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Blogs

What's your favourite travel blog?

May 8, 2008

As the summer approaches, we want to hear about readers' favourite travel blogs. Whose online travel diaries do you enjoy, and why?

Is the writer or the travel destination more important? Do you look for pictorial blogs, detailed advice on hotels and points of interest or general 'colour' writing? Big or small, famous or obscure, we're interested in all of your recommended websites.

David Price | Read more...


What if the internet wasn't free?

May 1, 2008

I was struck by Sir Tim Berners-Lee's recent comments about the history of the World Wide Web. Fifteen years ago, CERN released the web's code into the public domain, sparking a revolution that has deeply impacted communications, computing, and society at large.

"Making the web free to use had a vital role in spreading its use worldwide," said Berners-Lee, while recalling his early web research at the European laboratory.

Ian Lamont | Read more...


eBay woos angry users with price cut offer

April 29, 2008

Surprise surprise! In response to the planned boycott of online auction site eBay on May 1 the company has offered users a special price cut on … you guessed it, May 1.

eBay has announced a “special insertion fee for auction listings” of just 5p (about US 10c) – but, unlike the boycott itself, the 5p offer is for one day only.

Lexton Snol | Read more...


Happy birthday Mosaic - 15 years young

April 22, 2008

The Mosaic 1.0 web browser celebrated its 15th birthday yesterday.

Well, celebrate is a strong word. Given that Mosaic is now unknown and unloved, it probably spent its birthday listening to Barbara Streisand, watching its scratchy wedding video and drinking alone. But Mosaic deserves remembering.

PC Advisor staff | Read more...


What's your favourite sports website?

April 14, 2008

We're looking for your recommendations for sports websites. Which sites do you go to for sports-related news, opinion, match reports, pictures and interviews? Most importantly, what do you love about your favourite sporty websites?

Big or small, famous or obscure, football, ping-pong or tiddly-winks - if it's good, online, sports-related and suitable for a family audience we want to hear about it.

David Price | Read more...


Coming soon to a TV near you: MySpace TV

April 10, 2008

Right, let's keep this simple. You've got your TV, and you've got your internet computer machine. But wait: you can watch TV over the internet, and you can watch internet things on the telly. Here's one of the latter: MySpaceTV.

MySpace has just signed a deal to broadcast its own programming on non-US television networks. Its most famous programe is a show called 'Quarterlife'. Never heard of it? You're not alone - in February the US network NBC gave it an airing and it performed miserably in ratings terms.

David Price | Read more...


Kids make you more tech savvy

April 8, 2008

Families with children spend more time online than members of childless households.

According to research from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), 73 percent of grown ups with kids log on to the internet every week. By comparison, just half (52 percent) of those without children surf the tinterweb each week. The rest of the time they are overcompensating by buying outfits for the poodle, or heavy drinking.

Matt Egan | Read more...


We’re catching up with America… on internet fraud

April 4, 2008

Finally, we Brits are almost as good as America at something. Unfortunately, it's internet crime that we seem to have a talent for, so not exactly something we can be proud of. (Good job we've got some decent swimmers and cyclists to offset the bad press.)

According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report, a US-based study by the Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) that charts the origin of online crime, the UK was the second-biggest nation contributing to online crime. We were responsible for a whopping 15.3 percent of offences in the US last year.

Carrie-Ann Skinner | Read more...


BBC puts the boot in to ISPs

April 3, 2008

Remember when someone destroyed the Blue Peter garden? That was ISPs. And when that lightbulb blew up behind Jan Leeming? ISPs. Yeah, and I'll tell you something else, if those ISPs want the BBC to pay the cost of trafficking iPlayer downloads... well, they'll have Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Alan Partridge to deal with. Fight! Fight! Fight..!

Or, to put it another way, the BBC is somewhat unhappy with UK ISPs.

Matt Egan | Read more...


First April Fool spotted 31st March 2008

March 31, 2008

iPod and iPhone case and accessory manufacturer Proporta starts the 2008 April Fool ball rolling with a press release about its Advanced Pane Protector that protects windows from "a downpour of hailstones or an influx of seagulls with digestive issues".

Apparently "each kit contains a screen cleaning blanket and a giant shatterproof ruler to make perfect-fitting quick and easy". It is also available in a special Skyscraper Pack.

Simon Jary | Read more...


BBC rapped for dropping weather forecast

March 31, 2008

Web users really do dislike change. AT PC Advisor we recently changed our masthead and background colour and received a sharp backlash from readers who complained, among other things, that the new brighter red in our logo could hurt readers' eyes. After a few days most people wrote in favour of the changes - especially as pages loaded five times faster than previously.

The BBC has followed suit by redesigning its News website, and has been inundated with angry messages from regular readers incensed not at the new wider content area or more white space but at the removal of weather news.

Simon Jary | Read more...


YouTube generation criminals 'very stupid'

March 27, 2008

Every other day there’s a story in the news of some dangerous prank or criminal activity being aired on YouTube. Whether it’s speeding, swinging from a mechanical digger or skiing down escalators it appears that video-sharing sites are actively encouraging crimes, rather than merely displaying them.

Today’s YouTube crime caught on video is the sickening sight of two young boys (both apparently under 12) smacking each other up while goaded by an adult.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Sagem My Du@l Radio700 Wi-Fi internet radio

March 25, 2008

Sagem has leapt aboard the internet radio gravy train with the launch of a Wi-Fi-enabled device called the My Du@l Radio700. Catchy, eh?

The Sagem My Du@l has a large integrated speaker through which music streamed over an Ethernet or wireless network can be played. Sagem says up to 7,000 internet radio stations are also accessible using the £99 device.

Rosemary Haworth | Read more...


Angelic Apple apes Microsoft's bully-boy ways

March 25, 2008

It must be tough being Microsoft. No matter how shiny you make your OS, nor how much money your former figurehead doles out to the needy, geeks the world over think of you as 'The Man'.

And they stick it to The Man on a daily basis. It's the price of global supremacy.

Matt Egan | Read more...


Facebook settles Arab-Israeli conflict

March 19, 2008

Facebook has managed to annoy those lovable, cuddly Israeli settlers on the West Bank.

Now I know what you're thinking: Facebook must have done something pretty irksome to get a hostile reaction from that particular group (see also, the fuck Islam Facebook farrago). And you'd be right - the Jewish settlers are up in arms because the auto-complete function on Facebook used to finish their addresses on the West Bank as being in 'Palestine'. Disgraceful.

Matt Egan | Read more...


'Steve Jobs' blasts Wired numbskulls

March 19, 2008

'Fake Steve Jobs' Dan Lyons, a senior editor at Forbes magazine who writes The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs blog, takes on Leander Kahney, news editor for Wired.com, in a clash on over whether Apple has to be "so, well, evil".

Fake Steve Jobs (FSJ) gives Leander a real bashing and so far the majority of Wired reader votes are with his no-nonsense approach to running Apple.

Lexton Snol | Read more...


What's your favourite blog?

March 18, 2008

Tell us your favourite blog - and why - and you could get your name in PC Advisor, or even win a great prize!

Many thanks to the readers who suggested their favourite music-streaming and -download sites for our new Readers' Sites section. Last FM, recommended by PCA forum member Bingalau, won the Editor's Choice award for our May issue. He wins a copy of Magix MP3 Maker 12.0 for his troubles. Congratulations Bingalau!

David Price | Read more...


My BT Broadband Hell

March 12, 2008

I'm currently trapped in BT Broadband call-centre Hell. Despite the appalling TV adverts with that annoying floppy-haired guy from 'My Family', I recently took the plunge and signed up for BT Home Broadband.

It's relatively inexpensive and is, I'm told, about as easy a wireless setup as one can buy (a particular consideration in multiplatform homes such as mine). Now, this may be true, but I have no way of confirming this, almost a week after my 'broadband' went live.

Matt Egan | Read more...


Ireland's spunk rock festival hits web

March 12, 2008

All the decent web domain names have been snapped up but there are still thousands of new sites popping up every week.

I bet no one had had the foresight to cyber-squat this one, though...

Lexton Snol | Read more...


At last a good idea for Facebook

March 11, 2008

For most people Facebook is a place to keep in touch with their mates, share photos, join jokey groups and send stupid applications to each other.

However, today’s Facebooker is just as likely to join more civic-minded group, campaigning virtually for Darfur or Tibet.

Simon Jary | Read more...


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