Holiday surfers suffer laptop woes

One third of British holidaymakers are taking their laptops on holiday with them, often with calamitous results, according to one high-street retailer. Colin Middlemiss of The Computer World told the Reuters news agency that 35 per cent now take their portables, and many return with them in somewhat less than working order. 'Some have been left too long in the sun, some have been dropped in swimming pools and others have had booze spilled on them,' he said. ...more

'Geek spam' emerges as spammers play new trick

Hosted security firm Messagelabs claims geeks are being targetted explicitly by spammers using new techniques to subvert spam filters. It says that over the past few weeks it has seen a new spamming trend arise, which uses 'technobabble' to confuse spam filters into trusting spam mail. MessageLabs is calling it 'geek spam'. ...more

Novell backs Linux

Networking specialist Novell has today introduced the Nterprise Linux Services, providing file, print, messaging, directory and management services in a single bundle. Novell Nterprise Linux Services gives customers integrated file, print, messaging, directory and management. Novell will be supporting Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server editions along with strategic consulting and technical support services. ...more

Home Secretary to ask Apple, Sony to aid fight against crime

Home Secretary John Reid is to approach Apple and Sony to join a summit to help fight crime in Britain. Reid wants manufacturers of mobile phones and MP3 players to concentrate as much on anti-crime functions as on other design features. Gadgets like mobile phones and MP3 players are highly prized by criminals and crime figures released last week showed the number of street robberies rose eight per cent to 26,600 during the final quarter of last year. ...more

Casio to sell cheap PDA

Famous for its Cassiopeia range of PDAs, Casio has announced that its latest handheld computer will be a low-priced budget model. The Cassiopeia BE-300 will feature a colour LCD screen but will also sport a street price of less than $300 (around ?210). The new PDA will come with 16Mb of memory and rely on a 166Mhz VR4131 processor. ...more