Fujitsu folding laptop - the future of computing?

T3 have got their hands on Fujitsu's new Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC).

Their pictures indicate that the device will fold up to fit in a large pocket:

PS3: "Must-Have" technology - Riots & robbery

What do you do when you desperately want the latest new games console, but don't fancy the idea of lining up for hours in a queue full of othe people?

Answer: Start a riot apparently, or maybe try and steal your Playstation 3 (PS3).

Others had different ideas, such as the folks from SmashMyPS3.com who have been waiting a long time to smash a new PS3 in front of the queuing public:

Guardian cracks new biometric passport

It was only a matter of time. The new biometric passport, designed to protect us from evil people with bombs in their shoes, has been cracked by the Guardian newspaper. (Discussion as to why the left-leaning newspaper exposed this scandal before the Daily Mail is for another time.)

The newspaper quotes Lukas Grunwald, founder of DN-Systems Enterprise Solutions in Germany:

"If you can read the chip, then you can clone it," he says. "You could use this to clone a passport that would exploit the system to illegally enter another country." (We did not clone any of our passport chips on the assumption that to do so would be illegal.)

BT to buy Plus Net

In a move that has been anticipated by broadband industry watchers, according to ZDNet, BT is to pay £67m for Plus Net, one of the few remaining independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The CRM computer system which Plus Net credits with its service standards may be the real prize that BT is buying, rather than the ISPs 200,000 subscribers.

Plus Net was once considerered to be one the superior internet providers, however customers have noticed the standard of service slip of late. Incidents such as the accidential deletion of 700Gb of customers' emails certainly haven't helped the company's reputation.

Will customers stay with Plus Net once the handover is complete?

Windows Vista won't need anti-virus says co-President

Can Microsoft Windows Vista run virus-free? The answer is "Yes", according to Jim Allchin, co-President of the Redmond firm. Zdnet, citing betanews, reports Allchin's claim that his 11 year old son has been using a Vista machine sans anti-virus without trouble.

Meanwhile, some 3rd party security software vendors such as McAfee and Symantec have voiced concern over the Patchguard kernel protection technology introduced by Microsoft in the new operation system, claiming that the new system effectively locks them out of providing anti-virus solutions for Vista. However, as TheRegister reports, other vendors such as Kaspersky Labs have no issue with the new technology.

Will Windows Vista eliminate computer viruses? Care to place any money on that?

UPDATE: 13/11/06

Jim Allchin has posted an entry at WindowsVistaBlog.com where he explains that some quotes were taken out of context. One wonders what the online stories got right - his son is 7 years old, not 11, and he was only using the example of his son to demonstrate that in certain restricted conditions (i.e. a locked down PC), Vista can operate happily without ant-virus software. As for the idea that Vista won't need anti-virus software, says Mr Allchin:

"I want to be clear, most users will use some form of antivirus software, and that will be appropriate for their scenarios. In fact, Windows Security Center, a great feature in Windows Vista, specifically encourages the use of antivirus software."

Which Magazine: Don't use PC World for repairs

For reliable PC repairs and support, it seems that nothing beats the more independent providers, like Support Lounge Computer Services.

As reported by TheRegister and other publications:

Consumer magazine Computing Which? carried out an undercover investigation of independent and major stores that offer a computer repair service.

It targeted PC World because it's the only major store that offers to fix computers even if not originally purchased at one of its stores.

The magazine's researchers deliberately "broke" computers in order to assess the level of service at various repair centres across the UK.

On half of the computers they simply deleted a Windows start up file to prevent the operating system from er, starting. On the remaining computers they loosened a hard disk cable.

The "faulty" computers were then taken along to a total of 20 PC repairers and the results of the investigation showed that the independent stores performed much better than big boys PC World.

Diagnosis of the faults at PC World ranged from reinstalling Windows to advising the "customer" to replace their computer. In some instances the reinstallation led to personal data being lost as work had not been backed up.

Repair costs also varied wildly at PC World between £69.99 and a staggering £350.

On the whole, independent stores provided a better service according to the report, with more accurate diagnosis and repair costs typically lower than PC World.

In the report, Computing Which? advised its readers not to go to PC World if they need to get their computer repaired. The magazine's editor said: "We think that they [PC World] should overhaul their training – they could learn a lot from independent retailers."

A PC World spokeswoman said the Which? report was not representative of the level of service and expertise offered by the chain.

"PC World's skilled engineers have fixed more than two million PC problems for customers in the last year, and in nine of 10 PC repairs there was no requirement to fit a spare part," she said.

She says the Which? visits preceeded "an extensive overhaul of our national support operation, including our services for customers in-store".

"We'd like to stress that our pricing for all services is transparent, and we always discuss the potential cost with customers prior to carrying out any installation or repair service. In many, if not most cases, the actual cost is considerably lower than the initial estimate."