Child porn threat increases on the Net

Rome-based group Rainbow Phone has said sites with explicit images of child pornography leapt 70 per cent over the last year. It claims it received reports of more than 17,000 such sites during 2003, with 60 per cent based in the US, although Russia, Brazil, Italy and Spain were also harbours for such online activity. Last year's US investigation Operation Predator has resulted in arrests of some 1,600 people, and it was announced yesterday that it had broken up an international network, detaining 15 people, of which one was 85 years old. ...more

iPod gets a mixing console

A leading maker of DJ hardware has unveiled a mixing console for iPods at NAMM, the International Music Products Association annual get-together. The iDJ is a 2-channel mixer that enables mobile DJs and iPod enthusiasts to integrate their portable music libraries with other music and sound reinforcement systems. Small enough to fit in a record box, the console will take any iPod model (charging them as it does so) and features 3-band EQ with gain control, dedicated microphone input with tone and level control and phono and line inputs for additional sound sources. ...more

US keeps control of the Internet

The United States has won the battle to keep control of the Internet. A last minute detail allowed the US to retain control of the domain name system through the non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) headquartered in California. In return, the US has agreed to begin talks about potentially relinquishing some control and the long-term governance of the DNS. ...more

iMacs harness flower power

Last night in Tokyo Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the latest incarnations of the iMac - Flower Power and Blue Dalmation - complete with CD-RW drives, but retaining the 15-inch screen. Apple has resisted demands for a G4 iMac, instead opting for G3s, with a 600MHz chip in the top model. The 600MHz model comes with 128Mb RAM, 256K of level 2 cache at 600MHz, an ATI Rage 128 Ultra video card with 16Mb RAM and a 40Gb hard drive. ...more

Price Check: Multifunction printers

You can get a printer, scanner and copier at some pretty keen prices these days. But for the home user, and even small offices, that means a lot of clutter. Especially now that you can get all-in-ones with a respectable performance in all areas, as well as a low price tag. ...more