Skill Zone News issue 48
On the morning of Thursday 15th December the Lloyds TSB cashpoint network hit a problem which meant no-one could withdraw cash. This prompted a Twitter storm of protest including a tweeter called Kassy who, between expletives, wrote "Good thing I have food, or I'd starve!" The cashpoint network was down for just one hour. I expect that December 25th, when shops and supermarkets close for the whole day, must be a nightmare for Kassy. For the rest of you, Happy Christmas.
19th December 2011
Responding to text spam
"Our records indicate you still have not claimed compensation for your accident. You may be entitled to £3650. To find out more reply CLAIM". If you have a mobile phone you've probably had messages like that, whether or not you've recently had an accident.
Silent updates in MSIE
Not only does Microsoft's Internet Explorer seem to look more and more like Google Chrome, it has also decided to follow Chrome's model of silent updates, a move that could be very important to web development in 2012 onwards.
Driving disk prices in 2012
The extensive flooding in Thailand has gone largely unreported in the UK news. However, as Thailand is one of the major disk drive producing countries, it could impact technology prices significantly in 2012.
Resolutions
We live in the communications age, but are British companies using technology to improve customer communications, or are they guilty of using it as an excuse to keep their customers at arm's length?
A special Christmas present
Doing some last minute shopping and looking for a gift for a loved one? Don't follow the now infamous example of a man who bought his wife a piece of high-tech electronics.