTL's Walled Garden Introducing its first interactive TV site as part of a major marketing campaign for its recently rebranded ‘Lotto’ game, Camelot, parent company of the National Lottery, hopes to make the site transactional as soon as possible: It features the latest draw and allows viewers to search their chosen numbers as well as details on the lottery’s range of games. It also includes details on how to be a contestant or an audience member on lottery tie-in TV show 'In It To Win It', and information on how to apply for a lottery grant. Interactive agency Victoria Real designed and built the iTV site, and was also behind the revamped National Lottery site (www.national-lottery.co.uk), which launched last month. Also set to go live to coincide with ntl’s interactive revamp are new sites from existing partners Ladbrokes and Iceland. Offering more sponsorship and advertising opportunities along with text-based editorial areas to encourage browsing, the walled garden is due to launch in the first week of July. Source: Revolution National Computing Day To Highlight 'Appalling' Waste Of Computers The activities surrounding National Computing Day will illustrate the advantages and highlight the opportunities available from computing in the 21st Century and will suit novices and the technical minded alike. The main aim of the event is to help everyone get more from their computer and open the doors of computing to both the young and old - hopefully removing the stereotypes that persist within the world of computing. Zoe Rouch, the organiser of National Computing Day says, “The main aim of National Computing Day is to make computing more accessible to everyone." "This campaign works two-fold; by recycling old computer equipment and redistributing to schools and retirement homes we are helping to reduce the stockpiles of discarded computers." "In doing so we are ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to learn more about computing, and offer these people the basic rights of equal opportunity.” It is reported that every year in the UK 1.5 million computers are dumped in landfill sites and a further 1.5 million are kept in storage and not put to any use at all. National Computing Day intends to highlight this appalling waste, provide information on how to recycle old equipment to those in need and even establish special centres to ease the ‘hassle’ of recycling computer equipment. The event will also highlight the issue of legislation on computer recycling which, despite being under consideration since 1994, is only currently nearing the end of passage through the EU, and will hopefully be incorporated in to British law by 2003. National Computing Day is supported by popular computer magazine 'Computeractive' and the 'Computeractive Show' which is taking place over three days at the National Hall, Olympia, London from 4-6 October. Users Must Change Passwords Regularly Warn Experts When the primary function of a password is to secure private information, those who don't change their password regularly, or use a common password, are more susceptible to becoming a victim of Internet fraud according to experts: Computer users are being urged to change their passwords regularly to avoid becoming a victim of internet fraud. Experts say that passwords used to log on to the internet and access confidential information such as bank details should be altered at least once a month, both at home and at work. The study published by British online bank Egg says users even leave passwords written on Post-It notes attached to their computers. The names of loved ones and relatives top the list of the most commonly chosen passwords, according to the survey of 1,000 users. Most commonly used passwords as defined by the survey are: 23% child's name 19% partner's name 12% birthdays 9% football team 9% celebrities and bands 9% favourite places 8% own name 8% pet's name The study recommends that as well as changing passwords regularly, users should also make passwords at least eight digits long, not write passwords down, use more than one password for different websites and avoid common themes such as those listed above. Source: BBC News Bedside Email And Internet For NHS Patients IDS has already received orders to roll out Tele-Call to approx. 12,500 beds, and the company expect the number to rise to 25,000 by the end of 2002 according to the report: The company's core Tele-Call Digital system enables patients to view the web and email, as well as allowing medical staff to access and input clinical data at the bedside, via a link to server-based health records. It also boasts an integrated television, radio and telephone. The company said it specifically developed its proprietary RISC software platform - on which Tele-Call is based - to provide patients with digital entertainment and consoles. In July 2000 the NHS published its 'Patient Power Plan' charter, which featured a resolution to ensure that bedside televisions and telephones are available in every major hospital by 2004. The Wandsworth Group is a major supplier of such systems. IDS CEO Gareth Thomas commented that the fixed 15-year contract will "generate revenues in excess of £1 million per annum" for the company. Source: Netimperative 56K Modems Still Outnumber Broadband Connections Figures show that 54.7% (361) of those polled say that they use a 56k modem while 17.6% (116) now use an xDSL connection with cable following closely behind at 14.8% (98). A survey last week by the Office of National Statistics shows a growing trend towards a broadband connection. They have seen a year on year growth of 427.8%, with an increase of 16.3% from March to April 2002. The results in full are; 56K modem - 54.7% (361), xDSL - 17.6% (116), Cable - 14.8% (98), ISDN - 10.8% (71), Satellite - 0.6% (4), Wireless - 0.2% (1), Other - 1.4% (9), Total 660. With many more Internet users moving onto ADSL (or trying to) we should see 56K modem users as a minority in another 6 months. Our latest poll looks at BT’s new ADSL registration system and asks if it’s the way forward in creating Broadband Britain. Work Of Broadband Campaign Sites Could Be Futile Broadband Norfolk is one such campaign website which was set up to show BT how much demand there is for ADSL in Norfolk. But with BT's new ADSL order registration system that is expected to go live on July 1st, campaigns will need to work with an ISP who can enter the registration data into the system. Internet users will need to actually pre-register their interest with an ISP. Rebecca Webster of BT Wholesale said this an attempt to improve the conversion rate from interest to actual orders. Source: ADSLguide Freeserve In Glastonbury Webcast Deal Announced as the official online partners of the Festival, PlayLouder and Freeserve will be joining forces to webcast some of the best performances on June 28th, 29th and 30th. With Freeserve’s newly launched digital music subscription service, Music Club, users can download tracks from Glastonbury favourites past and present such as Garbage, Stereophonics and REM. Subscribers can either download tracks permanently to portable music players, download tunes to PCs to be renewed on a 30-day basis or subscribe to a monthly play list depending on musical preference from £4.99 per month. Michael Eavis, the Festival organiser, said, "For all of those who can’t make it to the festival the webcasts are a great alternative. The Internet provides a fantastic way of promoting the music and ideals of Glastonbury Festival to a worldwide audience." Half Of Population Use Internet On Daily Basis The Internet is also becoming a way of life according to the survey as almost half the population now use the Internet on a daily basis and usage is similar across all age groups. The Internet can be a vital source of information and it is the women who are more likely to go online to find the answers with a score of 64 per cent compared to 61 per cent of men. The survey also found that 43 per cent of people claim to use the Internet at least once a day, 22 per cent use it three times a week, and further 15 per cent say they use it on a weekly basis. On a whole, 63 per cent of people who use the Internet do so to get information, 20 per cent use it for e-mail, 18 per cent go online to shop and only seven per cent of users use the online banking services. On a global basis, according to data compiled by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 33 per cent of Internet users world-wide reports eMarketer. Japan, China, and Korea make up three-quarters of Asia-Pacific’s Internet user population and eMarketer predicts that Asia-Pacific will still comprise one-third of the world's Internet users by 2004. It was also reported that, of the world-wide Internet population, North America makes up 31 per cent, Europe has 29 per cent, Latin America has five per cent and Africa has just one per cent in total. By 2004, eMarketer predicts that North America will see a decline in the number of Internet users however Europe and Latin America will see an increase. Source: eMarketer, This is London UPDATED: BT Email Services On The Blink A spokesman for BTopenworld said: "We have had an email problem today that affected around 3,000 customers. There was a fault and we responded by upgrading the service. It has now been resolved." However, BT customers have contacted silicon with reports of an intermittent service since Monday, and some users are still unable to send mail this morning according to the report. Source: Silicon BT Openworld have now issued us with the following statement: "The BT Openworld Click mail service suffered a failure during the morning of June 20 which would have impacted on around 3,000 customers. This came during planned work to increase capacity on the service. The problem was resolved during the day and full service was restored. BT Openworld would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused." Oftel Decision Will Bring Major Boost To Broadband Services Currently, operators that want to offer broadband DSL services must either buy BT's wholesale broadband products at BT's prices or install their own DSL equipment in BT's local exchanges. However, under the new ruling, operators will be able to use a combination of their own and BT's DSL networks to deliver high-speed services to consumers and service providers. Oftel's decision follows a request from Energis and Thus and David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said: "Today's announcement is a further boost to the provision of broadband services in the UK. It will enable operators to offer consumers a wider range of products." "Prices for these new services will be set by Oftel at a level that encourages competition between different providers of broadband services, and ensures that other operators still have an incentive to invest in alternative broadband delivery mechanisms." "The best way to support take-up of broadband services is through a thriving and competitive broadband market, where consumers have choice of products and prices. Competition stimulates innovation, gives consumers choice and puts competitive pressure on prices." BT will also be required to begin a trial for an interconnection product based on Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) technology following consultation with the operators. Oftel expects that operators will be able to launch ADSL services using the new product later in the year. BTopenworld Launches Anytime Promotion The BTopenworld Anytime promotion runs from now until the end of July. Customers will pay £9.99 for the first month and £15.99 thereafter. Duncan Ingram, senior vice-president of BTopenworld said, "Introducing promotions shows our commitment to getting the UK online. The aim of this promotion is to encourage those people who still haven't made that decision to get connected." To use BTopenworld Anytime, customers must have a BT telephone line. The service is also subject to online session restrictions. BT’s Broadband Initiative Receives Mixed Reactions Announced earlier this week, the new ADSL order registration system would allow service providers and the public to have a direct say in the rollout plans. The new system, which goes live on July 1st, records interest in exchange areas. Depending on the demand and the target level for a particular area, BT will rollout broadband access by enabling the local exchange for ADSL. A spokeswoman for the ISP Virgin.net who are in the planning stages of launching their own ADSL service, said that BT’s new broadband scheme was much-needed. “There are a number of reasons customer's fail in the broadband application process. What we had planned to do was to go to BT when this happened with certain exchanges,” she said. In a statement Freeserve said that while the initiative was a good idea, all the broadband leads from the registration must be shared. Meanwhile the Broadband4Britain Campaign strongly challenges the exchange upgrade target levels – known as 'trigger points' - which are needed before BT would upgrade exchanges. BT estimate that economically the figure would need to be between 200 and 400. BB4B Campaign Manager, Andy Williams commented, "Whilst we broadly welcome any initiative from BT that puts power into the hands of consumers, we fear that this may turn into an exercise in demand quenching, rather than demand creation. We know that the actual FlashPoint is much, much lower than 200 users, and we once again question BT's appetite for rolling out ADSL beyond its comfort zone of affluent, big city consumers." Oftel Announces Sweeping Changes To Boost Competition The radical measures are designed to boost competition and lead to the eventual abolition of price controls when the market is fully competitive. The arrangements include a new wholesale line rental product that will enable competitors to offer a complete telephone service covering line rental and calls. This could lead to a range of innovative tariffs such as flat rate subscriptions for unlimited calls or the abolition of line rental charges with all costs recovered through call charges. BT will be required to provide the line rental product to new entrants on the same terms as it does to BT's retail business. Price controls will be introduced which will see customers’ bills pegged to the rate of inflation. Also the upper limit for eligibility to BT's Light User Scheme will be extended making more customers eligible for a reduction in their line rental charge. David Edmonds from Oftel said today, “Although price controls have delivered significantly lower prices for consumers, competition is increasing in the domestic calls market and the time is right for a new approach. “Oftel will require BT to provide a new wholesale line rental product which will enable other companies to provide a national-wide complete telephony service under one bill, offering a real alternative to BT. “Oftel will work closely with BT, other operators and consumer groups to ensure that a commercially viable product is introduced as smoothly as possible. Oftel will review the market again in 2004 and the price control will be withdrawn completely if the market is truly competitive. CharityDays Site Gets New Facelift "We have spent the last 6 months listening to our users and taking on board their suggestions about the site and service." "The main improvements have been in the clarity of information to new users of the Internet as well as reducing any confusion over the 30+ different access accounts that we offer." "We hope the new site will enable people to find what they need more quickly and easily as well as explain the benefits to people of using CharityDays as their ISP." Donate As You Surf Limited, the company behind Charity Days, donates 60% of its entire turnover to its member UK charities such as Oxfam, NCH and Youth Hostels Association, Animals in Distress, Zoological Society of London and many more. For further information on Charity Days, please click HERE. Ben Verwaayen Replies To Disappointed Consumer Some feel that its a tactic that will delay further exchanges being enabled and one member aired his views in an email to Ben Verwaayen outlining his disappointment over the BT announcement: "Dear My Verwaayen, "I'm very disappointed about the announcement regarding the enabling of future adsl exchanges, I fear my exchange will never get enabled under this latest proposal, I can't even see a 100 people signing up, let alone 200." The member further explains how he feels the announcement is a let down and queried about scrapping the plan in favour of continuing to roll out exchanges. Surprisingly, Ben Verwaayen replied back to the email, and below is a snippet of the reply: "There will be places, you are right, that probably never will meet the criteria. They have to rely on satelite "We are working a flurry of technological alternatives, like wireless, but nothing definite yet." It seems that the main concern is that smaller towns and rural places will not be able to generate enough registrations to qualify for a DSL-enabled exchange. Many who have been actively campaigning for their exchange to be enabled may find that they still have a long way to meet the new requirements. How do you feel about the proposal of having to meet criteria for high-speed services? If you are in an area that is not DSL-enabled and you really want broadband, do you think that BT's announcement will help or hinder your chances? Source: ADSLGuide Cloudmark Distributes Free Spam Blocking Tool A Microsoft Outlook add-in, Cloudmark claims that SpamNet is very easy to use and is capable of blocking 75 per cent of spam automatically without deleting a single email. Instead, the offending mail is moved to a "spam" folder and each time a consumer uses the one-click "block" feature to remove spam from their inbox, the SpamNet community at large is also notified. Similarly, if a person thinks a certain message is not spam, they can click an "unblock" button and share that knowledge with the network. SpamNet has a Truth Evaluation System (TES) to guarantee that only valid spam messages are blocked. This solution enables "spamfighters" to work together and as the community grows, SpamNet gets more effective. Based on a peer-to-peer(P2P) network, SpamNet is capable of capturing a higher percentage of spam over time as more people join in the network and become spamfighters. Those interested can try the beta version of SpamNet available for free from the Cloudmark web site by clicking HERE. Survey Finds Public Resistance To Digital TV In UK The recent collapse of ITV digital is believed to have spread doubt amongst consumers, as reflected in a survey of attitudes towards digital TV carried out by Mediaedge:CIA. The survey found that 29% of respondents said they would "never" switch from analogue to digital, a dramatic rise to the opposition in October 2001 of only 21%. The number of respondents planning to adopt digital TV in the next year had fallen from 13% last autumn - when the future of ITV Digital was hardly questioned - to 9%. The number of people prepared to pay for digital TV fell from 61% in a comparable study conducted in January 1999 to 44%, and 60 per cent of those aged 65 or older said they would never make the switch from analogue. David Fletcher, the head of MediaLab at Mediaedge:CIA UK commented: "Analogue switch-off is dependent on economic, logistic and political barriers being overcome and these findings suggest that, on all three counts, the task is getting harder." "The multichannel digital pay TV market appears to be reaching saturation point. There's an increasing shift in popular opinion that 'old fashioned TV' is actually good quality and value for money." Has the demise of ITV digital influenced your decision on the digital TV front in any way? Do you want to stay analogue or do you fully support digital? Do you think the government is making the right decision about terminating the analogue signal or do you think you should have the choice? Source: The Guardian Home Office Delays Controversial RIPA Amendment Under existing RIPA rules, a majority of governmental organisations must seek approval from a senior official within an organisation as long as the move is "in order to conduct criminal investigations or safeguard national or public security." The planned draft order however would have given almost "every governmental body imaginable" the freedom of access to Internet and email records without independant approval: The Government has made an unashamed U-turn over allowing a wide range of public bodies to access internet and email records without independent approval after withdrawing a draft order scheduled for debate yesterday. The order, which has caused widespread protest following its unveiling in the Guardian last week, was to be introduced on the back of an EU amendment to data protection laws to allow law enforcement bodies access to such records in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September. Home secretary David Blunkett told Radio Four's The World At One programme: "When you are in a hole, you should stop digging and having full consultation on the issues raised seems the best way to do it." If passed, the order would have been made law within the next couple of weeks but it has now been withdrawn and will not be discussed until at least the next session of Parliament in Autumn. Source: Netimperative BT To Allow Customers To Influence Broadband Rollout Now BT has come up with a new order registration system that should give service providers and the public a direct say in the rollout plans for ADSL. The on-line scheme will enable the public to see the "trigger point" at which their local exchange will be upgraded and to view the number of end-users already interested. It will also give service providers a powerful tool to target marketing drives. BT Wholesale chief executive, Paul Reynolds, said, "This exciting new scheme gives us the means to bring broadband Britain to every community where it is commercially viable. It will act as a true barometer of demand. "People have been claiming that there is sufficient demand for broadband in their areas if only they had a way to channel their interest to us. Now we have created just such a scheme." BT Wholesale's scheme will go live on July 1st and will record firm demand for broadband at every exchange in the country. It will also publish the threshold at which the level of demand makes individual exchanges commercially viable for broadband upgrade. At launch, trigger levels ranging from 200 to 500 user registrations will be published for more than 300 of 500 exchanges reviewed since April to establish individual costs of ADSL deployment and operation. The move will help BT reach its target of one million broadband connections by summer 2003. So far more than 250,000 customers have been connected to ADSL. BT Wholesale has enabled 1,115 exchanges, serving 66 per cent of Britain's households and 73 per cent of current Internet users. David Rickards, Managing Director of broadband ISP PIPEX, said, "PIPEX is seeing rapid growth of its broadband customer base with orders coming in at just under 4,000 a week. "This registration initiative opens up further opportunities for us to realise the business potential of this customer data. Customers previously disappointed at their inability to subscribe to a PIPEX ADSL service may now be able to do so if there is sufficient interest in their area.” 3G Pricing Announced For IOM Trial Today's announcement follows the successful launch of Europe's first live, working 3G network at the end of last year by Manx Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of mmO2. Four tariffs have been developed aimed at corporations, small and medium-sized companies, consumers and heavy users of the Internet. Charges, which are subject to change as the trial progresses, are based on a monthly subscription and free data allowance. If this allowance is exceeded, customers are informed and an additional charge will be levied. Typically, a residential customer wishing to surf the Web, download music, play games, send and retrieve multimedia emails from a 3G handset or device will be charged around £1.40 per day, or £44 per month. Business customers can expect to pay just over £80 per month and small and medium companies between £60 and £70. Those customers who only access Manx Telecom's 3G WAP Portal, called Prontonet, are likely to spend around £9 per month. All prices quoted are excluding VAT. Mark Briers, director of 3G, mmO2, said, "The aim of the 3G trial is to find out what customers want and how much they are willing to pay for the various services. We have an initial pricing structure, but will be testing a number of pricing strategies during the trial in order to look at price elasticities. "'This is the leading trial in Europe and one of the world's most advanced high speed mobile data networks. We will therefore have some of the first evidence in the world of what customers want from 3G services, giving us a significant advantage in gaining feedback before we move to a wider roll out." Internet Subscriptions Continue To Rise For the 12 months period to April 2002 there was a 16.1 per cent increase in the number of subscriptions to the Internet. Meanwhile subscriptions for dial-up and permanent Internet connections continued to display quite different patterns of growth. The year on year growth to April 2002 was 12.0 per cent for dialup connections, with an increase of 0.1 per cent from March to April 2002. However the picture was completely different for permanent connections. They have seen a year on year growth of 427.8 per cent, with an increase of 16.3 per cent from March to April 2002. Dial-up connections continued to dominate the overall number of subscriptions, but with permanent connections continuing to increase their share. Net4Nowt has seen a drop in customer complaints with Internet users moving towards broadband, which reflects in the figures above. But as more and more take the road towards the broadband highway, it will eventually reach congestion levels worse than the M25 as the network starts to buckle under the strain. Online Fraud Still A Major Problem The research found that over two thirds of retailers taking part in the survey offered online transactions over the Internet. Of these, 90 per cent had seen their online revenue increase within the last year and there was an increasing reliance on the Internet as a key sales tool. Despite this and the growing concern amongst the retail industry about the increasing threat of Internet fraud, only 1 - 5 per cent of IT budgets is actually being dedicated to improving online security. The Experian findings also found that in some cases, it is still taking retailers up to four weeks to be informed of a fraud. Most worryingly, in almost half of these cases, a fraudster will use the site more than once before a fraud is detected. Gareth Jones, Fraud Products Director at Experian, commented: "Our survey clearly illustrates how important online trading is to the retail industry, yet according to our research over 97 per cent of online retailers are still being affected by online fraud and bearing the brunt of a very expensive problem. As a major supplier of anti-fraud solutions, we believe this is totally unnecessary especially when you consider the wide availability of fraud prevention tools to help combat online fraud." Help, Tweaks, Reviews And Much More No computer is completely trouble-free, experienced Windows users are fully aware of those tedious Windows error messages, and new Windows users could be fooled into thinking that there is something seriously wrong when Windows decides to play up. However its not just Windows that can be temperamental, good care of the machine is essential to aid trouble-free computing, and a lot of time can be saved if users check-up, clean up and backup regularly, to avoid potential problems. Below is a list of sites that can help both new and experienced users discover answers to both common and uncommon computing problems, tweaking and much more: FREE PC TECH - An excellent site with a mission to supply everyone with the best in Technical support for their PC problems. Information is fast and free and PC Tech actively recruit professionals in the PC industry and talented hobbyists to give help to those who need it. TWEAKMONSTER - A useful tweaking site covering case mods, installation guides, product reviews, other articles and user forums MAXIMUM PC - Another very useful site covering a multitude of PC related information - tutorials, downloads, news, hosting, etc... WINGUIDES - For your registry tweaks, tricks & hacks to optimise, enhance and secure Microsoft Windows. (yes, I said secure....) THE TECH GUIDE - Excellent all-round site for "geeks with attitude"....tweaking, forums, hardware reviews and more techie info MAJOR GEEKS - A great place to get all those nifty programs and utilities, good forum too DOUGS WINDOWS TWEAKS AND TIPS - Exactly what it says - handy tips and tricks by Doug COMPUTER HOPE - Free computer help, online computer support and information. Computer Hope has been designed for all types of users as well as for all types of computers, computer hardware and computer software. THE TECH ZONE - A good site covering tech news, solutions, hardware articles, Mac and iMac information and more... PC MECHANIC - What can I say - a site full to the brim with information and help, click and see for yourself! LINUX.ORG - Dedicated Linux users will probably already have this site in their favourites - but if not here it is... Well I hope you find some of the above links useful, they should keep you all out of mischief for a while! I would also like to add an apology for the delay in the weeks recommended articles, and so that I can be more consistent in the future, the recommended feature will now run every two weeks starting from this Friday, when I will be covering Windows XP sites and downloads. All for this week, and don't forget, if you have a recommendation for a download, or you have found a useful site on the Internet that you feel will benefit our members and guests, please feel free to email me direct at Sarah@net4nowt.com with your link and a brief description. High-Speed Access Continues To Grow Worldwide It was also reported that Japan and Norway show the largest proportionate increases in DSL subscribers and high-speed access is continuing to grow strongly worldwide. John Bosnell, Editor of Point Topic commented: "Despite the problems in the telecoms industry, there were a fifth more people in the world with DSL at the end of March than there were at the start of the year." "As more people find out about broadband, more want it. That's why DSL more than doubled during 2001." The worldwide total for DSL lines at the end of March 2002 was estimated to be around 23.8 million, and increase of 5 million in comparison to the figure of 18.8 million at the end of 2001. Telewest Broadband Launches 1MB Residential Internet Access The new service boasts speeds of up to 20 times faster than traditional dial-up Internet access and is priced at £35 per month when taken with other Telewest Broadband services, or £39.99 on its own. David Hobday, sales and marketing director of Telewest Broadband, said: "1Mb is like viagra for your PC, providing a mind-blowing internet experience that other service providers simply can't keep up with. For the first year, it also works out nearly £140 less than BT's speediest home ADSL service, which is only half as fast." The 1Mb service provides a downstream speed of up to 1024kbps, upstream speed of up to 256kbps, and a freephone technical support number is included. Existing blueyonder broadband (512kbps) customers can simply upgrade their service online free of charge by clicking HERE. A £50 installation fee will apply to new customers who can click HERE for further information. One.Tel And MTV Launch New Broadband Music Channel MTV live will boast some of the biggest names in pop and rock music, including Kylie, Eminem, Kelis, Fun Loving Criminals and Groove Armada and will officially launch on 1 July this year. Promising DVD quality pictures and sound, MTV live will enable broadband users to watch their favourite artists performing at MTV concerts along with exclusive content taken from MTV. The site will also feature an archive of acts catering for all music tastes and Phil Worms, One.Tel’s Head of Broadband commented: “To really get broadband into shape in the UK, there has to be better content available.” “In partnership with MTV, we are putting some of the biggest names in music today on the internet and supporting live music. It’s the first time that broadband will appeal to a truly mass market because everyone loves music.” “The industry has talked content for months, but that’s all it’s been – talk. Now we are doing it. Interaction lies at the heart of internet whether it’s email, surfing, audio, video or on-line games. Broadband makes that interaction faster, richer and easier to use”. One.Tel will sponsor and also host all of MTV’s live UK concerts via their broadband portal and budding musicians will have the chance to compose their own tunes and live the life of a pop star through interactive games. Telewest Accused Of Misleading Shareholders However, Stenham's statement has come under scrutiny and the company has been accused of misleading shareholders over levels of executive pay after finance director Charles Burdick's pay packet increased from £40,000 to £400,000 this year. The Sunday Times yesterday reported Stenham as saying: "I was on my feet for about two hours. If you're having questions hurled at you over that period of time, you're only human and you make the odd error." The paper pointed out FD Burdick, on the stage with Stenham, chose not to correct the chairman, nor did other members of the company's remuneration commission. According to reports, Telewest share prices have gone down to just 4p from a 52-week consistent price of 111.25p. Source: Silicon Uncertain Future For Fixed Wireless Provider Tele2 However, it is unclear if there is any truth behind the claims although various reports indicate a strong possibility that the company has been placed in administration: Postings on the forum of ISP user site ISPReview claim that the company has been placed in the hands of administrators after its US-based backers Millicom pulled the plug, following a series of staff layoffs over recent weeks. A spokesperson for the company refused to comment on the state of the company, but said a statement on the situation would be forthcoming. A source close to Tele2 said the company had not entered administration but had shut its sales operations. As reported earlier, Tele2 recently announced its intentions to break away from the residential market and focus on providing high-speed services solely to business consumers. Source: Netimperative Nildram Pulls Out Of Satellite Trials Last month we reported that Nildram were to join PlusNet, Eclipse Internet, izR Solutions, and KB Media in BT's satellite trials. The six-month trial will look into customer usage and demand for the service. BT hopes that the satellite solution would allow Internet users from non ADSL-enabled areas to benefit from broadband Internet access. Nildram have said that despite the decision to cancel the launch, they are still looking at the possibilities of providing satellite access in the future. Iain Ogilvie, Nildram's Marketing Manager commented, "The decision was made whilst at the product definition stage - I can't go into specific detail at present, but there were a number of issues with the implementation which caused us concern. We elected to contact those that had registered their interest in a Satellite service and tell them that, at this stage, we would not be launching a service based upon the BT Trial. We believed this to be the most sensible move as it meant that people weren't left waiting un-necessarily." Legal Action Contemplated Over BT Discussions are currently underway as to the exact nature of the challenge but it's understood that it would focus on allegations of unfair competition concerning BT's provision of broadband services.The move, if it goes ahead, may also have further implications as it would be seen as a vote of no confidence in Oftel. Source: The Register Quik Launches 128K Unmetered Packages Quik Internet will also include support for 128K access in its packages from Monday. Providing unmetered off-peak access, the packages cost £35.25 and £58.75 per month for a 2 hour or a 4 hour cut-off period respectively. A package restricted to 64K is also available for £17.99 per month. All packages have a contention ratio of 10:1 Source: ISPreview BT Told To Lower Price Of Wholesale Broadband Under the Oftel direction published yesterday, BT will be required to make a number of improvements to its wholesale leased line products to promote greater take up of the products by other operators. Leased lines are permanently connected communications links between two or more sites. Partial private circuits (PPCs) are the key wholesale components of leased lines, which enable other operators to use BT’s network to deliver services to their own customers. In response to an Oftel determination BT began offering PPCs in August 2001. Until then operators had to use a more expensive retail leased line product. Access to these wholesale products has boosted competition in the leased lines market, enabling operators to reduce their costs significantly, which in turn can result in significant savings for their customers. However, operators’ concerns about the terms and conditions under which PPCs are being offered, and the lack of appropriate interconnection products mean t | ||