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**** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes ****
£347m fine for player
Microsoft's appeal against the latest anti-trust court case has fallen and the European commission will impose a record fine on the giant, deemed guilty of abusing its dominant position in the market. Microsoft must now make available a stripped-down version of Windows (minus the previously-bundled Media Player) available to PC manufacturers. Despite MS settlements with major competitors like Novel and Sun, and hopes of an appeal success, Bo Vesterdorf, president of the EU's second highest court, ruled against them.
Has the landline gone dead?
Research from analysys.com says that computer telephony providers like Skype could fragment and threaten the fixed line phone service market. Voice Over IP (VoIP) calls are free when made between PCs using headsets and Skype software, a service with 9 million active users at the end of 2004.
Full report from analysys.com
OfCut
UK telecoms regulator, OfCom, has ordered BT to make further cost cuts in the charges it makes for access to its local loop as part of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The reductions, which will ultimately affect broadband prices, will range up to 71% and will be effective from 1 January 2005.
Laptop Users Pose Security Threat
In a recent "Laptop Liabilities" survey, around three quarters of respondents didn't read terms & conditions before downloading software despite their laptop being their main computer. Nearly half of them admitted that people outside of work access their corporate laptop and 62% of the UK participants had never heard of spyware.
Websense survey
Docking station
A well-laid out site at the criminal justice website gets all participants prepped up for doing their bit before going anywhere near a court room. Newbies can tackle the unfamiliar processes and surroundings from the point of view of Victim, Witness, Defendant, Offender or Juror. Visit www.cjsonline.gov.uk/
Linux is kernel
Latest figures from IDC indicate that Linux installations are now sufficiently high for the forecasting company to declare the operating system a "mainstream" product. The new figures come from the inclusion of installations on existing hardware, rather than on previous calculations of new hardware-shipped Linux and applies only to servers, not clients.
**** end of NewsBytes ****
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1. Please don't take a picture
Publish and be damned? The issue of whether to display staff photographs on your web site can be a prickly one! | ||
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It's been a bad dayYour department is in the middle of a major mailout to supporters, the press are trying thwart the latest campaign launch by looking for something more sensational and now - with everyone at their most frazzled - this photographer turns up to take pictures of the team's cheerful faces for the web site! Look behind the eyesChances are, even the most plastic grin won't paper over the cracks of resentment appearing beneath the temporary radiance of the average team member. They didn't know, weren't asked and certainly were not prepared for a photo-shoot right now. The display teamAs with a good recipe, much goes into the preparation of a well-thought out site that shows photos of some or all of it's team members. Whether to go publicSo, how to decide whether you should publish or not? A three-line whip and a neck-brace is one (but not preferred) method, but a few tips to assessing your needs is a better start.
Capturing the momentTake care over the quality of photos too; snapping people with a phone camera in a fluorescent-lit corridor isn't going to bring out the best of their personality, to say nothing of the brightness and resolution of the final still. Conversely, hiring a photographer (and let's face it, someone who's a bit of a compere and can bring people out of their shells a little on such stilted occasions) needs a budget and some time management, at the very least ensuring all your peripatetic subjects are in one place. Accepting DIY digital image contributions from team members themselves is not out of the question, especially if they are of reasonable quality to begin with, but extra time may be needed for cropping out pet hamsters, parties of revellers and the like. Broadcast me a joyful noiseDon't forget that, at the end of the day, the image you are trying to convey is hopefully a positive one. Aim to make the process complement the result, rather than hinder it.Contacts-IB-
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2. Little Brother is watching
Smartening up for smart technology - because little brother is watching. | |||||
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A few months ago a concerned IT home-worker raised concerns about mobile videophones. Without the latest phone/camera technology, her worries were that she would appear Luddite in her professional circles.
And why was she so concerned? When working from home - professionally answering the phone and seeming so efficiently hard at work - she was actually either in bed, not wearing make-up (or sometimes anything else) and invariably singing along to the Sugababes, which she would hastily shut off before answering the phone. She was rather concerned that a videophone would have a very serious impact on her working practice. There are two issues here. First there is the ubiquitous and potentially discreet nature of a videophone that can be abused. Most cameras (let alone video cameras) are obvious and go 'click' when triggered. Some videophones are having an added click for this reason. The second issue is more powerful and potentially more dangerous; the immediate broadcast element of videophone technology. That picture you took in the heat of the moment for a drunken laugh: instead of storing it in your private collection or deleting it the next day, it gets broadcast to the world, wreaking who-knows-what damage. This brings to mind other things that may be exposed by someone's 'Motomovie'. How many clubbers are out with the wrong boy/girl, or even gender, and rather hoped that would remain their secret? What about children? In our climate of hysteria and often real concerns about abusive or perceived abuse of young people, how long before a story breaks about inappropriate use and abuse of this technology. Personal privacy issues aside, it seems there are some real security risks to emerge on the industrial front. As early as last year in Las Vegas during the Caleb Sima conference, Comdex 2003, delegates were asked about their companies' videophone security policy. After the laughter died down they were asked, So you would be quite happy to let someone wander around your research and development with a digital camera and a Polaroid? Guidelines on the security policy suddenly became sought-after documents.
In December last year, Henry Bellingham, MP for Norfolk North West, was asked to leave the chamber of the House of Commons by the Speaker for using a videophone. The embarrassed MP later denied he was using a videophone but just checking his mobile. At the time, it was reported as paranoia, but the point was made; how was anyone to know what he was really doing? Some academics have quietly wondered aloud whether a hands free phone with camera may not be exploited by the unscrupulous in exams. Real concerns about industrial espionage and the risk of, say, being sued by an employee who has had a picture of her knickers posted on the Internet, is becoming a serious issue for big corporations and governments alike. The videophone is actually illegal in Saudi Arabia and frowned upon throughout most of the Middle East. The Chinese Government sees this as the next big threat to the stability of their happy homeland. The UK Foreign Office and Samsung have gone as far as banning them from their offices. Indeed, the threat is beginning to be taken so seriously that in land of the gadget, - Japan - Mitsubishi have actually removed the camera from their V301D model as selling point, following concerns from their government and corporate clients. Nokia have replaced the camera on their 6810 model of phone with an FM radio. If this trend continues and all phones have a camera as standard, then perhaps the mobile phones will not be quite so common in future. Although some home workers might have to start dressing and shaving for work. -IB- Andy Robson is an Internet consultant and journalist with Working Websites www.working.co.uk. He is also an advisor on Internet strategy and marketing to the NGO sector. |
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3. Conditional formatting in spreadsheets
Brighten up your life - straighten those brows furrowed by too many hours of staring at columns of impenetrable decimals. | ||
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How did we ever live without colour? Suppose you could make the important results leap out of the page! Conditional formatting does the job neatly. Here's how. There are many applications where conditional formatting can be exploited, but let's take a simple invoice-based example. 
In this instance, we set 3 ranges for invoice status:
Note than more and more conditions can simple be tacked on with the Add button, but be warned; conditional format ranges should not overlap otherwise the conflicting results may not be what you expect, eg in the above example, changing the "due for payment" condition to "less than 30 days" also overrides the "not yet issued" condition, and the grey italics status is never seen. Of course, that's not all that goes on in this particular spreadsheet. The "overdue" column changes according to the date (the "TODAY" function), so that it keeps a track of the actual number of days from the issue date of each invoice, like this: =IF(B4<TODAY()-30,TODAY()-B4,TODAY()-B4) Note that this will cause the spreadsheet to prompt for a Save when opening and closing it even just for viewing, because the 'conditions' (ie the date) change each time. Getting good referencesThe cell format can also be based on another cell's value (not just a number like 30 as used here) so one could call in cell references that, say, specified alternative payment terms on another sheet: 30 days, 60 days and so on. For more sophistication, the cell display can even depend on another formula (select Condition value "Formula Is" instead of "Cell Value Is"), but at this advanced stage it may be wise to start laying out a structured flow diagram first to sort your thoughts, especially where the results are going to affect budgets! Now that you edited up your finance spreadsheet to create the most beautiful cashflow-monitoring, all that induced karma is suddenly destroyed by the realisation that it's a really tedious task to go back and find those cells if they need re-editing! "Go To" the rescueFind it on the Edit menu:
-IB-
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4. Windows life cycle
Windows isn't for life; it's just for Christmas. | ||
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Windows XP is now due for a once-a-year service pack update, so are operating systems worth no more than the CDs on which they're supplied? With the cessation of support at the end of 2004 for NT4, the operating system that started Microsoft down its "Professional" series of Windows platforms, has come the affirmation that Windows doesn't last forever. The furore over the attempt by Microsoft to 'pull the plug' on ageing favourite Windows 98 unleashed a backlash from Windows users in less-developed parts of the world, resulting in a Windows 98 reprieve. In such locations, the latest versions just aren't distributed or the local populace can only afford second- or third-hand computers, with the operating systems (like Windows 95/98) that originally accompany them. And yet, perhaps, this more than anything else marks the penetration of computing technology into our lives - a PC in every home however poor? The apparently ephemeral nature of an operating system however is not necessarily a deliberate marketing ploy by any software manufacturer. What erodes its longevity is more determined by users and, latterly malicious intruders. That is to say, a Windows-installed computer will go on running perfectly happily for decades, until some piece of hardware fails, as long as we users don't upset its regular routine by letting anything else intrude, like new applications, printer drivers, external drives, CDs, not to mention the Internet! In the everyday world, however, we just don't allow that kind of isolationism. To compensate for the fact that we change our fundamental computer building blocks every 24 hours (certainly if we subscribe to Windows Automatic Updates), there has to be a logical support policy that determines how long a company is prepared to keep this bundle of code modules going, with all its billions of potential failure modes. 
Get a lifeThe benefit is that we now have clearly-defined 'lifetimes' for all the products, including Microsoft Office ones, from the date each product is released. This allows your resource department to plan their IT spending several years ahead and to fit in with the organisation's mission and business plan. Windows lifecycles are typically laid out as:
The phasing is broadly similar for consumer, hardware and multimedia but without the extended support phase. See Microsoft Support Lifecycle (UK) Don't talk to me about lifeA good page to keep an eye on and bookmark is "Windows Product Family Lifecycle Dates" http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifewin which shows when support for products like Windows (Workstations, Servers, Tablets, Media Center) and Internet Explorer is being phased out. To see when Service Packs are retired - for Microsoft products such as Exchange, Internet Explorer, Office, SQL Server, Visio and Media Player - go to http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps "Lifecycle Supported Service Packs". Obviously both of these pages change with time. Contacts
-IB-
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5. G-force: third-generation comms in your computer
Can you withstand the force of 3G? | ||
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The benefits of 3G networks may seem dubious when you look at the ubiquitous promos for 'face-to-face' calling and the unwanted side effects of Little Brother in your pocket, but more useful applications of third-generation are underway. 
Self-contained Internet and email access on your laptop is the byword for the new range of plug-and-go cards. Being able to access Internet-based email accounts, browse the web, exchange texts, and use instant messaging sets a new standard for roaming connectivity, without the hassle and technical knowledge required to plug into phone sockets (either in the UK or abroad) and set up new connections. There is no need even to link into your mobile phone. The GPRS-based service means that 'call-length' is immaterial, since it is the amount of data downloaded that is chargeable. Texts and emails only consume relatively small amounts of this packet bandwidth, so charges can be modest and the seven-times-modem speed means that downloads are fast, saving your time and laptop battery power. 
Building on the first steps made by SonyEricsson's GC79 plug-in GPRS card intended for laptops, Vodafone's 3G Mobile Connect dual-mode 3G/GPRS datacard has upped the speed at which it is possible to transfer data to near broadband speeds - 384 Kbps - on the back of its own recently-launched 3G service. Though the degree of sharing in any one geographical location means that data rates are more likely to be nearer half this (170KBps or less), speeds are still faster than GPRS. Where?Vodafone UK 3G coverage is still patchy and concentrates on the major conurbations (London, the M4 corridor and 10 other cities) for the time being. In areas outside the 3G coverage, you are switched over automatically to the established GPRS (modem speed) data service, so connectivity and usability is not lost. Global 3G roaming is initially available in 10 countries, nominally in the EU and Japan. How much?Following the trends on mobile charges, 3G datacards are available from a giveaway (free) to over £200, depending on the tariff (£10 pm to £75pm) chosen. These tariffs correspond to the amount of data you download with varying rates from different providers, who are all looking for niche markets and seeking to recoup their huge investment in 3G technology; Vodafone's service is currently from £10 for 5MB per month to £85 for 500MB per month while T-Mobile charges £70 per month for unlimited downloads. Such rates makes 3G suitable only for emails and light browsing at present, rather than downloading vast attachments, but competition between providers will undoubtedly drive data charges downwards. Vodafone dropped its MegaByte rate considerably in 2004 and is already considering a flat rate tariff in future. Other benefitsAside from the ability to text messages to other mobile phone users without the hassle of a restricted keypad, there are some serious mobile networking advantages to be considered. Your organisation may already provide staff, volunteers, part-timers, etc with secure remote access to the internal computer network, in order to allow them to email and to edit documents. It's usually the case that those same services will be available to them as they travel using a 3G datacard, without the need any additional hardware or software. -IB-
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6. Changes to Support Service Level Agreement (SLA)
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As with any support agreement, certain incidents are not covered and in response to a couple of recent ones, we have had to add the following items to our Support section of our Service Level Agreement (SLA). New exceptions not covered under Support contracts:
These changes are effective from 1st November 2004. For contract renewals, we do urge people to re-visit our Service Level Agreement (SLA), which obviously evolves in response to changes generally in the IT world. Contact us for a full copy of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) which covers all our services. -IB- |
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7. E-Opinion: Windows in Welsh
Lost cause or worthy effort? | ||
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The problem with a lot of computing jargon accessibility is that the English language got there first. 
Microsoft is very gradually redressing the balance, with other language versions of its Windows operating system. There is a problem with it though; take Welsh as an example. Welsh doesn't naturally create new words. Example: think of "chav" entering mainstream English use. I remember a brave kid in the class (not me), when I was 16, writing a whole essay where he 'subbed in' English words - as indeed native Welsh speakers would - it was very funny, but he got severely b******ed for it. -IB- Philip Anthony |
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Clicks of the Trade - make the taskbar work for you!
--- Quick tips for happier clicks! --- | |||
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-IB-
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You can 'yank' as high as half way up the screen to give a large taskbar area, though of course that will compromise a lot of desktop space, but it's a useful on-the-fly technique.
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