Google betas version three of Desktop search tool

Google has updated its home on Windows desktops - Google Desktop 3 beta has been launched, with new customisation options and APIs (application programming interfaces) for the development of Sidebar panel plug-ins. Essentially, Google has tweaked the interface trying to make it easier to find and manage the various sources of data that are found on a typically cluttered PC, whether from emails, local files, saved images or to-do lists. New features include a search lock, to prevent other users of the computer from being able to search files, advanced search forms for building complex queries, and the ability to disable indexing. ...more

Cash for votes

$74,000 was spent per voter by the Pentagon on giving overseas soldiers the ability to vote online in the last Presidential elections. $6.2m was poured into the experiment, but that age-old problem that has haunted the US elections for decades reared its ugly head: apathy. ...more

16-02-2002 Essential news of the week

Brought neatly together and presented on a plate, here is a roundup of some of the week's main news stories from the world of IT. Sony Vaio puts more Bluetooth in Europe A NeuStar on the horizon, a new domain on the Net Crucial details memory Visual Studio.NET officially unveiled Simple security hole found in many networks Intel puts a fire under mobile devices Into the Terrarium. ...more

UK jobs axed by Marconi

The dismal round of job losses continues today with the announcement from Marconi - the company formerly known as GEC - that it will cut 1,500 positions in the UK. But more high-skilled jobs are promised for the future. The BBC has reported that factories in Liverpool and Coventry will be the worst hit by the British losses. ...more

Microsoft VM for Windows at risk of malicious code

Microsoft has issued a 'critical' warning over its Java Virtual Machine. A vulnerability has been found in the VM's ByteCode Verifier. When a Java applet is being loaded it doesn't correctly check for the presence of possible malicious code. ...more