Mobile mobile phone use more dangerous than drink driving

Research reveals driving while talking on a mobile phone impairs driving skills more than being over the legal alcohol limit. Tests carried out at the Transport Research Laboratory found that drivers' reaction times were 30 per cent slower while using a hand-held mobile phone than they were when over the legal limit for alcohol, and 50 per cent slower than when driving under normal conditions. Specifically, drivers found it more difficult to maintain a constant speed and keep a safe distance from the car ahead. ...more

Ireland on the road to e-commerce hub

Ireland's enthusiastic uptake of all things Net is putting it in a prime position to be an e-commerce hub. At the fourth Internet Business Conference in Dublin today, Mr Noel Tracey, Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, said that this would lead to the end of Ireland being on the periphery. He claimed recent figures indicate 77 per cent of Irish firms have a Web presence and that 79 per cent have external email. ...more

Proposals for .xxx domains neutered

Prospects for the proposed .xxx domain have drooped. At an international meeting of ICANN's governmental advisory committee in New Zealand, plans to create an 'adult' content domain have been scotched, reports Australian IT. ...more

Microsoft 'in talks' to buy stake in AOL

Microsoft and media giant Time Warner are in negotiations to merge the MSN and AOL portals according to reports in the New York Post. The Post says that according to its sources the two companies are in 'advanced discussions' to sell a stake in AOL to Microsoft. Under the proposed plan, Microsoft would pay cash upfront for AOL that would leave the two companies roughly equal partners. ...more

Web server attacks on the increase

Attacks on Web servers and websites rose by more than a third in 2004, according to a new report. The Zone-H survey for the Infosecurity Europe conference found that the 36 per cent rise meant there were more than 400,000 server attacks and website defacements. Two thousand five hundred servers are attacked each day, with the US government a frequent target. ...more