Skill Zone News issue 24
Ten years ago we were counting down to the year 2000 and the unleashing of the Millennium bug. Would planes would fall from the skies at the stroke of midnight, the world's banking systems would go into meltdown, washing machines would spin in reverse, and toasters would turn on their creators and burn breakfast? Back then we were mostly using Windows 98, or maybe still on Windows 95. Windows 2000 and the ill-fated Windows ME were just being released. A decade later we've also have had XP, Vista and now Windows 7 in numerous varieties. So will anyone admit "Five changes of OS in ten years? That was my idea."
17th December 2009
All eyes on Google
Google is rarely out of the news but this month has been busier than most, with interesting developments in mobile telephony and potential changes to its core search engine service.
But once a year
Christmas comes but once a year,... and the spammers make the most of it. This month there has been a significant surge in spam pushing "genuine fake Rolex watches" as the ideal Christmas present, but that isn't the only thing you have to watch out for.
Truth, science and the Internet
In a week when governments met in Copenhagen to discuss climate change, and skeptics are challenging some of the research, we were reminded that science and technology is not immune to spin.
Politicians and magic bullets
Last month I spoke about the Cloud Computing bandwagon and how one idea being put forward was gas and electricity meters which connect to the utility companies via the Internet and let you check your energy usage online. A few days after I wrote that, the government announced its smart meter initiative.
Be a bonehead? there's an app for that
The government and police want to bring high-tec DNA databases and CSI-like science to the battle against crime, but some criminals insist on making it much easier.
Creativity and the common man
One of the most significant websites of the decade must surely be the video-sharing site YouTube. Created less than five years ago, it was bought by Google a year later and is now a household name. Technologically it is impressive, serving over a billion clips a day around the world, but more impressive is the human creativity it has unleashed, ordinary people creating extraordinary films.
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.