Six degrees holds true online

Researchers have found that the idea no one person is farther away from another by more than six acquaintances, is equally true using email. The team of researchers at Columbia University discovered that getting an email message to any one of 18 selected target recipients from more than 60,000 participants took on average between five and seven intermediate steps. Team leader Duncan Watts reported that despite the high number of participants there were a large proportion that were well educated and based in the US. ...more

Software sharer fined ?3,400

A mobile phone engineer has been ordered to pay ?3,400 in costs and damages after being found guilty of sharing software on the Internet. Derek Butterworth from Epping was identified as part of the Federation Against Software Theft's (FAST) Operation Tracker investigation into p2p software sharing. FAST secured a court order last year that compelled several ISPs to reveal details of Butterworth's p2p activity. ...more

Intel updates Centrino

After much delay, Intel has finally announced the details of the next generation of Centrino technology optimised for portable computing. The company has overhauled all three legs of the system from the processor to the chipset to the wireless capability Intel is offering no less than seven new versions of its Pentium M processor ranging from 770 running at 2.13GHz down to 1. ...more

Radeon 9600/9600 Pro series in tight supply

The first 0.13-micron Radeon 9600/9600 Pro series graphics chips from ATI Technologies, featuring the RV350 core, may be in tight supply until August, due to a low yield rate at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), ATI's add-in-board (AIB) clients said. ATI declined to comment on the news, and TSMC's media contacts could not be reached by phone. ...more

BT begins BlackBerry Internet Service

BT has launched a service for small businesses that lets them send and receive email from a BlackBerry handheld without having to install special server software or IT infrastructure. BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) can collate mail from up to 10 existing accounts, or the user can set up an account specifically for the handheld, and it then pushes through new email or diary dates to the device as well as synchronising it with the office PC. BlackBerry 8700 users can add satellite-navigation via a small attachment. ...more