The swift sword of cyber justice

Small claims court goes online. Not so much Jarndyce versus Jarndyce as V.90 versus V. ...more

A human fish hybrid that's not a Mermaid

You've had Tamagotchi and Aibo, now PC owners will get the chance to look after the virtual human fish hybrid from the Dreamcast game, Seaman. The little creature resembles the fishy characters from Monty Python's Meaning of Life and has been a popular game on the Dreamcast console. Now Vivarium Software has announced that the PC version of the cyber pet will be released in June 2001. ...more

Virgin Media looking to build sports channel - source

Newly-formed Virgin Media is on the hunt for partners to run a sports news channel on its cable service after it dropped Sky Sports News in a dispute with BSkyB, a source close to the matter said. The source told Reuters on Thursday that it was an area of major interest and it would be looking for partners to provide the content. Rights to show Premier League soccer are currently held by BSkyB and Irish group Setanta. ...more

Microsoft improves spam filtering in Office 2003 update

As well as bug-fixes, Microsoft has incorporated new features into the Office 2003 Service Pack 1, which has just been made available. New features for the all-dominant productivity suite include improved spam control in Outlook (junking messages on the basis of country codes), support for InfoPath developers (those using managed code, digital signatures and form sharing via e-mail) and end users (additional handwriting support for Tablet PCs), and improved OneNote integration with other Office 2003 components (for example, to import meeting details from Outlook 2003, create contacts and appointments, and to copy notes directly from a Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC or Smartphone). Note that the OneNote changes have already been previewed in an update from April 2003 - Microsoft takes note of OneNote changes Microsoft states that the same error reporting tools and feedback mechanisms that helped with the beta programme have been used to prioritise features and fixes for the service pack update. ...more

Dell launches low-priced Latitudes

Pricing starts at just ?399 (excluding VAT and delivery) for Dell's new entry-level notebook, the Latitude 110L. Pitched at ordinary users who only require word processing, e-mail and Internet functionality - as opposed to video editing or high-end gaming, for example - the black cased machine weighs 2.87kg. ...more