Which names 'best buy' dial-up ISP

Consumers' organisation Which has given its 'Best Buy' award for dial-up Internet access to Firenet's PAYG and unmetered dial-up packages. The services were judged on three criteria: file download and upload speeds and the reliability of the service, specifically the number of dial-up errors, engaged tones and connection drop outs. Firenet CEO Alan Castle said, 'This is excellent news, we cannot believe how well our customers talk about us so much, where the likes of Which magazine test us, and give us the best buy ISP for the third time in a row. ...more

Latest broadband dates announced

BT has set dates for 41 more exchanges to be upgraded for ADSL broadband. The exchanges and ready for service dates are as follows. ? 5 November 2003:, Ballymoney, Churchdown, Gloucs, Chrisleton, Crumlin, Glasgow Milngavie, Glenrothes Central, Ibstock, Moira (Northern Ireland), Mickleton, Newington, Sudbrooke Park, Yapton. ...more

Lycos toppled by spammers' revenge

The controversial web site has gone down. The suspicion is that it has succumbed to a counter attack from the spammers it was targeting. The site was the brainchild of Lycos Europe with the aim of punishing the web sites operated by known spamming companies. ...more

Messenger picks up the receiver

Microsoft has announced it will offer a download to enable Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger users to make PC-to-phone calls. The download will be available after the 25 October launch date of Windows XP and will contain several upgrades to the service in a file less than 1Mb. XP users will be able to make PC-to-PC voice calls as well. ...more

Apple fixes HelpViewer security vulnerability

Apple has released a security update to fix the vulnerability exposed last week. The update fixes the HelpViewer application. 'Apple takes security very seriously and works quickly to address potential threats as we learn of them-in this case, before there was any actual risk to our customers,' said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. ...more