Tag: Government
Government to release social networking guidlines for parents
The Government is set to publish guidelines on Friday on the dangers of social networking sites for children in the latest move to scare the bejesus out of parents all over the UK.
The 79-page document makes recommendations that sites like Facebook, Bebo and the other usual suspects should be forced to carry adverts for the 999 emergency service…
UK Government to investigate path to next generation broadband
Think your pitifully slow “nowhere near up to eight meg” broadband is a joke? You may be vaguely encouraged that the Government is starting to look at how we move Britain into truly fast, “next generation” broadband.
The Business and Competitiveness Minister, Shriti Vadera, launched the independent review on Friday. It will look at the importance of 100Mbps+ broadband to British businesses, and what the potential barriers are to achieving those kind of speeds.
“The way we will do business, access many government services, as well as information and entertainment, will change beyond recognition over our lifetime. New technologies will push the boundaries of today’s communications infrastructure,” she said. “We need to prepare the way for the UK to adopt groundbreaking new technologies to ensure that we do not get left behind – competitively or technologically.”
UK government contractor loses loads of personal data – again
More private details lost – this time the data of most of the UK’s learner drivers. But it’s OK – only three million people have had their personal details misplaced this time.
Bizarrely, the UK driving test data was being stored on a hard drive in the offices of a contractor based in Iowa, in the United States – and contained the names and addresses of three million…
Opinion: Why Gordon Brown, Dr Tanya Byron and the Nanny State should stay out of technology
When does a Government go too far in a bid to protect its citizens? When it locks people up without a charge? When it bans people from taking to the streets and puts them under curfew? Or when it employs a TV presenter to look at how the Internet and computer games are harming the nation’s youngsters?
This week it’s been announced Dr Tanya Byron – star of such TV greats as House of Tiny Tearaways – is to preside over a review of what effect the web and console adventures are having on kids across Britain. And I for one find it not only laughable, but downright disgusting that Gordon Brown and his cohorts think they have the right to interfere in our lives which such a pointless exercise…
UK Government backs BBC Trust's commitment to make iPlayer available on other platforms (eventually)
The Government has responded to an online petition calling for the BBC to make its iPlayer software, currently available for beta testing – available to more than just Windows XP users, by backing the BBC Trust's commitment to making the…
Daily Tech Hotlinks for 21-Aug-07: iTunes, Japan, email, iPhones, Bjork
– A church in Florida is boosting numbers with free iTunes giveaways (Engadget)
– The Japanese government hopes to replace the internet by 2020 (Slashdot)…
Manufacturers and users of technology products have to be responsible for their energy consumption
Andy Merrett writes…
So, the latest news is that many of our decrepit coal and nuclear power stations are coming to the end of their working lives, and something drastic needs to happen to ensure that Britain can generate enough power for our 21st century lives.
Whatever your view on nuclear power, fossil fuels, and greener alternatives, there’s no denying that we’re a power hungry nation.
We’re also lazy (but trying, of course.)
Ten ways the government will spy on us using technology
Did you know that every time you walk down the high street, your movements are logged by 16 CCTV cameras? And the footage is transmitted directly to MI5 headquarters, to be tagged and analysed. By robots. This is the Big Brother nation we live in, etc etc.
But the government won’t stop there. For most of us, new technology is just a new way to listen to our music / manage our working lives / record every episode of M*A*S*H ever made to view on our watch. But for The Man, new technology offers a myriad of ways to spy on us. Here’s ten of the most nefarious.
China to force game companies to limit teenagers' game hours
The Chinese government has set a three-month deadline for Chinese online games companies to impose limits on the amount of points teen gamers can score once they've played for three straight hours is a day. It's part of their attempt…
British Government says no to digital music DRM ban
Steve Jobs may want to scrap digital rights management (DRM) for digital music – or so he says – but the British government doesn't agree. Blogger Neil Holmes created a petition at the government's e-petitions website asking Tony Blair to…
