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Article List
Microsoft to patch 17-year-old computer bug
A 17-year-old bug in Windows will eventually be patched by Microsoft in the latest security update.
The February update for Windows will close this infectious bug that dates from the time of the DOS operating system. First appearing in Windows NT 3.1, the vulnerability has been carried over into almost ev ...
Plans to cut off file-sharers 'could breach human rights'
The Government's idea to cut-off illegal file-sharers could breach internet user's human rights, according to committee of MPs and Lords.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights has been examining the terms of the Digital Economy Bill that is currently passing through Parliament. It has concerns over the Gove ...
Dell faces court date over faulty laptops
Dell has been ordered back to court to face charges that it knowingly sold defective laptops.
A panel of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed a district court's dismissal of the case against Dell. That dismissal followed the plaintiffs' refusal to comply with a district court or ...
X2's iTablet rival for Apple's iPad
Apple have decided on using the phrase 'iPad' for it's new product but 'iTablet' was also on the cards. Now a UK computer supplier called 'X2' are claiming the 'iTablet' name for its own.
The iTablet range features at least two models: one with a 12in, 1024 x 768 display and the other with a 10.2in screen ...
Facebook creating webmail service?
Facebook is reportedly working on its own webmail service to rival the likes of Gmail and Hotmail.
To Facebook it's called Project Titan and would see users rid of the messaging service that's currently in play. It will be replaced by a fully featured webmail service instead.
Hints have been made ...
Firms considering switch to free software to cut costs
Big companies are increasingly looking at free alternatives to costly software suites in a bid to keep costs down, a new survey has shown.
Around 76 per cent of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) questioned by software company Global Graphics said their firms already use free software at organisational lev ...
Googlephone sales off to a sluggish start?
A new report shows that Google sold a mere 20,000 Nexus One smartphones during its first week of availability. If you compare that with Apple's iPhone 3GS at 1.6 million, it's pretty clear that Google haven't done as well as what they thought they would.
The Android handset's debut was nothing like that o ...
Google's threat jolts Chinese internet industry
Google's threat to walk away from China has created a huge frenzy through the country's fast growing internet industry, with users, executives and analysts trying to gauge the potential fallout.
The search giant announced that it will stop censoring its Chinese search site and way withdraw from the countr ...
Facebook offers free McAfee security
Facebook has partnered with McAfee to offer six months of free security to the site's 350 million users.
Once the six month trial period has expired, users will then be offered a discounted version of the security package, which could benefit McAfee's subscriptions department. However, Facebook claims tha ...
Microsoft and HP show off 'slate' PC
Microsoft and HP have teamed up in a stealth like way to introduce a 'slate' computer just before Apple's rumoured device launch.
The firm unveiled the Windows 7 powered touch screen 'slate' computer also known as a table, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The aim of the device is to br ...
Google's Nexus One is here!
Google has released the Nexus One but analysts have been left unmoved by the acclaimed superphone.
The Nexus One runs on the 1Ghz Snapdragon platform and Android 2.1 which features a 5 megapixel camera and a 3.7in OLED display. It sadly doesn't feature the iPhone's multi touch ability. Google claim seven ...
Google reveals the parts of websites people don't see
Google have developed a new tool for web developers that allows them to see how much of websites that are visible to the user.
Designing websites to suit common screen resolutions has always been a tricky one, but the process has been made even more challenging when netbooks arrived on the scene.
...
Recession drives people towards printer ink refills
The long road of the recession has sparked a dramatic fall in sales of ink cartridges, in favour of cheaper refills and compatibles.
The research firm IDC claims that sales of laser toner consumables fell by 24.9% in the first half of this year. Meanwhile manufacturers' own inkjet consumables sales declin ...
Google to sell its very own smartphone
It looks like the all-mighty giant Google is set to follow in Apple's footsteps and start distributing its own Android smartphone, known as the "Nexus One".
Up until now Google have left the design and distribution of Android smartphones to partners such as HTC and Motorola. But Google feel that the varyi ...
The benefits of permission based email marketing
There are many ways of building email lists, but only a couple that are completely legal. Undoubtedly, having an up-to-date email list with exclusively double opt-in subscribers will result in a smaller list, but it does have major advantages: better response rates, increased trust and better deliverability.
< ...
Getting people to subscribe
Designing a fantastic email marketing campaign is all very well, but having people to send your emails to is the first step! Gaining subscribers isn't easy, so here's our little guide to help you on your way to building a substantial email list.
How do I draw people to the subscribe page?
The key ...
Google to limit free news access?
Yet again here is another new article from Google. I must say here at ESP News we do love a bit of Google to the ears! Apparently the masters of the web, Google, have announced that newspaper publishers will now be able to set a limit on the number of free news articles people can read through Google.
Som ...
The subject line commandments
The famous phrase "Don't judge a book by it's cover" is often very valid. We all know though, if an email doesn't have a convincing, succinct subject line it will often grace Deleted Items before being given the chance of being opened. According to research by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition, a massive 73 ...
Segmenting email marketing campaigns
Email is a fantastic marketing tool because it allows customised, one-to-one communication. It is surprising then to see so many generic emails that are hopelessly untargeted!
Sending emails that aren't what your subscribers expect results in irritation, leading to unsubscriptions or even spam reporting t ...
What is the best type of Sitemap?
Many consider HTML sitemaps are something of a a dinosaur, a throw back to when search engines didn't exist and the directory style layout was the norm. Is it really great for a user when a search box would be a quicker way to your website's content? A YouTube video from Google employee Matt Cutts throws this nega ...
Google's new SERP deals with search result hierarchy
Google has yet again released another feature in its long list of online products and is set to launch globally within the next few days, helping searchers understand the context of a search result more clearly from the site hierarchy.
Keep your eyes peeled as you will see the new feature from time to tim ...
Dell & HP customers rage at Windows 7 upgrade delays
Dell and Hewlett-Packard customers are very angry that they have not yet received the Windows 7 upgrades they were promised when they purchased new PC's earlier this year, according to messages on Dell and HP support forums.
In 2007, Windows Vista upgrades were delayed by weeks and this Deja Vu is not loo ...
Web browser awareness
Have you tested your website across all browsers, or better yet, did you design your website with cross-browser continuity in mind? If not, it's something worth checking.
There are many detail differences between browsers resulting in variation of what you will see from browser to browser. This ranges fro ...
Are multiple domains good for SEO?
Hopefully you're already aware that including keywords throughout your website is beneficial. It stands to reason that if you talk about what you do, your website becomes more relevant for search engine results.
This simple rule works with domains too. By including keywords in your domain, it's one of man ...
Page speed to become ranking factor on Google?
Back in June, we pondered if the launch of Google's Page Speed tool would result in the speed of the website influencing it's search engine rankings. We justifiably argued, at least if your website is down a lot, it will affect your indexing. Now we have been given further hints that page speed could become a seri ...
Google acquires AdMob
Google are in the middle of acquiring AdMob which is one of the world's largest mobile advertising networks, for $750 million.
Google wouldn't just spend $750 million on a company that would pretty much die out and never really find its feet on the ground, that's not Google's style.
AdMob is a co ...
Intel and AMD settle legal rows
Giant US chip maker Intel have agreed to pay their rival chip makers AMD $1.25bn as a part of a deal to settle outstanding legal disputes between them.
"While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes," the two firms said.
AM ...
Microsoft admits Windows 7 tried to mimic Mac
Right in the beginning, Microsoft have been accused of copying the look, feel and functionality of Apple's operating systems.
Microsoft created a trash can which was first featured in Windows 95, but only 10 years after Apple introduced its own trash can.
Microsoft have now admitted that after mo ...
Kingston strikes a deal with Paramount!
Memory giants Kingston have announced a deal with Paramount to sell films on its USB memory sticks and SD cards.
The movies on the Kingston memory sticks will be available to consumers both as a part of a value-added bundled package or for sale independantly as a different althernative to DVD or Blu-Ray.< ...
How many backlinks do you need?
Having already established that backlinks are an important part of the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) process, naturally the next question is "How many do I need?" This makes things easier to quantify, and so put a budget on. As with many aspects of SEO though, it sadly isn't as easy as that...
Quality ...
Bing to index Twitter and Facebook updates
First off the blocks to form a relationship with Twitter and Facebook is Microsoft's Bing search engine. Although a Facebook deal isn't official yet, it's thought Bing will be showing status updates in real time in a similar to way what it is already being done with Twitter (in Beta release). However, the deal is ...
Advantages of Online Marketing
When it comes to apportioning large budgets to Online Marketing, it tends to only be done by larger businesses. In contrast, most SMEs stick to the conventional advertising routes, such as leaflets, Yellow Pages adverts and magazine advertising. This is despite the fact Online Marketing is very cost effective when ...
The Benefits of Email Marketing
When done right, email marketing it is a highly targeted and cost effective way of marketing products and services. It's not just for getting new customers either, it allows you to keep your current clients in the loop, with the opportunity of reselling or even up-selling.
Generally, for someone to purcha ...
Beware of Duplicate Content
It's no secret that content is important for Search Engine Optimisation. A stream of fresh website content tells Google your website is up-to-date and therefore relevant. By having lots of content on particular subjects, it can see your website is attention worthy.
When the phrase "Content is King" was co ...
Dos and Don'ts of Email Marketing
Being easy to setup and cost effective, its no wonder more and more people use email marketing to promote their products and services. But how do you know you're meeting legal requirements and consumer preferences? Here is the guide to help you out...
The regulations regarding spam are called 'The Privacy ...
Dos and Don'ts of Facebook Advertising
We've already talked about if its worth advertising on Facebook, and I'm sure many will want to give it a try. Considering Google AdWords is the most popular way of advertising online, its understandable some may think it is a little less competitive on Facebook, and so hopefully cheaper too!
Although man ...
Does commenting on blogs help SEO?
Getting links to your website is very important, as it will help your search engine rankings greatly. In an ideal world, the best way to get links is for other websites to naturally link to you. This might be down to a well written article they like, or they're saying thanks as a happy customer of yours. Problem i ...
Do people click on Pay Per Click ads?
Previous research has shown that Pay Per Click adverts aren't particularly liked by users, resulting in low Click Through Rates. So, why is this, and does that mean you shouldn't be using Pay Per Click? We take a look...
Google introduced it's AdWords Pay Per Click system in 2000. Previous studies includi ...
Does page speed affect rankings?
After announcing the Google Page Speed tool, it dawned that if Google takes page speed seriously, does it form part of their search engine algorithm?
When Google talks about ranking websites, it mentions the word 'relevance'. So, in their Search Engine Optimisation guidelines they encourage us to think ab ...
Email open rates on the up
New figures from direct marketing firm Epsilon show that open rates have improved for the fourth quarter in a row. The analysis, taken from 6.5 billion emails sent, showed open rates were up over 18%, whilst click through rates were up 6%.
Out of the sixteen industries measured in the study, seven saw an ...
Facebook Advertising: Is it worth it?
Facebook has been one of the biggest internet success stories over the last couple of years, and having such a big user base, it is no surprise that they are trying to reap the rewards. The idea of Facebook is to keep in touch with people around you. You have your location and personal details all stored, and with ...
Finding MSN Live Search backlinks
Microsoft's MSN search engine branding has been somewhat varied over the past few years where its been trying to fit in with the rest of the MSN's image. With these constant changes, they decided to drop the function to allow webmasters to see how many backlinks their search engine recognised. However, this has fi ...
Get more followers on Twitter
Twitter has got a great reputation because it of one word: celebrity. You've got everyone from Paris Hilton to Stephen Fry 'Twittering.' When headlines such as "So and So has reached 1,000,000 followers" appeared it didn't take businesses long to see what all the fuss what about.
The truth is, getting th ...
Getting inbound links
An inbound link is simply a link from another website pointing to yours. You can see the amount of links pointing to your website or particular web pages by using a program such as Google's Webmaster Tools.
Yes! In fact, the building of inbound links is arguably the most important part of Search Engine Op ...
The Google Barometer Blog
Yesterday Google launched it's new Google Barometer Blog to show those involved in online marketing how to make use of its Google Insights tool. The tool allows you compare keyword search patterns over category, time and region which is useful for planning a campaign for seasonal goods or testing viability of new ...
Google Chrome 2 released
Google is attempting to pull away from the browser pack with the launch of Chrome 2, which claims to be 30% faster on Javascript-heavy pages than its previous version.
Chrome 2 hasn't changed a big deal visually compared to other user interfaces when they bring out a brand new version to their line. In fa ...
Google Launches Page Speed
Google has launched 'Google Page Speed,' a downloadable Add-On for the Mozilla Browser (for some reason, not Google's own Chrome browser!) allowing webmasters to analyse their website's page speed.
The tool also provides suggestions on how to change pages in order to improve their speed. One example being ...
Google Launches Wonder Wheel
You may have already noticed when searching on Google there is a new 'Show Options' link at the top of the search results. This reveals videos, forums and reviews based on what you've just searched for.
Now there is a new feature: the Wonder Wheel. Resembling a fairground ferris wheel, it's designed to pr ...
Google updates Webmasters look
So, I logged onto Google Webmasters yesterday to see that you could try the 'new look' layout. They don't call it a Beta as such, but as with their recent AdWords interface update, you can switch back to the old version if you're a 'set in my ways' kind of person!
From a marketing point of view, it's a r ...
Guide to listing on Dmoz
Dmoz is a human edited directory that has been running since 1998. It was created to create as a cooperative environment that would allow volunteer editors to keep up with the internet explosion. Way back, Yahoo used to be a directory - not a search engine - and Dmoz was an (eventually bigger) alternative to this. ...
Optimising AdWords ad text
With Pay Per Click advertising, the jist is that you are bidding against others for your position in a search engine. As we emphasised in our article on Quality Score however, it's not just money that counts. As well as achieving a good position on Google, it's also important to think about writing ad copy that wi ...
How Google Image Search helps SEO
Google has a dedicated version of its search engine called Image Search which helps find images. Claiming to be the most comprehensive image search facility on the web, it has billions of images from website already within its index. When searching for images, you can tailor the search for various sizes and choose ...
How to keep SEO rankings when changing domains
So, you've worked hard for years to obtain good SEO rankings for your website, but for unavoidable reasons you have to change your domain name. Disaster? We take a look at what you can do to prevent your hard work going down the drain.
When moving to a new domain, many simply copy across content from the ...
Improving page speed
With the of broadband internet widespread in homes and offices, people are used to loading up websites instantaneously. Because of the modern worlds drive to get everything done "right now," when a website doesn't deliver the goods within seconds, people become impatient and leave as quickly as they arrived. Who ...
Microsoft and Yahoo announce deal
After announcing that Yahoo had stopped it's Content Match service, our suspicions have been confirmed that something was up!
A deal that has been rumoured for some time has now come to fruition between Microsoft and Yahoo. It has been announced that Microsoft's new Bing search engines will power Yahoo's ...
Microsoft launches Bing search engine
Microsoft officially launched its new Bing search engine on the 3rd of June 2009. With a number of changes under the Live brand, it became clear Live Search needed to be re-branded.
No, not sarcastic replies from the Friends cast member, Bing instead promises a lot of new features intended to encourage pe ...
New Features for Local Business Ads
Google has launched new features for its successful Local Business Ads option with the Google AdWords system.
Local Business Ads (which display as Sponsored Links) shown on Google Maps now show more than simply a link to the advertiser's website. There is an info window with customised information which i ...
SEO Basics: Google's Quality Guidelines
Google has three sets of Guidelines that are there to ensure webmasters follow the rules, and therefore don't fall prey to any kind of penalisation which can be very detrimental seeing as Google is by far the most important search engine.
We cover Google's Quality Guidelines here because they are must rea ...
Microsoft unleashes new Windows 7
Computers are about to get a major makeover with the new Windows 7 operating system.
Microsoft is hoping Windows 7 will become more of a hit than Vista was when it was released 3 years ago. A lot of features take into account multimedia applications and the fact that users are starting to store data on th ...
Acer : 3G and Chrome will revolutionise laptops in 2010
Acer chief executive Gianfranco Lanci has predicted that 3G will be standard in laptops within a year, and that Google Chrome will become a major competitor to Windows.
Speaking at The Langham in central London, Lanci said: "We WILL start to see all-day computing connectivity. When today people think abou ...
Google Docs adds folder sharing
Google has improved the features of Google Docs by adding the option to share folders with other users.
Until now, sharing rights have been assigned on a document-by-document basis. The new feature allows users to drag all the documents they want to share into a designated folder and apply sharing rights ...
Firefox 3.6 knows which way your PC's facing
Firefox 3.6 will include an API (Application Programming Interface) which is capable of knowing what way your computer is facing according to Mozilla.
The API will allow the browser to use a computer's accelerometer, allowing developers to create applications around the feature.
Early examples in ...
Web Inventor's Regret is the Double Slash
The inventor of the World Wide Web has revealed his one regret - adding slashes at the start of links.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee said typing "//" wasted people's time and required them to use more paper.
"I could have designed it to not have '//'. Really, if you think about it, it doesn't need the '//' ...
SEO Mistakes : Stop PageRank leak
The idea of Google PageRank leak is a contested one, but has become more widely accepted as part of Google's algorithm. The belief in its existence became verifiable when Google employee Matt Cutts commented on how to control the 'flow' of PageRank by using the robots.txt file and NoFollow Meta Tags.
Esse ...
SEO Secrets: Domain age affecting rankings
In our first 'SEO Secrets' article, we take a look at the little discussed influence on search engine rankings: the age of the domain. We take a look at how and why it affects rankings.
Why domain age affects rankings?
A few years ago I was checking the rankings of a client's website on Google. I ...
Should I exchange links?
When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation, building incoming links is probably the most important aspect of the process. This is because inbound links act as votes for your website. This increases relevancy, and so your ranking in search engines like Google. Of course, being so important, you won't it expect it ...
The Twitter Glossary
For those new to Twitter, the micro-blogging sensation can be a bit confusing, especially when it even has its own language! To help you out, here is a short and sweet glossary to words and terms used throughout the Twitter community. We've avoided the stupid ones... ...
UK eCommerce Regulations
In 2002, the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 came into force affecting the majority of commercial websites. It may look like it only affects online retailers, but if you are providing a service, the likelihood is that it applies to you.
You can
http://www.businessdictionary.co ...
What is anchor text?
The term 'anchor text' is mentioned often when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation as it is a fundamental part of the process, being one of the first realised key attributes in order to get high search engine rankings. It is called anchor text after the anchor tag used in HTML coding to display a link.
...
What is an Opt In email?
When users choose to receive a bulk e-mail (such as an e-newsletter), they are opting in. The key to an opt in email is that the user has been asked permission. Otherwise, sending a user an email without their permission would be considered spam, which is illegal.
There are a few different variants of Opt ...
What is a Sitemap?
A sitemap is a representation (normally a hierarchical list) of the architecture of a website. The sitemap should be structured, and provide a link to pages listed.
What is the purpose of a sitemap?
A sitemap has two purposes. The origins of a sitemap was to make all content of a website accessib ...
What is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is an ad serving system that allows website owners to display, and earn revenue from, ads from customers of the Google AdWords Pay Per Click system.
How does it work for the website owner?
AdSense is easy to setup, as it just a case of creating an account and placing some code into ...
What is Google AdWords?
Google AdWords is a form of Pay Per Click advertising. As the name suggests, advertisers only pay for each click generated from the display of their adverts.
First launched in 2000, Google AdWords has changed vastly to incorporate many different options for online advertisers. This helped Google achieve a ...
What is Black Hat SEO?
How did Black Hat SEO come about?
When organisations are looking to improve their website's search engine rankings through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), like any other marketing service, they like to see results quickly. However, SEO isn't instant like a form of advertising. It's a process, therefore ...
What is contextual targeting?
Whilst the idea of contextual advertising has always existed, it has really blossomed through Pay Per Click Advertising, especially with Google AdWords.
Within the Google AdWords system, advertisers can choose to place their adverts on related websites besides Google's own. The idea is if visitors see an ...
What is Google PageRank?
Google's PageRank is an algorithm that tells you how important a website page is, giving a general indication of how well a website will rank on Google's search engine. A website's PageRank is decided by 500 million variables and 2 billion terms, but you can see a basic form of a website's PageRank by installing t ...
What is link weight?
Inbound links are arguably the most important factor of ranking well in search engines. Its just as important to know to realise that not all links are the same. They are apportioned different weights based on many factors. Consequently, its not just the quantity of incoming links your website has, but the quality ...
What is 'Page Rank Sculpting'?
Page Rank Sculpting is a relatively new term for technique intended to dictate and transfer Google Page Rank to other pages on a website, with a focus on managing internal linking.
Please note that this article isn't an in-depth look at Page Rank, so if you need an introduction please take a look at the ' ...
What is 'Quality Score'?
oogle AdWords is a great service, providing the opportunity to display highly targeted advertising to interested prospects whilst remaining cost effective. That's the theory anyway!
The truth is, many people waste unnecessary money on the Google AdWords system by not paying attention to the plethora of op ...
What is the Google Directory?
The Google Directory is a list of websites categorised by topic. These topics are varied, being both commercial and non-commercial. There is also a breakdown of topics by geographic location.
Google's Directory used to be a well publicised link on their main home page, but now can only be viewed from thei ...
What is the Google Sandbox Effect?
As mentioned in the Google PageRank article, many Search Engine Optimisers hold the belief that new website domains are artificially held back from gaining Page Rank for an undisclosed period. This articles talks more about the Sandbox Effect, including how you could be affected and how to prevent it from stopping ...
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a free form of blogging, known as 'micro-blogging.' This is so called because there is a maximum of 140 characters allowed for each entry, working line an online text message.
On Twitter, you can post your thoughts, ideas and opinions and share them by following other people's activities and vi ...
What is White Hat SEO?
What Hat SEO is the manner of carrying out Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques out in an ethical manner that follows good practice guidelines set out by search engines.
How did White Hat SEO come about?
When SEO was fairly new and entirely amateur, people realised there were ways of mani ...
Why is Google so important?
It's no secret that Google dominates the headlines whenever someone mentions search engines. In fact, to Google something has replaced the word 'search' in the same way people refer to vacuum cleaners as 'hoovers.'
So why is a Google, a company famous for it's lack of advertising, so dominant?
In ...
Why search results vary
When you see search engine results, they are sorted by a very advanced algorithm. As well as analysing a website, search engines also taken note of where you are located. The idea is to give you the most relevant page of search results.
Google has many different data centres located throughout the world i ...
Yahoo shuts down Content Match in the UK
Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) never really expanded beyond the US, but UK Yahoo advertisers were always allow to purchase ads distributed through the YPN. Below is the email sent to clients by Yahoo:
"As a valued client we are writing to give you advance notice of the closure of our Content Match prod ...
One-Password Brits At Risk Of Online Fraud
If you use the same password for different internet accounts, you might as well directly ask a hacker to 'hack' you. A new study warns that you could be a sitting duck for online fraud and identity theft.
A report by life assistance company CPP shows that half of Britons use the same log-in for online sho ...
Google Docs opens up to search engines
Google will allow browsers to go through and index documents, spreadsheets and presentations that Google Apps users have published to the web.
"In about two weeks we will be launching a change for published docs. The change will allow published docs that are linked to/from a public website to be crawled a ...
World's nastiest Trojan tricks Antivirus software
One of the world's nastiest Trojans is stealing passwords, evading detection by Antivirus programs according to a study of 10,000 machines.
The Trojan in question, is called Zeus, a very stealthy piece of malware that sits on a PC and waits for users to log in to bank websites. It gets detected just 23% o ...
Microsoft admits Vista was a less good product
A Microsoft executive has admitted that "Vista was a less good product", as the launch of Windows 7 dawns upon us.
The comment was made during an investor webcast, when Charles Songhurst, Microsoft's general manager of corporate strategy, was asked how Vista had affected the company's fortunes.
" ...
Pigeon beats broadband in data transfer race
A financial services company based in Durban, South Africa, has become so frustrated with its slow broadband connection that's it begun transferring large files via homing pigeon.
This pigeon named Winston carried a USB stick against its broadband connection to find out which would be faster transferring ...
Yahoo shuts down Content Match in the UK
Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) really never expanded beyond the United States, but UK Yahoo advertisers were always allow to purchase ads distributed through YPN. Here is the email that was sent to PPC Heros:
As a valued client we are writing to give you advance notice of the closure of our Content Match p ...
The Met trades in truncheons for Twitter
The Metropolitan Police have created a Twitter account which is aimed at helping control an upcoming Climate Camp protest in London.
After policing the G20 protests, the Met has decided that confusing and boring protestors is a much less dangerous strategy.
The account is called ''CO11MetPolice', ...
The 'I've Been Mugged In London' Facebook scam
Scammers are using Facebook profiles to try and gain money from users around the world.
These fraudsters are hacking into people's accounts and messaging their friends claiming to have been "mugged in London".
They appear to be very desperate for money and try to draw the user's friends into an o ...
New Google puts Bing in the background
Google are already in the process of updating their gigantic search engine, which developers have nicknamed "Caffeine".
Apparently it's still in the testing phase but global trend setter Google say it is the "first step in improving the speed, accuracy and comprehensiveness of search results".
Go ...
Dell entering the mobile phone market
Aparantly Dell is going to launch a mobile phone within the next few days.
A source with "knowledge of the situation" has said that Dell will announce the handset in China within the next day or two. If this information is correct then the launch will mark Dell's entry into the mobile phone market, not so ...
MI5’S WEBSITE HACKED!
The hackers rigged the website so that the identity of visitors could be stolen and viruses downloaded on to their machines.
The people responsible, a group who call themselves 'Team Elite', would also have been able to discover the identity of anyone using Britain's Intelligence services website and find ...
Microsoft Office 2010 to launch for free on web
Microsoft are continuing their so called war with Google for internet dominance as it reveals the next version of their Office software will be available online for free.
Brilliant for people who only use their PC/Laptop/Netbook/Notebook for general browsing of the Internet or listening to music and very ...
Yet again, Google are anouncing a new product
Google are planning to release it's IM/Email hybrid product called Google Wave in September this year. Invites for 100,000 users will become available on 30th of September via wave.google.com.
It's very likely that Google will launch Wave with a limited invitation system similar to the one Gmail started o ...
Kingston unveils a costly 256GB USB flash drive?
Yes, you read correctly, Kingston have unveiled the "world's first" 256GB flash drive but will cost more than £650 to have one!
This really is a crazy price to pay for a 256GB USB flash drive, but then if you think a 64GB flash drive costs roughly £120 and you will have to buy 4 of them to reach 256GB. ...
Two thirds of businesses don't support the iPhone
Fewer than a third of IT companies say their businesses are fully geared up to support the iPhone.
Research by Vanson Bourne shows that 65% of those surveyed are concerned about unauthorised users accessing important data if an iPhone is lost of stolen. 64% haven't put security steps in place to protect a ...
Google announcing new operating system
Google has launched an attack on Microsoft's dominance of PC's by announcing a new operating system.
The new Google Chrome OS will be available on netbooks and laptops from the 2nd half of 2010. The web's search engine giant Google mentioned it will be "virus-free" and allow quick access to the internet. ...
New domain names for 2010?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have announced that new domain names will start to become available in the first quarter of 2010. Some groups are ready to apply for terms like .food, .wine, .paris, .london, .music and .sport, while others are planning to apply for regions (.africa) ...
Plug-sized PCs arrive in the UK
Ok, some of you are going to being saying to yourselves 'Er, what the hell?' or 'Are you joking?' but honestly, it seems to be true. A new type of PC which acts as a three-point plug is being released in the UK. This small Plug Computer is based on the Marvell platform, developed by the US and features a 1.2GHz pr ...
Government announces "broadband tax"
The Government is planning a 50p a month fee on fixed-line connections to pay for next-generation broadband.
Announcing the proposals in the House of Commons, Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw claimed private investment alone wouldn't be enough to secure a nationwide rollout of fibre broadband.
"Lef ...
Microsoft nearly ready to unveil free anti-virus software
Microsoft is getting ready to unveil its free anti-virus software, going into direct competition with companies such as Symantec and McAfee.
A Microsoft spokesman says 'The world's biggest software maker is testing an early version of the product with its own employees. Microsoft will "soon" make a beta v ...
Nokia smartphone saps power from thin air?
Nokia is developing a smartphone that could recharge itself using power out of the air.
The technology works in the same way as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and would use the electromagnetic radiation emitted by Wi-Fi, Mobile and television masts from the air, then convert it into electrical ...
It's official, Windows 7 being released on 22nd October!
This information was released recently at the Computex conference in Taiwan, that Windows 7 will launch on 22nd of October this year.
This October release date is a quick turnaround for Windows as they had claimed that Windows 7 would arrive within 3 years of Windows Vista, putting it on course for an ear ...
Vista SP2 available for download
Microsoft has made Vista Service Pack 2 available for download.
The 348MB download (577MB for 64-bit Vista users) is little more than a enormous bug fix, encompassing all the updates released since Vista SP1 rolled out.
The Service Pack is a combined update for both Vista and Windows Server 2008. ...
Google puts its foot on the accelerator with Chrome 2
Google is attempting to pull away from the browser pack with the launch of Chrome 2, which it claims is 30% faster on Javascript-heavy pages than its already nimble predecessor.
Version 2 of the browser is by no means the major overhaul normally associated with new version numbers. In fact, casual users w ...
German murderer used Facebook to feed obsession
Police have warned against posting too much personal information on the internet, after a German man was today sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a British computing student he met online.
David Heiss, 21, from, Dauborn, near Limburg, developed an obsession with his victim's girlfriend, and used ...
Hackers expose holes in McAfee website
Security firm McAfee has been left with egg on its face after it was revealed the company's own website was susceptible to phishing attacks.
Various parts of the McAfee website were vulnerable to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, claims a detailed report on Read Write Web.
Perhaps the most seri ...
Satellite to offer 10Mbit broadband to entire UK
A French firm plans to launch a satellite next year that it says will offer the entire UK up to 10Mbit/s broadband, including rural areas that are poorly served by ADSL and cable.
This week, Eutelsat is launching "Tooway" broadband in the UK at up to 2Mbit/s, via an existing satellite.
Its new cr ...
Web tool 'As important as Google'
A web tool that "could be as important as Google", according to some experts, has been shown off to the public.
Wolfram Alpha is the brainchild of British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram.
The free program aims to answer questions directly, rather than display web pages in response to a query like ...
iPod touch goes to war
The US Army has apparently found an entirely new purpose for the iPod touch - war.
The US Army has begun outfitting troops in Iraq with the device in order to link them with "intelligence sources" including aerial images from reconnaissance drones, according to a report in Newsweek.
The report ci ...
Google unleashes 3D web
Google has released its first attempt at bringing 3D graphics to the browser.
Google announced last month that it was working with Mozilla and 3D specialists the Khronos Group to kick-start development of browser-based 3D web graphics.
As the first stage of this development the company has releas ...
Adobe Flash secures set-top deal
Adobe has secured a deal to put its Flash software into many of the chips that go inside TVs and set-top boxes.
It will enable developers and content providers to create applications to deliver web-based content such as news, weather and share prices to TV screens.
Flash will be included on most ...
Researchers dissect world's first Mac botnet
Fresh research has shed new light on the world's first Mac OS X botnet, which causes infected machines to mount denial of service attacks.
Symantec researchers Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli said the infections are the same ones described in another blog post from January.
In it, the bl ...
Google nabs purse snatcher
Google's Latitude service proved an unwitting aid to police tracing a stolen purse in San Francisco, guiding the boys in blue to the miscreants in moments.
The story comes from local-TV channel CBS-5, and relates the story of one Janina Valiente, who had her bag snatched while waiting for a bus. The woman ...
McAfee: Save the planet - Use a spam filter
Junk mail makes monster carbon emissions?
Spam is more than a nuisance - it's damaging to the environment, according to net security firm McAfee.
McAfee reasons junk email contributes to green house gas emissions because of the computer resources allocated to processing unwanted messages. Annual ...
Twitter growth tops 1,000%
Internet statistician comScore is reporting that Twitter reached almost ten million unique visitors in February - a 700% increase on February 2008.
The growth is even more spectacular in the United States, where comScore reports a growth of more than 1,000% a year, from fewer than a million users in Febru ...
Unemployment 'will peak at 3.2m'
Unemployment will reach 3.2 million next year, business leaders have warned as they say the UK recession is "likely to continue for some time".
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said its survey showed a "worrying deterioration" in manufacturing, with exports reaching 10-year lows.
The most r ...
BBC goes live... over Wi-Fi
No telly in your office? No problem, because the BBC has launched a live TV service for smartphones.
Although still in beta, the Live TV service is designed to let you watch a selection of TV channels, including One, Two and BBC News, live over a Wi-Fi connection. It also supports several radio stations, ...
Net firms start storing user data
Details of user e-mails, website visits and net phone calls will be stored by internet service providers (ISPs) from Monday under an EU directive.
The plans were drawn up in the wake of the London bombings in 2005. ISPs and telecoms firms have resisted the proposals while some countries in the EU are cont ...
Leaving PCs on costing UK business millions
A third of business computers in the UK are left switched on overnight, costing British businesses more than £300m a year in extra electricity bills.
In the US the situation is even worse - half of corporate computers are left on overnight. This is costing US firms some $2.8bn a year.
Leaving ma ...
Small firms missing out on Internet shopping boom
New research by BT Tradespace indicates that six out of 10 small businesses are missing out because they are not selling their products and services online
New research from BT Tradespace indicates that six out of 10 small businesses are missing out on their share of a GBP20 billion-a-year* web shop ...
Warning over Internet Explorer report
Cyber criminals are using a malicious Microsoft Word file distributed through spam to attack an exploit Microsoft patched last week.
US-CERT, the government's cybersecurity arm, is warning users of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 about a Trend Micro report claiming that cybercriminals are attacking Internet ...
The unopened e-mail that cost £3m
As Kent County Council officials prepared to make a £3m deposit into an Icelandic bank, an e-mail from the council's financial consultants with warnings which should have prevented the transaction, languished unopened in an official's inbox.
The money was deposited on 1 October 2008 days before the Icela ...
Online shopping ahead 13% on 2008
Online shopping is bucking the downward trend on the UK High Street, as latest figures show the "e-tail" sector made a 13% annual sales increase in February. But, despite the annual increase, February online shopping fell 11% from the month before, the online retail research group IMRG Capgemini says.
The ...
Social networks 'are new e-mail'
Status updates on sites such as Facebook, Yammer, Twitter and Friendfeed are a new form of communication, the South by SouthWest Festival has heard. "We are all in the process of creating e-mail 2.0," David Sacks, founder of business social network Yammer said. Tens of millions of people are using social networks ...
Debt burden 'will last 20 years'
The burden of UK government debt will remain above pre-crisis levels for 20 years, says the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). In its annual Green Budget, the IFS says that the government will need to raise taxes or cut spending by an extra£20bn to repair the public finances. The IFS suggests the gov ...
Alarm sounded over Wi-Fi networks
Wireless access points could be used by hi-tech criminals to spread viruses and worms, warn US researchers.
The found that security holes and the popularity of the devices in cities makes them ideal for spreading malware. Using modelling methods from real diseases the team showed how a worm could graduall ...
Job website hit by major breach
Hackers are believed to have stolen the personal details of millions of people using the online job site Monster.
Users around the world have been affected, including the 4.5 million users of the UK site. If all are affected it would make it the biggest data theft in the UK since the details of 25 million ...
Will Google's "GDrive" kill off the desktop?
Google, Microsoft and Apple have all been developing cloud-based virtual services for some time now, but it looks as if this year will see computing make the paradigm shift into the ether, with more and more rumours suggesting that a Google "GDrive" is just around the corner.
This will mean more informati ...
Is Google working on its own OS?
Having surprised us all with Chrome and given the mobile world a good firm kick up the backside with the excellent Android, is Google about to go one further and build its own OS? Talk of a Google OS has been kicking around for years, but now new info suggests work on the Big G's Windows challenger is well under w ...
Credit card cost 'still rising'
Credit cards have continued to become more expensive to use in the past few months, despite the recent reductions in bank rate, research suggests.
A survey by the financial information service Moneyfacts indicates that at least 10% of credit cards have raised their interest rates or fees. As a result, the ave ...
Parallels outs spanking new Desktop for Mac
Crazy as it might seem, getting Windows playing nice on a Mac is still a must for those who have to have their Apple hit, but need to play with more business type programmes when they hit the road for work.
This is where Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 comes in. The latest incarnation of the super– ...
Study shows how spammers cash in
Spammers are turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5m e-mails they send
By hijacking a working spam network, US researchers have uncovered some of the economics of being a junk mailer. The analysis suggests that a tiny response rate means a big spam operation can turn over ...
E-mail marketing better than social network marketing, say experts
Research from marketing firm ExactTarget and the Center for Media Design at Ball State University has revealed that 18-34-year-olds are more likely to be influenced to buy something by an e-mail marketing message than by marketing via social networks. The study also identified six personas and how they prefer to r ...
Small businesses saving money by adopting cloud computing, survey finds
Small and medium-sized firms are keen to take advantage of the savings offered by cloud computing (the online provision of data and services that can be accessed from a device that can connect to the Internet) but are forgetting the security issues, a survey has found. Easynet Connect's poll of UK small businesses ...
Nothing wrong with personal tasks at work, say IT professionals
Three-quarters of IT professionals think writing personal e-mails and using Facebook at work is acceptable. That's according to a survey by online recruitment firm The IT Job Board, which found that IT staff at firms in the UK do not feel guilty about carrying out personal tasks during the working day. Half of the ...
Government 'has no IT budget for faster payments to small firms'
The Government has not allocated funding to improve the payment systems used to honour Gordon Brown's pledge to pay small suppliers faster during the economic downturn. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has said that no budget has been set aside for administrative and IT changes ...
Lost MoD data covers 1.7m people
The Ministry of Defence computer hard drive that was reported missing last week may contain details of up to 1.7 million people, a minister admitted yesterday.
An investigation into the loss of the hard drive has discovered that the breach of personal data is far worse than originally feared.
Mos ...
Hackers using fake YouTube pages to attack computers
Computer security specialists warn that hackers are using fake YouTube pages to trick people into opening their machines to diabolical software.
A deceptive YouTube attack evolving as it spreads on the internet is part of a growing trend of hackers to prowl popular online social networking communities in ...
Student Indicted in Case Involving Hacking Palin’s E-Mail
A Tennessee college student was arraigned on Wednesday on charges related to breaking into Gov. Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account last month and later posting several messages as well as the contents of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s address book to the Internet
According to a stateme ...
Wireless hack raises Data Protection Act compliance risk
Companies' wireless networks are less secure than previously believed because of software made in Russia that reportedly speeds up network hacking by 10,000%. Companies may no longer be able to rely on standard security, experts have said.
One data protection law expert said that firms will have to review ...
Google to appeal German copyright decisions
Google lost two copyright cases in Germany on Monday but the search company reportedly plans to appeal.
A German court ruled that Google violated the copyright of Michael Bernhard by displaying one of his photographs as a preview thumbnail, according to the Bloomberg news service.
Separately, a G ...
EU to boost rights for online shoppers
The European Commission on Wednesday approved proposals to give more protection to consumers shopping online throughout the 27-nation bloc, seeking to ease fears over e-fraud.
"We need an EU-wide safety net of rights, so consumers have the security they need to shop around with peace of mind," said EU Co ...
IT security lax at small to medium-sized businesses, researchers say
Less than half (47%) of those responsible for IT security in small to medium-sized businesses keep track of the information held on their IT systems, according to recent research. The survey findings were revealed at the Information Security Solutions Europe (ISSE) conference in Madrid by Cardiff University resear ...
Increase web presence before Christmas rush, retailers told
Businesses that don't have an online retail arm will suffer in the weeks before Christmas as shoppers plan to spend online rather than head to the high street. A survey by pollsters YouGov and e-business services provider Eclipse Internet revealed that over half of adults will spend less on Christmas presents this ...
Google Calls the Internet a 'Cesspool'
Google CEO Eric Schmidt called the Internet a "Cesspool" Wednesday in reference to the quality of content and the amount of false information residing on it. This according to AdAge is a subject he spoke about with an audience of magazine executives at Google's campus, where an annual industry conference was takin ...
Vodafone confirms BlackBerry Storm for UK
We've been taunted with tales of a touchscreen BlackBerry for nigh on a year. And after countless leaks and a major name change it looks as if we’re finally getting the BlackBerry Storm here in the UK.
Vodafone has just admitted that they’ll be bringing the iPhone–baiter to these shores, with a regi ...
Firms are not interested in Vista operating system, says IT survey
The majority of UK businesses are steering clear of Windows Vista as their operating system of choice with most sticking to Windows XP, according to a recent survey. The Corporate IT Forum conducted a survey of businesses using Microsoft operating systems and found that 58 per cent of them were still using Windows ...
Businesses warned to be careful when dealing with e-mails
Businesses must be careful when dealing with e-mails as users are more likely to lie when e-mailing than when they communicate using hand-written correspondence. That's according to the latest research by scientists at US universities DePaul, Rutgers and Lehigh. The report, entitled ‘Being Honest Online’, warn ...
Improve online retail experience or lose out to competitors, says Tealeaf
Customer experience management firm Tealeaf has said that businesses that retail online should improve their customers' online shopping experiences or risk losing out to competitors. Tealeaf's annual survey of online customer behaviour revealed that almost nine in ten adults experience problems when shopping onlin ...
CLA says broadband investment is crucial to rural businesses
The conclusions of an independent report into next generation access (NGA) high speed broadband have sparked fury from the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which said the findings were "seriously blinkered". The report argued that the Government should leave implementing high-speed broadband to the tel ...
Half of businesses 'have no idea' of impact of data security breach
Over half of businesses lack understanding when it comes to the impact of data security breaches, according to a survey by IT and business services firm Logica. In addition, 60% fail to tell their clients of a data breach. Tim Best, Director Enterprise Security Solutions at Logica, said: "Data losses put customers ...
Prison officers slam EDS data loss
The latest unfortunate UK government data leak - the escape of details of an estimated 5,000 prison officer and admin staff after private contractor EDS mislaid a sensitive portable hard drive - has sparked a strike threat by prison workers.
As with last year's infamous child benefit data loss, the govern ...
Scotland must invest in IT skills, says report
In a report published today, the link between expert ICT skills and innovation is clearly established. This may seem obvious, but whilst there are a number of studies into the link between ICT skills and productivity there is no existing research which evidences the link with innovation.
The report commis ...
Consumers set to spend more online in run-up to Christmas
IMRG, today releases the results of its e-Customer Service Index (e-CSI) - the key industry indicator and benchmark of e-retail customer satisfaction – as part of a joint venture with eDigitalResearch and Maximiles-operated ipoints.co.uk.
The research, carried out in early August amongst two million mem ...
Judge slaps Fasthosts for rubbish kit and support
A county court judge has awarded a disgruntled Fasthosts customer almost £1,500 in damages and costs, after the Gloucester firm failed to meet its uptime and customer service guarantees.
Hampshire consultancy UK Mobile Media was prompted to take Fasthosts to Southampton small claims court yesterda ...
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