Broadband is getting faster but the gap has widened between actual download speeds and their advertised rates, an Ofcom report said today.

The independent regulator's research showed that although UK broadband speed increased by 27% since April 2009 the average consumer received less than half their advertised speed.

The disparity was even greater for the three-quarters of the UK receiving DSL broadband services, where data is sent through copper cables originally designed for telephone calls. Ofcom found advertised DSL speeds of 20-24Mbit/second provided an average speed of just 6.5Mbit/second.

Gordon Brown emerged from the political wilderness last week to give a speech on the third world.

More specifically the former PM was talking about how to turn that notable basket case, Africa, around.

During his explanation of how the continent can get on its feet, Mr Brown highlighted the internet as a source of growth, saying that just one per cent of people in Africa currently have access to broadband.

Can I, as a frequent online webuser, highlight one area of concern concerning ramping up broadband access in Africa.

Given the, erm, entrepreneurial spirit, currently being shown by that one per cent, I'm not sure if my email junk filters could cope with a huge expansion in superfast internet access.

I noticed an article concerning the 'death of the hardback' because digital books are outselling them on amazon for the first time.

According to online retailer amazon, it sold 143 books for its e-reader the Kindle for every 100 hardbacks over the last three months.

The Guardian, which approaches new technology stories with the zealotry of a fundamentalist, seems to be suggesting, by the line taken in the story, that we'll be making Farenheit 451-style piles of books to clear the way for the inevitable digitital new reading world.

However much further down the article it noted that amazon refused to reveal UK sales of the Kindle service, although the retailer admitted they were 'nowhere near the same level as the US'.

In any case, it's hardly like for like - hardbacks are books you buy if, say, you're mad keen on an author and almost want a 'collector's edition' of the latest work.

Prices are normally around £20 on release, whereas bestsellers on the Kindle list go for about 75p.

For my money, the e-book will never replace the paper version - not least because if most of us spend all day staring at some kind of flickering screen reading text, the last thing we want to do is the same thing at home later.

Media Guardian is reporting that the Times paywall has cost it 66 per cent of its internet readership.

I think that possibly the real story is that it has in fact retained a third.

Readers have been able to take advantage of an introductory offer of £1 for the first 30 days - after then it will be £1 per day or £2 per week.

Previously these readers weren't worth much to the newspaper - it was investing in quality journalism and giving it away for free.

There is no doubt that online advertising has been a huge disappointment to newspapers. Delivering big audiences has not led to big revenues.

In fact the revenues in no way contribute enough to cover costs of the journalism involved.

So, with the general decline of printed newspaper sales, at some point there will be a dramatic drop off in the quality of journalism as staffing levels reduce to reflect the loss in income.

For me, I really hope this experiment works. Giving it away free is seemingly unsustainable without print sales to prop it up.

So if we want proper investigations, stories holding the authorities to account and exposure of injustices then we have to make a decision.

Is news and the benefits it brings to our society worth paying for?

(Oh and I know there's been stuff written recently about the Daily Mail's website turning to profit.

For one thing it has required 40,500,000 unique browsers a month (!) compared to 1.9 million sales each day of the newspaper. [Are these figures achieved by somewhat. erm cheating? Take a look at the huge strip down the right side of each mail online page, basically mentioning every celebrity under the sun and so taking search engine optimisation trickery to new levels].

And there's always a lot of budget jiggery pokery about internet operations. To what extent are the costs of the print editorial used included in these in addition to the 'standalone' web team?)

Apple boss Steve Jobs admitted the company is "not perfect" as he announced iPhone 4 customers would receive free rubber cases in an attempt to fix problems with the handsets.

An internet campaign was launched following complaints about the so-called "death grip" - a phenomenon which could see the phone's signal drop when grasped in the left hand.

But at a press conference at Apple's base in Cupertino, California, Mr Jobs promised iPhone 4 customers a free rubber case - which protects the phone's in-built antenna and cures signal fade - or a full refund.

"We're not perfect. We know that, you know that," he said.

It may look like the stuff of science fiction but this unmanned jet could be the combat craft of the future.

Named Taranis, after the Celtic god of thunder, the £142.5 million prototype was unveiled today by the Ministry of Defence.

Dubbed the "pinnacle" of British engineering and aeronautical design, it is the size of a light aircraft and has been equipped with advanced stealth technology making it virtually undetectable.

Almost invisible to ground radar, it is designed to travel at high jet speeds and cover massive distances between continents.

Below: Taranis

Thousands of young children are joining online social networking groups which promote their favourite alcoholic brands, experts said today.

Most are being set up by website users themselves, with many members under 18 or looking underage, they said.

The practice is "completely unregulated" and puts pressure on youngsters to try and choose certain drinks, said Tobias Paul, from the Scottish Youth Commission on Alcohol.
Research has shown websites such as Bebo and Facebook have thousands of pages and groups related to alcohol.

A striking image showing the ghost of the Big Bang has been captured by a new space telescope.

The Planck satellite was launched by the European Space Agency in May 2009 to study the early universe.

It is designed to scan the sky with instruments sensitive to nine different bands of normally invisible microwave light.

Below: The Big Bang!

Signal indicator bars dropping on the new iPhone 4 is the fault of the handset's software and not its hardware, Apple said today.

Some users reported the smartphone's signal strength fell significantly when held, giving rise to speculation its new antenna - incorporated into the handset's metal frame - could be disrupted by the hand.

However, in a letter addressed to iPhone 4 users, Apple said its own investigation revealed the "simple and surprising" cause was the formula by which it calculated signal strength has always been "totally wrong".

News International will begin charging for access to The Times and Sunday Times websites from tomorrow, it was announced today.

Users will have to pay either £1 per day or £2 for a week's subscription.

The effect of the introduction of "paywall" will be keenly watched by other media groups. Executives have already acknowledged they expect to lose some "passing traffic".