Valley Girls: Esther Dyson

By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

Zero gravity, where everything feels natural for Ms Dyson

Esther Dyson has been described as everything from the First Lady of the internet to its court jester.

But, she maintains, she has stumbled into a life that has taken her around the world and, hopefully, into space.

"My life has been complete blind evolution rather than intelligent design," she told the BBC.

"But I've got a good sense of direction and I just keep doing things I think are interesting and not redundant."

To that end, Ms Dyson has striven to make an impact in Silicon Valley - and on the internet as a whole - through her investments, her position on the boards of non-profit organisations, and on her ability to influence politicians and governments.

Humble start

Ms Dyson started her working life at the bottom of the heap as a fact checker at business magazine Forbes, only because Variety would not hire her. It was not long though before she became a reporter writing about technology.

After a few career moves, she bought the company she worked for and took over a highly influential newsletter called Release 1.0 that covered emerging markets. She also ran PC Forum, the computer industry's leading annual conference.

"What I did for a long time was make things obvious that people weren't noticing by explaining what was going on and pointing out stuff like the internet or the impact the internet would have," said Ms Dyson.

Ms Dyson is regarded as one of the most influential voices online

That was until one day in the mid 1990s when someone called her bluff.

"This guy I knew came to me and said: 'You talk about investing in Eastern Europe, suppose I give you a million dollars to invest, would you help me to do that?'"

"I said 'Oh. I can't. Its a conflict with my newsletter'. Then I said: 'How much did you say?' At the time a million dollars was a big chunk. Anyway, I said I would figure it out and ultimately I closed the newsletter."

Along with $300,000 of her life savings, Ms Dyson traded careers and invested in Eastern Europe and then Russia.

A million dollar advance she later got for a book about the impact of the wired world was also put into start-ups.

"I don't want to make it sound too easy, but at the same time I wasn't really focused on it. I have now discovered if you invest wisely you get more money and you can invest again and that's pretty cool."

Ms Dyson has taken her money and invested early and often in companies such as Google, Orbtiz, 23andMe, Flickr, Del.icio.us, Dopplr and Powerset to name but a few.

"I try and invest in stuff before other people notice because its cheap and there are not 18 of them doing the same thing.

"At the same time, tempting though it is, you cannot invest in a strategy or a market. You have to invest in individuals."

Money and work

Ms Dyson said she was not really interested in money and had no idea what she is worth.

"My parents were European. Mum was a mathematician and dad a physicist. We travelled a lot and knew about the world. I actually thought salesmen were the scum of the earth. I have certainly changed my opinion on that," she said.

Ms Dyson has said technology can help empower individuals

"We grew up in a very academic family. We didn't have a TV. We read a lot. I was 13 when I went to London to live with another family. When I was 17 I left college and spent the summer hitch-hiking in Europe and then went to live in Morocco with my boyfriend."

While money might not matter today, the young Ms Dyson certainly knew its value.

"I was a good saver and I got 25 cents an hour babysitting if the kids were awake and 12.5 cents if they were asleep. That was how I made money until I got a job in a library when I was 14.

"I've been working for money ever since."

Zero gravity

Ms Dyson acknowledged that her wealth has bought her freedom and that she probably could not work for anyone else anyway.

In quite a few cases, she takes an active role in the start-ups she invests in. They range from personal genetics to online travel and from photo sharing to a natural language search engine.

"Yes I want to make money so that I can reinvest it and keep doing this. But I'm not thinking how rich I'm going to get, I'm thinking what exciting new things am I going to help make happen?"

So what sectors does this serial investor have her beady eye on at the moment?

Ms Dyson is hoping her ambition of getting to space will soon be a reality

"Where I am excited now is in health care genomics and the internet's infrastructure. This is going to continue to grow and they are making wonderful new discoveries, scaling up, and finding better security techniques."

Ms Dyson's other great love is space, though it's about more than profit and loss.

As a two time weightless flyer, Ms Dyson is presently living in Russia's Starcity training to be a cosmonaut. She is a back-up to Charles Simonyi, who formerly worked at Microsoft and is getting ready to go on his second space mission this spring.

"Zero gravity is just so amazing, but when you are in it it feels completely natural. I think the chances of me going into space are now 50/50 which is better than my chances of getting Alzheimer's," she joked.

And how would she like to be remembered?

"I want my tombstone to read: She wasn't done yet."

UK will not legislate on piracy

David Lammy does not want to be heavy-handed with teenagers

The UK's Intellectual Property minister David Lammy has said the government will not force internet service providers to pursue file sharers.

There had been mounting speculation about government legislation on the issue as the music industry steps up its fight against the pirates.

Other countries, such as France, have supported tough action on file-sharers, who cost the industry millions.

But Mr Lammy said legislation would be too complex.

"We can't have a system where we're talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms," he told The Times newspaper.

Talk of the government forcing internet service providers to evict file-sharers from their networks grew last year as the British Phonographic Industry adopted a tougher stance.

The BPI, which represents the UK music industry, favours a "three strikes" policy, where file-sharers offenders are initially sent warning letters. Persistent offenders could be thrown off the network.

True potential

Feargal Sharkey thinks file-sharers would be prepared to pay

While some ISPs, most notably Virgin Media, initially signed up to the scheme, there was a muted response from many others.

According to analyst firm Forrester, a fifth of Europeans use file-sharing networks. Paid-for digital music services such as iTunes are used by just 10% and make up just 8% of overall music revenue.

Feargal Sharkey, ex-pop star and now head of the pan-industry body UK Music, has said that he believes 80% of file-sharers would be prepared to pay for a legitimate file-sharing service.

The challenge for the UK music industry was to find a way to "unlock the true potential of digital music", he said at an industry talking shop at the beginning of the year.

Some experts predict that Lord Carter's report on the state of Digital Britain, expected at the end of the month, to make recommendations about how to crack down on file-sharers without legislation.

Alarm sounded over wi-fi networks

Using wi-fi routers, malware could spread very quickly.

Wireless access points could be used by hi-tech criminals to spread viruses and worms, warn US researchers.

Security holes and the popularity of the devices in cities makes them ideal for spreading malware, they found.

Using modelling methods from real diseases the team showed how a worm could gradually infect all access points in urban areas.

They found that the majority of vulnerable access points would be hit in the first 24 hours of an outbreak.

Password cracking

The simulation work showed that within two weeks of an outbreak occurring 55% of vulnerable wi-fi access points would be compromised. In urban areas this could mean tens of thousands of people were at risk, said the researchers.

Before now malicious attacks carried out via wi-fi routers have been limited in scope. Most revolve around the creation of fake access points that steal login and other details from those using them to get online.

The work by Hao Hu, Steven Myers, Vittoria Colizza, and Alessandro Vespignani from the University of Indiana shows how the ubiquitous access points could be used in a much more ambitious attack.

The theoretical attack modelled by the team involved attempts to subver the firmware inside a wi-fi access point or router which keeps the device running.

Hi-tech criminals keen to subvert wi-fi access points could rely on the fact that few people take basic steps to stop unauthorised access to the device, said the researchers.

Surveys of consumer use of wi-fi routers suggest that a maximum of 40% of the machines use encryption to limit who can use them. In addition, most people do not change the default password the device ships with making it easy for attackers to get access.

Also, noted the researchers, few routers have lock out mechanisms that stop endless attempts to guess passwords that have been changed.

The researchers modelled attacks in seven areas including Manhattan in New York and Chicago. The numbers of wi-fi routers in each location were taken from public lists of access points. In the New York simulation about 18,000 access points were infected over a two-week period.

"We note that there is a real concern about the wireless spread of wi-fi-based malware," wrote the researchers in their paper which appeared in PNAS.

They added: "Action needs to be taken to detect and prevent such outbreaks, and more thoughtful planning for the security of future wireless devices needs to occur, so that such scenarios do not occur or worsen with future technology."

The team recommended that people be forced to change default passwords and encouraged to use encryption - both of which can limit the ability of wireless-borne malware to spread.

Job website hit by major breach

The 4.5m people signed up to monster.co.uk could be affected

Hackers are believed to have stolen the personal details of millions of people using the online job site Monster.

Users around the world have been affected, including the 4.5 million users of the UK site.

If all are affected it would make it the biggest data theft in the UK since the details of 25 million child benefit claimants went missing last year.

The recruitment giant has advised people to change their passwords and be on the lookout for phishing e-mails.

Recruitment sites have proved rich pickings for criminally-minded hackers in the past and it is not the first time Monster has fallen foul of cyber thieves.

In 2007, 1.3 million details were downloaded to servers based in Ukraine.

Phishing danger

Last year the details of 1.6 million jobseekers was stolen and followed by sustained phishing attacks, where people are fooled into installing malware via links in emails.

Monster first revealed that its database had been attacked again on 23 January but has remained tight-lipped about the scale of the attack.

"We recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken," said Monster senior vice president Patrick Manzo in a statement.

He went on to admit that hackers had stolen user names, passwords, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, alongside demographic data, birth dates, gender and ethnicity.

CVs had not been accessed, he said.

The statement warned people to be on the look-out for phishing e-mails built around the details surrendered to Monster.

"Monster will never send an unsolicited e-mail asking you to confirm your username and password, nor will Monster ask you to download any software tool or access agreement in order to use your Monster account," it read.

Graham Cluley, a senior consultant with security firm Sophos, said hackers armed with details from Monster accounts, could target other online information.

"It is surprising just how many people use the same password for a variety of sites. They need to change all passwords that are the same as that for their Monster login," he said.

Why celebrities love Twittering

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Stephen Fry on the joys - and dangers - of Twitter

By Lizo Mzimba Entertainment correspondent, BBC News

Perhaps the most significant step so far in TV presenter Jonathan Ross's media rehabilitation, after his three month suspension, was the revelation he is hosting this year's Bafta Awards in February.

The news did not come in the usual way though, through a press release or publicist.

It came directly from Ross himself, through his Twitter feed.

Jonathan Ross updates his Twitter messages almost daily

For the uninitiated, Twitter is a micro-blogging site where people post short messages online using up to 140 characters.

Ross is not the only celebrity participating, as Stephen Fry recently revealed he too is a regular user.

Appearing as a guest on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, he said: "It's the big thing at the moment."

The star admitted he had been Tweeting - as it is called to those in the know - for three or four months.

"I was very excited about Facebook about four years ago. But I found that I was overwhelmed by too many people.

"Whereas, the great thing about Twitter is you can use it on your mobile phone. You just send things," he said.

However, celebrities communicating with their fans online is nothing new.

Imposters

Online blogs, and networking sites, such as MySpace, have been providing this service for the past few years.

But the enticing thing about Twitter is its intimacy, along with its sheer ease of use.

It takes seconds for a celebrity to write a quick update on their mobile phone and you can even send them a direct message in response - although unsurprisingly the chances of a reply vary hugely.

However, when a service is so easy to sign up to, there will always be people who choose to impersonate high profile figures.

TWITTER FACTS It is an online service that people can post short messages 24 hours a day You can also keep track of other people In January, Barack Obama was the most popular person with more than 144,000 followers Users can receive updates via websites, texts, RSS feeds or email It was founded in 2006

Genuine Twitter user Philip Schofield exposed someone who had been posing as his fellow This Morning presenter Fern Britton.

And she is not alone.

Twitter users claiming to be everyone form veteran politician Tony Benn to the Archbishop of Canterbury have been shown to be be not the real deal.

But the number of actual celebrities is still on the rise, despite slight hiccups on the way.

Rising pop star Little Boots, who topped the prestigious BBC's Sound of 2009 poll, dipped a toe into the world of Twitter.

She quickly pulled out declaring on her Twitter site: "The majority of twitter is PRs, journos and indos so she's just not playing any more, sorry."

Traditional methods

The singer is in the minority, though.

Month by month, more and more celebrities are embracing it.

Tennis star Andy Murray is a frequent updater, sharing his thoughts in the hours after his defeat at the Australian open on Monday.

"Just bak from dinner. Bumpd in2 the guys from The Prodigy in hotel lobby. Tuf 2day. Fernando playd gr8 5th. ."

Little Boots came off Twitter when she became famous

Actor John Cleese is also a fan:

"Happy New Year everyone, and may your new year's flatulence be tuneful and fragrantly innoffensive."

And comedian Alan Carr has extended his brand of humour onto his Twitter feed:

"Just watched The Wrestler, loved it, i wouldn't be surprised if Donatella Versace goes on to win the Oscar. She was amazing."

And for some, it is fast replacing more traditional methods for issuing information.

As Ross commented on his Twitter feed:

"Once all the press madness dies down I'll try to let you on twitter know about forthcoming guests and music first."

So in the future for those seeking information or just a plain bit of insight into the celebrity world, Twitter could well be their first port of call.

Editorial row engulfs Wikipedia

The call for flagged revisions came from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

The online user-generated encyclopaedia Wikipedia is considering a radical change to how it is run.

It is proposing a review of the rules, that would see revisions being approved before they were added to the site.

The proposal comes after edits of the pages of Senators Robert Byrd and Edward Kennedy gave the false impression both had died.

The editing change has proved controversial and sparked a row among the site's editors.

Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, is proposing a system of flagged revisions, which would mean any changes made by a new or unknown user would have to be approved by one of the site's editors, before the changes were published.

This would mean a radical shift from the site's philosophy that ostensibly allows anyone to make changes to almost any entry.

In a blog entry, Mr Wales said the "nonsense" of the false reports would have been "100% prevented by Flagged Revision" and said he wanted the changes to be implemented as soon as possible.

"To the Wikimedia Foundation: per the poll of the English Wikipedia community and upon my personal recommendation, please turn on the Flagged Revisions feature as approved in the poll," he said in a statement.

Flame war

However, this posting caused a storm of comments on his site, with many editors saying the proposal was unworkable.

One user posted that "Enabling Flagged Revisions will undoubtedly create backlogs that we will be unable to manage" while another said that there were "gaping holes in what you propose to do".

Mr Wales has now offered a compromise, asking those who were opposed to the changes to make "an alternative proposal within the next 7 days, to be voted upon for the next 14 days after that."

A system of flagged revisions has been used by the German Wikipedia site for almost a year. However critics say that the process is labour intensive and some changes can take days, if not weeks, to appear.

Open source question for schools

It has become an essential part of the school curriculum

Andrew Miller asks whether open source software can help schools use their budgets more efficiently

Looking around BETT 2009, it was clear by the sheer size of the event, that an awful lot of money is being spent on technology in education.

With Open Source Software (OSS) freely available, covering almost every requirement in the national curriculum, a question has to be asked why schools do not back it more fully, possibly saving millions of pounds.

As the name suggests, OSS is community-driven software with its source code open to all. Anyone can modify the software according to their needs and then share these modifications with everyone else.

When many people hear OSS they think Linux - the alternative operating system that comes in many flavours such as Ubuntu, openSUSE or Fedora.

Linux has long been used to power servers, but open source extends to all manner of projects. Web browser Firefox and the OpenOffice software suite are great examples of this.

Open promotion

In the education sector, OSS is promoted and used by only a handful of self-motivated technologists looking to stretch their technology budget.

Critics say Becta - the government agency which oversees the procurement of all technology for schools - has not done enough to promote OSS.

Peter Hughes, head of procurement agreements at Becta, told the BBC that more would be done.

An estimated 30,000 people visited BETT this year

"As an organisation we have been criticised for not adequately covering open source solutions and our predominance of proprietary solutions such as those by Microsoft.

"We have therefore responded to this pressure and in our role of strategy and delivery of technology in education, we've made an effort to stay balanced and have focused on facilitating effective choice for schools," he said.

At the end of 2008 Becta collaborated with the government's procurement services organisation OGCbuying.solutions to approve 12 suppliers, all of which can outfit schools with open source software.

Becta considers the appointment of Sirius IT a "major step forward" and that it sent a message to the community that "we're taking OSS seriously".

John Spencer, Sirius IT's head of business development, told the BBC that there was a deep ignorance of open source, not just in schools, and that Linux suffered an image problem.

"Many schools are frozen in time from the year 2000, when it became obvious computer literacy was not going to be optional but then they haven't moved on.

"They don't want to move away from what they know, not just to Linux but equally to Vista and Office 2007 as well. Good teachers will always be looking to move forward but they are so busy that they are often conservative," said Mr Spencer.

The growth in IT is putting greater demands on school budgets

Sirius IT has already installed open software in many schools around the UK.

One project in a Twickenham school allows netbooks and notebooks owned by the school or a pupil to be booted up across the network to give them access to the files and programs they need.

"The network cost half that of the RM offers and the reduction in power consumption allows the system to pay for itself in under 3 years," said Mr Spencer.

Competiton time

Another Becta initiative revolves around the opensourceschools.org.uk website which launched in late 2008. It aims to provide basic information and best practice guidelines for teachers using OSS.

However, Becta has some reservations.

"We want teachers to realise that they can be and should be considering OSS as a viable alternative," said Mr Hughes.

"That said, schools still need to do their homework. There can be just as many caveats with open source as there are with proprietary solutions."

So what do the big software firms think about open source software encroaching on their patch?

Steve Beswick, director of education for Microsoft UK, told the BBC that while open source software may, on face value, offer savings, there could be hidden costs, both financial and otherwise.

Schools and colleges must be able to make an informed choice about the software they need Jim Knight MPSchools Minister

"A lot of people are trained in Microsoft-based technologies, so there may be increased costs in re-training to learn how to use open source solutions," he said.

Mr Beswick claimed that Microsoft was not against open source, and was "committed to interoperability" illustrated, he said, by the support for the Open Document Format in Service Pack 2 of Office 2007.

He also mentioned the work Microsoft has done getting IIS, its flagship web server software, to work with the PHP web scripting language.

The Schools Minister, Jim Knight, echoed Becta's view. In a statement, he said: "Schools and colleges must be able to make an informed choice about the software they need - be it open source or proprietary - and to be aware of the total cost of ownership of that software, including sustainable support and training.

"I see it as Becta's role to work with open source and proprietary software providers to ensure that schools and colleges can make the most effective use of that software to support teaching and learning."

So what does the open source community make of this?

Gerry Gavigan, the chairman of the Open Source Consortium, told the BBC that a shift to open source software would require a change in thinking.

"Ongoing training costs don't go away merely because of a change from proprietary software to free and open source software.

"What does change is liberation from the training costs associated with an externally encouraged or enforced upgrade cycle," he said.

Another issue frequently raised is that of technology lock-in, one of the biggest arguments used by open source advocates as to why Windows is still prevalent.

Moodle has more than 24m registered users

"Something that isn't always taken into account when calculating software procurement costs, is the ongoing costs costs arising from licensing or technology lock-in," said Mr Gavigan

Mr Gavigan felt that the free nature of open source software sometimes worked against it.

"Announcing you have spent amazing sums of money trying to tackle a problem has more impact with your audience than saying you have used a free solution. There is an unfortunate myth that if it doesn't cost anything, it isn't worth anything" he said.

Web world

However, some schools are taking on OSS. Highworth Grammar School, in Ashford, is offering both licensed and open source software to students.

The schools network manager, Marc Blake, said that while it was important for pupils to be aware of alternatives to Windows, it was worth acknowledging that pupils live in a world dominated by Microsoft.

But, he told the BBC, significant savings could be made by using some open source alternatives.

"We offer both Office 2003 and OpenOffice, so that people have a choice. I'd estimate 98% of people choose Microsoft Office over OpenOffice, but at least that choice is there," said Mr Blake.

"For our school to upgrade to Office 2007, it will cost around

Britannica reaches out to the web

Wikipedia is put together entirely with the help of its volunteer experts

The Encyclopaedia Britannica has unveiled a plan to let readers help keep the reference work up to date.

Under the plan, readers and contributing experts will help expand and maintain entries online.

Experts will also be enrolled in a reward scheme and given help to promote their command of a subject.

However, Britannica said it would not follow the Wikipedia in letting a wide range of people make contributions to its encyclopaedia.

User choice

"We are not abdicating our responsibility as publishers or burying it under the now-fashionable 'wisdom of the crowds'," wrote Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica in a blog entry about the changes.

He added: "We believe that the creation and documentation of knowledge is a collaborative process but not a democratic one."

Britannica plans to do more with the experts that have already made contributions. They will be encouraged to keep articles up to date and be given a chance to promote their own expertise.

Selected readers will also be invited to contribute and many readers will be able to use Britannica materials to create their own works that will be featured on the site.

However, it warned these would sit alongside the encyclopaedia entries and the official material would carry a "Britannica Checked" stamp, to distinguish it from the user-generated content.

Alongside the move towards more openness, will be a re-design of the Britannica site and the creation of the web-based tools that visitors can use to put together their own reference materials.

Britannica has unveiled a beta, or trial, version of what will become the finished Britannica Online website.

Pope launches Vatican on YouTube

The Pope is said to be fond of new technologies

Pope Benedict XVI has launched his own dedicated channel on the popular video sharing website, YouTube.

Video and audio footage of his speeches as well as news of the Holy See will be posted on the site, the Vatican says.

Although the Vatican has its own website, the YouTube venture represents its biggest reach into cyberspace, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome.

Vatican officials say it is aimed at everyone from devout Catholics to the casual web user.

But there is a debate within the Catholic Church about the value of the internet as a missionary tool, our correspondent says.

'Digital generation'

The 81-year-old Pope's first YouTube message spoke of a new way to spread hope around the world:

"You must find ways to spread - in a new manner - voices and pictures of hope, through the internet, which wraps all of our planet in an increasingly close-knitted way," he said in Italian.

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Working in collaboration with YouTube's owners, Google, the Vatican is to supply a variety of material for its new channel, which was launched on the Church's World Day of Communications.

Featuring text, audio and video initially in English, German, Spanish and Italian, the channel marks the Vatican's latest foray into new media. The Vatican's own website (www.vatican.va) was launched in 1995.

The Catholic Church will retain full control of the content.

The aim of the deal was to "secure the Pope's presence on the web", said the Vatican's Osservatore Romano newspaper.

It added that Pope Benedict had always been "fond of new technologies".

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Vatican's communications department, told the newspaper the Pope hoped to reach out to "the digital generation".

Hacker wins court review decision

Gary McKinnon says he was looking for classified documents on UFOs

British hacker Gary McKinnon has won permission from the High Court to apply for a judicial review against his extradition to the United States.

The 42-year-old from London, who was diagnosed last August as having Asperger's Syndrome, has admitted hacking into US military computers.

His lawyers had said Mr McKinnon was at risk of suicide if he were extradited.

Lawyers for the home secretary had argued against the review, saying the risk to Mr McKinnon's health was low.

'No malicious intent'

His lawyers had previously told the High Court that if he were removed from his family and sent to the US, his condition was likely to give rise to psychosis or suicide.

The condition was not taken into consideration by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last October when she permitted the extradition.

However, her lawyers said she acted within her powers.

Mr McKinnon has always admitted hacking into the computer systems in 2001-2 -which the US government says caused damage costing $800,000 (

Libya's wireless web access leap

WiMax does not rely on sometimes poor conventional wire infrastructure

Libya's only internet service provider is launching its first commercial wireless network which it says is one of the most advanced in the world.

The state-owned firm said only a handful of countries have rolled out the advanced internet connection known as WiMax on such a wide scale.

Libya Telecom and Technology aims to start with WiMax coverage, including a mobile feature, in 18 cities.

Africa is seen as a potentially huge market for WiMax technology.

The network is meant to be cost effective in the long run and does not depend on often poor conventional wire infrastructure.

Anyone with a simple USB device which can be plugged into a laptop can connect to the internet within 50km (30 miles) of any WiMax tower.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says six years ago most Libyans depended on internet cafes to connect to the web, but technology has moved a long way since then.

The new WiMax network, which has a capacity for 300,000 subscribers, will begin taking on business clients from next week and individual customers the week after.

Massive pressure

Our correspondent adds that other African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria also have WiMax networks, but their coverage is more fixed and limited.

There are an estimated 51,000 broadband subscribers in Libya and some 170,000 still depend on the much slower dial-up internet.

Both of these connections need a fixed phone-line, a service that has come under massive pressure in recent years because the available infrastructure is outdated and limited in coverage.

As well as rural areas cut off from modern technology, new housing - even in the capital Tripoli - is being built in areas with poor land-line infrastructure, says our correspondent.

The WiMax network is meant to do away with all these hurdles and bridge the digital divide, making the internet available to people across the country.

Libya Telecom and Technology said the new service would cost $30 (

Tweet smell of success over Digg

The rise and rise of Twitter traffic in the UK

Twitter, the mobile phone-based micro-blogging service, rocketed nearly 1000% in use in the UK over the past year according to industry analysts HitWise.

For the first time, the site has seen more visits than "social bookmarking" site Digg, which allows users to share links to sites.

Twitter made headlines earlier in January, providing the first pictures of downed US Airways flight 1549.

The site may continue its meteoric rise as the new US President is a devotee.

The Twitter site has jumped from 2,953rd most popular in the UK in 2008 to 291st as of mid-January.

"A big driver of traffic to Twitter last week was around the US Airways plane crash in to the Hudson River last Thursday, driving many posts and updates about the situation," said Hitwise research director Heather Dougherty.

The first picture of the crash was posted to TwitPic, and was picked up by more traditional media outlets - sparking the widely-quoted notion that Twitter is the poster child for a new era ofcitizen journalism.

Among the "Social Networking and Forums" category, however, Twitter came in at 23rd for the week ending 17 January, garnering just 0.24% of the site visits in the category.

TOP UK SOCIAL SITES/FORUMS 1. Facebook 2. YouTube 3. Bebo 4. MySpace 5. Yahoo! Answers Source: HitWise

Facebook maintains a significant dominance among them, with nearly 38% of site visits, twice as many as YouTube and more than four times as many as its predecessor Bebo.

"Twitter receives the largest amount of its traffic from the USA, but its penetration is greater in the UK market," said Robin Goad, a research director at Hitwise.

"However, the US may overtake the UK the week following the surge in Tweets during Barack Obama's inauguration. The new American President is already the most followed person on Twitter, with over 144,000 followers."

UK forges ahead with next gen net

Some schemes are earmarked for remote areas

Do-it-yourself broadband schemes are springing up around the UK as communities refuse to wait for big firms to roll out faster networks.

That is the conclusion of a new report into the state of broadband in Britain.

The Communications Consumer Panel, an advisory body, has mapped over 40 local broadband projects.

They range from a scheme in Hampshire to run fibre to just 30 houses to one in Yorkshire that will connect around 550,000 homes.

Bradnet

Report author Roger Darlington was surprised by the number of schemes available.

"There were a lot more than I realised, which reflects a certain amount of frustration that people are not seeing super-fast broadband rolled out as fast as they would like," he said.

The scheme in Hampshire relates to a tiny hamlet called Bradley, where a local resident is evaluating whether fibre can be laid to the homes of residents.

Hampshire County Council is willing to assist the project, dubbed Bradnet, and money could be made available via the European Social Fund.

Many of the schemes are being planned in partnership with either the local council or the relevant Regional Development Agency.

But some have come from the communities themselves.

In an area outside Birmingham, the Walsall Regeneration Company is working with the Community Broadband Network to replicate the OnsNet scheme in the Netherlands, arguably one of Europe's most successful community-owned fibre schemes.

The scheme would piggyback off of a new business centre in the town and would serve Birchills, a deprived community next to it.

Meanwhile in Cumbria, the villagers of Alston are banding together to lay their very own fibre network.

Joined up

Virgin Media has begun to upgrade its cable network

In South Yorkshire an ambitious project aims to see Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology reach 550,000 homes over the next three years.

The project involves local councils, Regional Development Agencies and funding from the European Commission and the first houses should have their connections by the second half of 2009.

The report calls for the jigsaw of networks to be joined up.

"It is vital that they are not standalone but can operate with each other," said Mr Darlington.

Such community-based schemes are no replacement for the plans of the big operators though and will have to exist side by side, said Mr Darlington.

Virgin Media has begun the process of upgrading its cable network which will eventually cover half of the country.

Meanwhile BT has pledged

Obama speech censored in China

By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing

When Obama mentioned communism, Chinese TV cut back to the studio

China has censored parts of the new US president's inauguration speech that have appeared on a number of websites.

Live footage of the event on state television also cut away from Barack Obama when communism was mentioned.

China's leaders appear to have been upset by references to facing down communism and silencing dissent.

English-language versions of the speech have been allowed on the internet, but many of the Chinese translations have omitted sensitive sections.

Selective editing

China keeps a firm grip on the country's media outlets and censors their news reports as a matter of routine.

Like the rest of the world, it has been keenly following developments in the United States; President Obama's inauguration was front page news.

But the authorities seem not to want ordinary Chinese people to read the full, unexpurgated version of the president's speech.

In his inauguration address, President Obama said: "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions."

That entire passage was retained for an English-language version of the speech that appeared on the website of state-run Xinhua news agency.

But in the Chinese-language version, the word "communism" was taken out.

President Obama's comments addressed to world leaders who "blame their society's ills on the West" also fell foul of the censor's red pen.

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history," the president said.

Once again, Xinhua included the passage in full in its English version, but the sentence was taken out of the Chinese translation.

Similar changes were made to versions of the speech that appeared on other websites based in China.

And websites were not the only media organisations that struggled to report some of the comments made by President Obama.

China Central Television, the country's main broadcaster, aired the speech live with a simultaneous Chinese translation.

But when the translator got to the part where President Obama talked about facing down communism, her voice suddenly faded away.

The programme suddenly cut back to the studio, where an off-guard presenter had to quickly ask a guest a question.

Censoring sensitive news reports is nothing new in China, where officials go to great lengths to cut critical material.

These officials appear a little nervous about the arrival of a new US President, who might not be as friendly to China as President George W. Bush.

As an editorial in the state-run China Daily put it: "Given the popular American eagerness for a break from the Bush years, many wonder, or worry to be precise, whether the new president would ignore the hard-earned progress in bilateral ties."

Tiny motors may be big in surgery

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Microbot animation

Surgical procedures could soon be helped along with tiny robots, according to researchers.

Miniaturisation of motors has not kept pace with that of electronics, leaving such tiny robots with no means to get around in the body.

Now, research reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering has demonstrated a motor about twice the size of a human hair.

The motors could be used to power mini robots to fly around inside the body.

Some surgical procedures are hindered by the size or inflexibility of current instruments. For example, the labyrinthine network of blood vessels in the brain prevents the use of catheters threaded through larger blood vessels.

Researchers have long envisioned that trends of miniaturisation would lead to tiny robots that could get around easily in the body.

The problem until now has been powering them.

Conventional electric motors do not perform as well as they are scaled down in size; as they approach millimetre dimensions, they barely have the power to overcome the resistance in their bearings.

This has been the significant bottleneck in the development of microtechnology such as tiny surgical robots, according to James Friend at the University of Monash in Australia.

"If you pick up an electronics catalogue, you'll find all sorts of sensors, LEDs, memory chips etc that represent the latest in technology and miniaturisation," he says.

All the other concepts to do this are very complex Mettin SittiCarnegie Mellon University

"Take a look however at the motors, and there are few changes from the motors available in the 1950s."

Push to turn

To address that, research in recent years has seen the use of so-called piezoelectric materials. These are typically crystals that expand and contract when a voltage is applied to them.

That makes "linear motors" - which simply move back and forth at high frequency - easy to produce, and Professor Friend published work last year about a motor the size of a grain of salt.

But for real motion within the body, the micro-motors need to be able to rotate.

Many kinds of bacteria, for instance, have tail-like structures called flagella. Rotating the flagella at their base whips them into a helical structure that propels them through fluid.

The new research leverages this same approach, by transforming the linear motion of tiny piezoelectric motors into rotation.

That is accomplished by coupling the motors to a structure with a helix-shaped cut in it. Because the structure is held in place along the helical groove, a push at one end is turned into a rotation.

The reverse case: rotation of a helical thread drives a bulb into a socket

The researchers' prototype measures is a quarter of a millimetre wide - not much more than a couple of hairs side-by-side, and 70% smaller than the previous record holder.

And the fact that it is a conceptually simple, self-contained approach is promising for future applications, says Metin Settl, who heads the NanoRobotics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University.

"All the other concepts to do this are very complex," he says.

"We can already use electromagnetics and external coils to spin them inside a liquid, but then you need all these off-board coils.

"The advantage of this concept is having an on-board rotary actuation," he says. "This could make for a mobile robot with no other equipment."

However, experts in such microelectromechanical systems from QinetiQ told BBC News that while the prototype provides impressive performance in a lab, its efficiency in moving through fluids is yet to be demonstrated.

If it proves successful, however, the approach could be used in applications outside the body, according to Professor Setti.

"These are high-frequency, lightweight motors, and those are specifications that would be advantageous for flying robots too."

Obama crowds test mobile networks

Huge crowds can present huge problems for mobile providers

By Mark Ward Technology Correspondent, BBC News website

US mobile phone operators are to boost network capacity and have issued special advice to customers in an effort to avoid a telecoms meltdown at Tuesday's presidential inauguration.

Barack Obama's inauguration is expected to draw unprecedented numbers to Washington, and many will no doubt want to record the moment.

These days, few things say "I was there" like a snap taken on a camera phone, a picture message, a call or a text message.

But all those people taking snaps, making calls and sending messages look set to test mobile networks in Washington to the limit.

Members of CTIA, the industry body for American cellphone operators, have been working hard to help networks cope with the numbers on inauguration day.

In a statement, CTIA said network operators were deploying so-called CoWs (Cells on Wheels) and CoLTS (Cells on Light Trucks) to boost network capacity.

They were also adding more links to the fixed phone network to relay calls and improving so-called "backhaul" services so calls get put through once they are made.

Forward planning

"One of the big challenges that they [mobile networks] have is that they do not know how many people are going to turn up," said Margaret Rice-Jones, head of Aircom, a UK-based mobile network planning firm.

Organisers of the Hajj plan for huge numbers of mobile phone users

Although mobile operators are used to planning for big events such as cup finals or rock concerts, said Ms Rice-Jones, they usually have a rough enough estimate of how many people will be there.

But, she said, that would not be the case in Washington on inauguration day.

It was not impossible to cope with crowds of a million or more, when they were expected, said Ms Rice-Jones.

Mobile phone coverage usually works during the Hajj when millions make the pilgrimage to Mecca, she pointed out.

"It's one of the biggest events in the world but they know how to plan for it," she said.

Unexpected events such as terrorist attacks in crowded Western cities, though, put much more strain on networks as people strive to get in touch with friends and family.

Text not call

Despite the efforts to boost capacity, CTIA said those travelling to Washington should use their phone sparingly to lighten the load on networks.

MOBILE ADVICE Text, don't talk. Snap and save. Send later Have a back-up plan. Arrange a rendezvous before reaching Washington Source: CTIA

"It's really important for the public to understand that unusually large crowds can generate congestion and communications delays," said Steve Largent, head of the CTIA.

"Even though we're building more lanes, if millions of people jump on the road at the same time, there could be a traffic jam," he added.

He urged attendees to text rather than call and delay sending picture messages or videos until after the ceremony was over.

Radio tricks

Ms Rice-Jones from Aircom said operators could employ several different tricks to boost the carrying capacity of their networks.

The 2005 bomb attacks in London tested its mobile phone networks

"You can degrade the quality of the call to let more subscribers on the network," she said. "Though that does have some physical limits."

Also available, she said, were algorithms that govern how a network operates that limit the upper limit of people each cell can handle.

Every mobile device on a network is associated with what is known as "class of service". If the numbers of people trying to use their phones gets too high then the operators can start restricting calls to devices with particular classes of service.

This, she said, meant the networks would always work for the emergency services.

Ricky Watts, Aircom's director of innovation, said the biggest logjam was likely to be in the applications that modern mobiles try to call on.

In particular, he said, the software registers used to support phones roaming outside their home network could be swamped - a major concern given how many people are expected to turn up from outside Washington.

"Many people's phones are just not going to be registered on the network," he said. "They are going to have access problems into the mobile network."

The buffers in messaging systems that relay text and picture messages to recipients are very likely to get overloaded.

"They are not dimensioned for a lot of people," said Mr Watts, "they are expensive and they handle small amount of messages compared to the number of subscribers."

He added that he expected many people to be frustrated by network outages on inauguration day if numbers reach their anticipated peak.

Legal downloads swamped by piracy

Lil Wayne's track Lollipop was the most legally downloaded single

Ninety-five per cent of music downloaded online is illegal, a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has said.

The global music trade body said this is its biggest challenge as artists and record companies miss out on payments.

There has, however, been a 25% rise since last year with downloads now accounting for a fifth of all recorded music sales.

The IFPI said worldwide music market revenues shrank by 7% last year.

Steady growth

This was blamed on falling CD sales, while the increase in digital sales failed to make up for this.

The IFPI, which represents 1,400 companies in 72 countries, estimated more than 40 billion music files were illegally shared in 2008.

There were 1.4 billion single tracks legally downloaded in 2008, with the top-selling digital single, Lil Wayne's Lollipop, selling 9.1 million copies.

There is a momentous debate going on about the environment on which our business, and all the people working in it, depends John Kennedy, IFPI

BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones said that despite the launch of many legal download services, customers still seemed to prefer to get their music free online.

The report revealed that the digital music business has grown steadily during the past six years.

In 2008, it grew by an estimated 25% and is now worth $3.7bn (

The best of the tech that teaches

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Rory Cellan-Jones reports from BETT 2009

The education technology trade show, BETT, has got underway at the Olympia exhibition centre in London.

Exhibitors showcased a wide range of goods, from table top computers to mini video cameras and notebooks.

At the opening address, Schools Minister Jim Knight reiterated plans to give children from low income families a free computer and broadband access.

More than 30,000 visitors are expected to attend the four day event, which ends on 17 January.

Becta, the government's agency for technology and learning, say that the show gives those who work in education a taste of what the classroom of the future will be like.

Becta launched its schools technology charter at the show, setting out its vision for effective use of technology in education, and asking schools to make a public commitment to adopt what Becta calls "Next Generation Learning."

Schools would eventually be awarded their ICT Excellence Award which recognises schools for their achievements in reaching a standard of maturity in their use of technology.

Despite a huge array of products and services on offer at the show, a few really stood out. Here is a BBC News snap shot of some of the more interesting ones.

VIRTUAL SCHOOL IN SECOND LIFE

Second Life to help real schools

One firm from the north of England is using the virtual world of Second Life to showcase a new school that, for now, does not exist.

Construction work on Acklam Grange School has only just got underway, but developers at Middlesbrough City Learning Centre have created an exact representation of what it will look like in Second Life.

The idea is for teachers, pupils, and governors to see exactly what the new school will look like, familiarising themselves with the layout and spotting any potential problems before the building goes up.

INTEL CLASSMATE LAPTOP

Fizbook's Rob Jones demonstrates the new Classmate

Intel launched its new Classmate laptop in the UK at the show.

Originally designed by Intel for the developing world, the machine can be converted from a traditional laptop to a tablet PC to allow children to write and draw more naturally.

Intel claim to have sold "close to one million units" in the developing world, and last year began to push the machine in more mature markets.

MICROSOFT SURFACE

Microsoft's Steve Beswick talks about its new Surface PC.

Microsoft used BETT to give its first ever UK public demo of Surface, it's new interactive tabletop.

The firm hope the touch sensitive screen, on which users can "grab" digital information with their hands, will help teachers educate their students through a mix of physical and virtual worlds.

In one demonstration, Microsoft explained how a biology lesson could be "brought to life" allowing children to explore the internal organs of the human body, while a demonstration of US politics let users examine the country's changing political landscape.

FACE RECOGNITION

Aurora say its scanner conforms to government guidelines

Aurora demonstrated its face recognition software that could be used by schools to increase security as well as keep an accurate attendance record.

The system is designed to work in almost all light conditions, with the firm claiming it is "easy to install and low maintenance".

It is thought the system could also be used in school canteens, to create a cashless environment meaning children would not need to take money into school, reducing the chances of theft or bullying.

The system is currently on trial at St Neots Community College and although facial recognition systems are not new, it is thought this is the first time it has been used in a school in the UK.

THE RAPMAN

The RapMan can even make its own spare parts

One of the more interesting looking objects at the show was the RapMan by Unimatic.

Developed by researchers from Bath University, the device enables students to create a 3D model, in plastic, from a 2D design.

Real world object modeling is usually done with mechanical cutters. This new device uses low temperature, quick cooling plastic to squirt a layer of plastic, creating a 3D shape.

ENGAGING PLACES

Virtual worlds were also on offer

The show also saw the launch of some educational websites.

Engaging Places is a portal that aims to be a one stop shop for teachers planning field trips and parents to find interesting places to visit as well as trying to "champion teaching and learning through the whole environment".

Built in conjunction with English Heritage, the free site lists more than 300 buildings, venues, and organisations, linking a description of each building with a Google map location and a full run down for the teachers on how they link in with curriculum demands.