Email spam may be the least of our worries. According to Forrester Research there will 100% compound annual growth in enhanced message services, multimedia message services, instant message services and e-mail using next generation phones in 2004 and beyond. Much of this, according to it- analysis, will be little more than spam. Although the article … Read more
AP reports that Taiwan has sent a formal letter to rival China asking for help in tracking down computer hackers who allegedly sent a virus to a Taiwanese software company.The letter alleged that on Sept. 2, Taiwan-based Eha Technology Ltd. received e-mail that contained a virus, said the Straits Exchange Foundation, a semiofficial organization that … Read more
AP reports that the State Department’s electronic system for checking every visa applicant for terrorist or criminal history failed worldwide for several hours late Tuesday because of a computer virus, leaving the U.S. government briefly unable to issue visas. The virus crippled the department’s Consular Lookout and Support System, known as CLASS, which contains more … Read more
Good piece by the BBC on how micropayments may not be taking off online, but are with handphones. “While many of us are happy to use a credit card online, spending tens, hundreds, and occasionally thousands, of pounds, parting with just 50p is less common.” Despite the lack of any common system for micropayments, the … Read more
From the Useful Research Dept comes a report that narrow exits may be safer. Nature magazine says that research indicates that, faced with a narrow door, mice form a kind of queue and make a relatively orderly escape. Wider doors cause the animals to block one another, making their getaway sporadic and inefficient. Escape is … Read more