23-03-2002 Essential news of the week

Brought neatly together and presented on a plate, here is a roundup of some of the week's main news stories from the world of IT. Mobile mobile phone use more dangerous than drink driving Another filter for safe surfing Petrol, newspaper, sandwich, broadband Compaq says 'I do' Microsoft faces Netscape's communication Confusion surrounds HP-Compaq vote Sony says go swivel The next next gen thing. Panasonic takes the GPRS route Don't forget, we welcome your comments. ...more

New copy-protected symbol for CDs

The music industry has agreed a new symbol to indicate whether CDs include copy-protecting software. Copy protection is designed to prevent music CDs from being played and ripped - converted to MP3s - in computers. The software has been widely criticised for limiting the consumers ability to play music wherever they wish and in some instances for causing actual physical damage to computers. ...more

And also today (28-September-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. Virus writer sentenced Remember "Anna Kournikova"? The virus, that is, not the occasional tennis player. Well, the Dutch creator has been sentenced to 150 hours of community service for his crimes. ...more

Office workers still dumbfounded by computers

Fourteen per cent of office workers don't know how to switch computers on and off, a survey by UK training organisation City & Guilds has found. And the problems don't stop there. Around a fifth of workers struggle to save or print a document, while a quarter need help with spreadsheets and 22 per cent are unable to create tables. ...more

Foo Fighters record the most swapped track of the week

Having defended their decision to copy-protect the latest Foo Fighters album, executives at Sony BMG and its subsidiary RCA must be smarting at the news that the track Best Of You has topped a chart of the most swapped track in the past week. According to Big Champagne, an online media measurement company, the song was the most swapped 'rock active' track and the number two 'rock modern' track. It was also number seven overall. ...more