Euro Commissioner slams US tech companies' China links

A senior European Commissioner has condemned US high-tech companies for pandering to the Chinese authorities and restricting freedom of speech in order to be able to do business in the People's Republic. Writing in her blog Margot Wallstroem, the Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication, says that some companies 'have flexible ethical standards depending on where they operate.' Wallstroem says that she was 'disappointed' when she heard that Microsoft had complied with a Chinese government demand that it block blog entries that use words and phrases like 'democracy', 'freedom', 'human rights' and 'demonstration'. ...more

Gameplay to be sold off

Online computer games supplier Gameplay has made an announcement regarding the sale of parts of the company. This follows an initial statement in February, which said that the company was looking into restructuring its core business. A statement to the stock market said that the company was talking to third parties regarding the future of the boxed games and technology sections. ...more

UK browsers lose themselves in aimless surfing - survey

Two-thirds of UK surfers lose significant portions of their time to irrelevant net browsing, according to a study published this week. Workers confronted with the almost unlimited pool of online information become distracted and begin - according to the report's authors - 'wilfing'. This is short for 'What Was I Looking For?' Wilfers lose two working days a month to aimless browsing, with men being the worst offenders, the study said. ...more

Yahoo! lists UK's weird and wonderful websites

You might have thought the far corners of the Internet are places a decent citizen may not want to delve. But Yahoo! has leafed through what the UK has to offer online to come up with its top eight weird and wonderful websites in its annual Finds of The Year awards. Topping the weird and wonderful category is the web presence of the cloud appreciation society. ...more

Half-Life Divas

The highly anticipated MOD for Half-Life, The Opera, has finally touched down. This project attempts to recreate the stylised gunfight choreography seen in the Hong Kong Blood Opera movies. If I mention director John Woo, you might get a better idea of what I mean. ...more