Microsoft squashes self-destructing email rumour

At the official London launch of Office 2003 last night, Microsoft was questioned about Mission Impossible-style disappearing email, reports of which have been circulating in the media. Steven Sinofski, Senior VP of Microsoft Office Group, squashed the rumour. He told assembled hacks in London that the new Office suite did not support self-destructing emails. ...more

Microsoft responds over power drain issues for XP laptops

Microsoft has replied to claims that it didn't publicly disclose a problem involving USB 2.0 drivers and their adverse effect on battery life. While acknowledging the knowledge-base article was made available in July 2005 - to OEMs, and third-party support organisations - it states it was not made publicly available because the impact was negligible on most systems at the time. ...more

Six new broadband dates announced

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Google index tops six billion

Google's index of the Web now includes more than six billion items, the world's largest collection of online information, the company announced last night. Having grown largely by word of mouth from nothing to account for around a third of all Internet searches, Google has now indexed 4.28 billion Web pages, 880 million images, 845 million Usenet messages plus a growing collection of book-related information pages. ...more

Internet scams - the FBI view

A newly released FBI report analyses the prevalence and impact of Internet-based frauds on American life in 2001. At the top of the charts, by far, was Internet auction fraud, comprising 43 per cent of all referred complaints. The simple non-delivery of merchandise (or payments) accounted for 20 per cent of these complaints. ...more