AOL launches free webmail: AIM Mail

AOL has launched its free webmail service, its first product for all Internet users rather than only its subscribers, following a brief trial. Offering 2GB of storage the service is tied into the company's AIM instant messaging service, with incoming email alerts integrated into the messaging client, although you do not have to be an AIM user to get an account. The service includes spam filtering and, like the Gmail service it is clearly trying to emulate, displays ads alongside messages. ...more

NEC launches Centrino-based Versa notebook

NEC joins the Centrino gang with its sub-£1,000, sub-notebook, the Versa S900. Intel's much-heralded mobile processor redesign is particularly targeted at this system category. Rather than desktop replacements with big screens and DVD drives, the performance gains, in terms of extended battery life and support for light and slim designs, are geared towards highly portable sub-notebooks. ...more

Niku releases project management software as open source

Project management software developer Niku has released its Open Workbench desktop project manager under an open source licence. The aim is to provide an alternative to the ubiquitous Microsoft Project and offer project managers the upgrade. The program is said to support a wide range of project management functions including forward and backward task allocation, critical path analysis and estimated time to completion. ...more

Book review: Google Pocket Guide

How much could a pocket guide to Google really inform you, I wondered? After all, Google just works. As the book itself says: 'Simply throwing your search terms at Google has an uncanny habit of finding you pretty much what you want.' So while Google is powerful, with a variety of relatively-hidden features, it is also a very clear and intuitive site. ...more

The low-down on... programming languages

In the wake of the new Web programming language Curl, here's something to help you sort your C# from your C++, not to mention Java and C and JavaScript. Here's a brief low-down on the various languages out there in the wide world of software development. A language to aid communication with machines Programming languages are the particular sequences of text used to control computers. ...more