Results tagged “internet” from Birmingham Mail - Technobabble

Millions of families are missing out on savings running into billions of pounds because they do not use the internet, the Government's digital inclusion champion said today.

Some 10 million people - 17% of the entire population - have never been online, and four million of them come from economically or socially excluded backgrounds, according to research carried out for internet tsar Martha Lane Fox.

She warned today that those without access to the web were missing out not only on shopping bargains, but also work and training opportunities and official information on issues like the swine flu outbreak.

The internet never ceases to amaze in its propensity for giving a voice to the most extreme examples of humanity.

A court case has just finished which saw a formal civil servant cleared of obscenity over a charming tribute piece he wrote about harmless pop group Girls Aloud.

Darryn Walker, 35, of South Shields, South Tyneside, was charged under the Obscene Publications Act after the blog appeared on a fantasy pornography site.

The story concerned, and there's no way of dressing this up really, involved descriptions of, and I quote from the blog: "the rape torture and mutilation of five of the sexiest girls in pop today."

There is a disclaimer which gives warning to anyone who has happened across the site by accident: "The following is a work of erotic/sadistic fantasy set in a world in which women are disposable sex objects that exist solely for the pleasure of men. It contains themes of extreme sexism, misogyny, torture, rape, mutilation, dismemberment, murder, execution and male supremacy over women."

Anyway Darryn got off because his defence argued the blog could only be found by those looking for specific material.

Mr Walker's 12-page blog - Girls (Scream) Aloud - was brought to the attention of police by the Internet Watch Foundation, an organisation for the public and IT professionals which polices potentially obscene material.

The courts also heard that Mr Walker had lost his job since his arrest.

The blog itself...well suffice to say each member of the group is visited in turn.

The web certainly allows all kinds of wackos to indulge the darkest corners of their personalities and meet like minded people.

And, amazingly the internet also seems to prove that nothing is too weird, far out and downright strange for there not to be a thriving community glorying in it.

Perhaps we should get the people who fantasize about murder together with groups which fantasize about killing people who fantasize about murder and see what happens. Whatever the outcome is, there will be web denizens with an unhealthy interest in the results.

Below: Girls Aloud, thankfully not screaming.

Almost a third of internet users are too frightened to hand over their credit details while shopping online, a report published today found.

The Office of Fair Trading said 30 per cent of internet users do not shop online because of a lack of trust.

It added that, although consumer confidence is gradually improving, online markets cannot reach their full potential because it is still too low.

Chief executive John Fingleton said: "Online retailing is the future for many businesses and increasingly important to the economy.

"If consumers are not confident online, demand will grow at a slower rate. So we must tackle these concerns right now if the online market is to grow at its full potential."

Interesting new statistics from Ofcom about people's habits during the current multimedia explosion.

For me the striking thing is that people aren't changing their habits much - just doing more.

The report shows that Consumers spent 429 minutes, or more than seven hours a day, watching television, listening to radio, surfing the internet and making fixed-line and mobile calls in 2007, compared with 423 minutes in 2002.

This is an incredibly huge sounding amount, although I suppose you've got to take into account people will probably be doing other things, including driving, at the same time.

You might have thought traditional pursuits such as the simple telly would have seen a huge decline as a result of the increased platforms on offer.

But no - in 2007, 218 minutes a day were spent watching television, compared with 224 in 2002 - not a great deal of difference.

So basically social networking on the internet, texting, sending video messages, streaming your tedious existence pointlessly over the net through bambuser and so on is all in addition to whatever radio, tv and phone calls you were doing before!

You see those people over there in the corner? You probably don't recognise them, but they're your family. Go on, try and talk to them. Perhaps even go out somewhere together. Oh - someone's written a pithy comment on your Facebook wall. Better reply. Chance gone.