games help you  learn and play   god games  in which players must control virtual people and societies could be educational  says research.  a us researcher has suggested that games such as the sims could be a good way to teach languages. ravi purushotma believes that the world of the sims can do a better job of teaching vocabulary and grammar than traditional methods. the inherent fun of game playing could help to make learning languages much less of a chore  said mr purushotma.  there must be few parents or teachers that do not worry that the lure of a video game on a computer or console is hard to resist by children that really should be doing their homework. but instead of fearing computer games  ravi purushotma believes that educationalists  particularly language teachers should embrace games.  one goal would be to break what i believe to be the false assumption that learning and play are inherently oppositional   he said. he believes that the  phenomenal ability  of games such as the sims and others to capture the interest of adolescent audiences is ripe for exploitation. the hard part of learning any language  said mr purushotma  were the basic parts of learning what different words refer to and how they are used to build up sentences. boring lessons drumming vocabulary into pupils couched in terms they do not understand has made many languages far harder to learn than they should be.  the way we often teach foreign languages right now is somewhat akin to learning to ride a bike by formally studying gravity   he said.  by contrast  said mr purushotma  learning via something like the sims may mean students do not feel like they are studying at all. this was because the sims does not rely solely on words to get information across to players. instead the actions of its computer controlled people and how they interact with their world often makes clear what is going on. the incidental information about what a sim was doing could reinforce what a player or student was supposed to be learning  said mr purushotma. by contrast many language lessons try to impart information about a tongue with little context. for instance  he said  in a version of the sims adapted to teach german  if a player misunderstood what was meant by the word  energie  the actions of a tired sim  stumbling then falling asleep  would illustrate the meaning. if necessary detailed textual information could be called upon to aid players  or students  understanding.  one of the drawbacks of the sims  said mr purushotma  was the lack of spoken language to help people brush up on pronunciation. however  online versions of the sims  in which people have to move in  meet the neighbours and get to know the local town  could be adapted to help this. although not wishing to claim that he is the first to suggest using a game can help people learn  mr purushotma believes that educationalists have missed the potential they have to help.  getting a simulated person to perform everyday activities in a make-believe world and having them described in a foreign language could be a powerful learning aid  he believes. before now  he said  educational software titles suffer by comparison with the slick graphics and rich worlds found in games. but  he said  using pre-prepared game worlds such as the sims has never been easier because tools have been made by its creators and fans that make it easy to modify almost any part of the game. this could make it easy for teachers to adapt parts of the game for their own lessons.  i m hoping now to re-create a well-polished german learning mod for the sequel by this summer   he told the bbc news website.  i m encouraged to hear that others are thinking of experimenting with japanese and spanish.  earlier work with a colleague on using civilisation iii to teach students about history showed that it could be a powerful way to get them to realise that solving a society s problems can not always come from making a single change. a report on the experiment said:  students began asking historical and geographical questions in the context of game play  using geography and history as tools for their game  and drawing inferences about social phenomena based on their play.  mr purushotma s ideas were aired in an article for the journal language learning and technology.


parmar ruled out of davis cup tie a knee injury has forced arvind parmar out of great britain s davis cup tie in israel and left alex bogdanovic in line to take the second singles place.  parmar picked up the injury last week and has failed to recover in time for the europe/africa zone i tie  which begins in tel aviv on friday. bogdanovic looks set to take the second singles place alongside greg rusedski. gb captain jeremy bates could use 17-year-old andrew murray and david sherwood in the doubles rubber. bogdanovic and murray both pulled out of tournaments last week through injury but are expected to be fit. jamie delgado and lee childs have been called into the squad in tel aviv as designated hitters for team practice but bates has no plans to call either of them into his squad at present.  the unheralded sherwood was the surprise inclusion when the squad was announced last week  and bates said:  david has earned his place in this squad on the merit of his form and results over the last 12 months.  the 6ft 4in sherwood is ranked 264th in the world and the lta have high hopes for him after futures tournament wins in wrexham and edinburgh.  the sheffield-born right-hander  aged 24  also reached another final in plaisir  france  a week after making the semi-final in mulhouse. bates is glad to have rusedski available after tim henman s retirement from davis cup tennis.  his wealth of experience is invaluable  particularly to the younger players and i know he will lead by example   bates said.  we are looking forward to the tie. the squad are all in excellent form.


bush budget seeks deep cutbacks president bush has presented his 2006 budget  cutting domestic spending in a bid to lower a record deficit projected to peak at $427bn (£230bn) this year.  the $2.58 trillion (£1.38 trillion) budget submitted to congress affects 150 domestic programmes from farming to the environment  education and health. but foreign aid is due to rise by 10%  with more money to treat hiv/aids and reward economic and political reform. military spending is also set to rise by 4.8%  to reach $419.3bn. the budget does not include the cost of running military operations in iraq and afghanistan  for which the administration is expected to seek an extra $80bn from congress later this year.  congress will spend several months debating george w bush s proposal.  the state department s planned budget would rise to just under $23bn - a fraction of the defence department s request - including almost $6bn to assist us allies in the  war on terror . however  the administration is keen to highlight its global effort to tackle hiv/aids  the bbc s jonathan beale reports  and planned spending would almost double to $3bn  with much of that money going to african nations. mr bush also wants to increase the amount given to poorer countries through his millennium challenge corporation. the scheme has been set up to reward developing countries that embrace what the us considers to be good governance and sound policies. yet mr bush s proposed spending of $3bn on that project is well below his initial promise of $5bn.  a key spending line missing from proposals is the cost of funding the administration s proposed radical overhaul of social security  the pensions programme on which many americans rely for their retirement income.  some experts believe this could require borrowing of up to $4.5 trillion over a 20-year period. neither does the budget include any cash to purchase crude oil for the us emergency petroleum stockpile. concern over the level of the reserve  created in 1970s  has led to rises in oil prices over the past year. the bush administration will instead continue to fill the reserve by taking oil - rather than cash - from energy companies that drill under federal leases.  the outline proposes reductions in budgets at 12 out of 23 government agencies including cuts of 9.6% at agriculture and 5.6% at the environmental protection agency. the spending plan for the year beginning 1 october is banking on a healthy us economy to boost government income by 6.1% to $2.18 trillion. spending is forecast to grow by 3.5% to $2.57 trillion. but the budget is still the tightest yet under mr bush s presidency.  in order to sustain our economic expansion  we must continue pro-growth policies and enforce even greater spending restraint across federal government   mr bush said in his budget message to congress. mr bush has promised to halve the us s massive budget deficit within five years. the deficit  partly the result of massive tax cuts early in mr bush s presidency  has been a key factor in pushing the us dollar lower. the independent congressional budget office estimates that the shortfall could shrink to little more than $200bn by 2009  returning to the surpluses seen in the late 1990s by 2012. but its estimates depend on the tax cuts not being made permanent  in line with the promise when they were passed that they would  sunset   or disappear  in 2010. most republicans  however  want them to stay in place. and the figures also rely on the  social security trust fund  - the money set aside to cover the swelling costs of retirement pensions - being offset against the main budget deficit.


clyde 0-5 celtic celtic brushed aside clyde to secure their place in the scottish cup semi-final  but only after a nervy and testing first half.  the home side s craig bryson had a goal chopped off before stan varga headed celtic into the lead. alan thompson scored from the penalty spot at the start of the second half after shaun maloney had been fouled. stilian petrov slid in a third  varga tapped in his second and craig bellamy completed the rout with a fine drive. bryn halliwell was the busier keeper early on  saving from bellamy  chris sutton and juninho. clyde had the ball in the net after half-an-hour through a tremendous strike from bryson  but the referee had already blown for a foul by petrov. from the resulting free kick  darren sheridan curled the ball round the celtic wall only for the post to deny him. back at the other end  halliwell did well to come off his line and block bellamy s effort to lift the ball over him. the keeper misjudged a corner that stephane henchoz headed wide  but a similar scenario five minutes before the break led to the opening goal. the ball was delivered from the left and halliwell was left floundering as varga glanced the ball into the net.  maloney replaced the injured sutton at half time and he marked his first competitive appearance after a year out injured by helping his side take a two-goal lead just after the break. the young striker fired a free kick straight into the clyde wall but as he collected the rebound  he was tripped by bryson and thompson converted the penalty. sheridan and bellamy were involved in something of a flare-up that led to both being booked after the intervention of the assistant referee. juninho brought out another good save from halliwell and then petrov saw a tremendous effort come off the top of the bar. but petrov and juninho combined brilliantly to allow the bulgarian to make it 3-0 on the hour mark - a quick one-two giving him the time and space to steer the ball past halliwell from 12 yards. varga got his second goal of the game as celtic drove home their advantage - thompson whipped in a corner from the right and the unmarked defender simply tapped the ball over the line from a couple of yards out. celtic were utterly dominant by this stage and bellamy opened his scoring account for the club after a fine move involving aiden mcgeady  jackie mcnamara and maloney culminated in the welshman hammering the ball into the net. halliwell kept the deficit at five by pushing a mcgeady shot wide as the game petered out.  halliwell  mensing  bollan  balmer  potter  sheridan (burns 61)  arbuckle (gilhaney 61)  gibson  bryson (jones 78)  malone  harty.  morrison  wilson.  mensing  sheridan.  douglas  henchoz  mcnamara  balde  varga  juninho paulista  thompson  lennon (lambert 70)  sutton (maloney 45)  petrov (mcgeady 70)  bellamy.  marshall  laursen.  thompson  bellamy.  : varga 40  thompson 48 pen  petrov 60  varga 68  bellamy 72.  8 200  c thomson


freeze on anti-spam campaign a campaign by lycos europe to target spam-related websites appears to have been put on hold.  earlier this week the company released a screensaver that bombarded the sites with data to try to bump up the running costs of the websites. but the site hosting the screensaver now displays a pink graphic and the words  stay tuned . no one at lycos was available for comment on latest developments in its controversial anti-spam campaign.  lycos europe s  make love not spam  campaign was intended as a way for users to fight back against the mountain of junk mail flooding inboxes. people were encouraged to download the screensaver which  when their pc was idle  would then send lots of data to sites that peddle the goods and services mentioned in spam messages. lycos said the idea was to get the spam sites running at 95% capacity and generate big bandwidth bills for the spammers behind the sites. but the plan has proved controversial.  monitoring firm netcraft analysed response times for some of the sites targeted by the screensaver and found that a number were completely knocked offline.  the downing of the sites could dent lycos claims that what it is doing does not amount to a distributed denial of service attack. in such attacks thousands of computers bombard sites with data in an attempt to overwhelm them. laws in many countries do not explicitly outlaw such attacks but many nations are re-drafting computer use laws to make them specific offences. lycos europe now appears to have put the plan on hold. the site hosting the screensaver currently shows a holding page  with the words   stay tuned . the numerical internet address of the site has also changed. this is likely to be in response to spammers who have reportedly redirected traffic from their sites back to the lycos screensaver site. the campaign has come under fire from some corners of the web. many discussion groups have said that it set a dangerous precedent and could incite vigilantism.  attacking a spammer s website is like poking a grizzly bear sleeping in your back garden with a pointy stick   said graham cluley  senior technology consultant for sophos.  not only is this screensaver similar in its approach to a potentially illegal distributed denial of service attack  but it also is in danger of turning innocent computer users into vigilantes  who may not be prepared for whatever retaliation the spammers care to dream up.


barkley fit for match in ireland england centre olly barkley has been passed fit for sunday s six nations clash with ireland at lansdowne road.  barkley withdrew from bath s team for friday s clash with gloucester after suffering a calf injury in training. gloucester centre henry paul has also been cleared to play after overcoming an ankle injury. england coach andy robinson  who names his team on wednesday  has called up bath prop duncan bell following phil vickery s broken arm. with vickery sidelined for at least six weeks and julian white out with a neck injury  bell could make his england debut. bell  30  had set his sights on an international career with wales. but last december  the international rugby board confirmed that he could only be eligible for england as he had travelled on tour with them in 1998.  i thought i d burned all my bridges with england when i expressed an interest in wanting to play for wales  so it s fantastic to get this opportunity   he said. bell  who featured in the england a side which beat france 30-20 10 days ago  added:  i recognise that i got into the england a squad because of injuries.  and it s the same again in getting into the senior squad. but now that i have this opportunity i intend to take it fully if selected and play my heart out for my country.   england coach andy robinson could take a gamble and call inexperienced sale sharks prop andrew sheridan into his front row. but sheridan favours the loosehead side of the scrum and a more likely scenario is for uncapped bell - who was among the try-scorers when england a beat france a 30-20 nine days ago - to be drafted in.


connors  rallying cry for british tennis  do you have it in your heart  how much guts do you have  how much do you hate to lose    these are the questions jimmy connors will be asking of britain s brightest tennis hopes in the months  and possibly years  to come. the american legend swept into london on thursday to announce a  long-term  relationship with the lawn tennis association after spending three days at the elite performance winter camp in la manga. and the man who epitomised the phrase  will to win  before lleyton hewitt was even born is clear about the qualities he hopes to convey.  you know  everybody hits the ball well and there s a very fine line between number one and number 100   said connors.  i was that fine line for a long time. but if i can help  i want to be part of teaching kids how to win.   connors is not the first great name to offer his services to the lta - his long-time rival john mcenroe has repeatedly done the same. but connors is at pains to point out that his interest goes well beyond any publicity stunt  and he gave a glowing recommendation to the work of lta performance director david felgate and his team.  britain has a different attitude  the right attitude  in taking the game forward and finding the next wimbledon champion   said connors.  that s something you don t find every day. everybody talks a good game but not everybody puts that into effect.  the impression i came away with after just seeing david and the other coaches for three days was one like i ve never seen before  especially over here.  this is not going to happen overnight  there are no miracle workers  but you re going in the right direction.  the 52-year-old s enthusiasm for the work going on in this country is in marked contrast to his relationship with tennis officials back in america.  i ve had discussions with the usta (united states tennis association) over a number of years   he said.  that s where it (my input) ended.  connors is a straight-talker and will be equally blunt and honest in his dealings with the lta and the cream of britain s young players.  if they re chosen  they ve got to produce   he said.   if not  someone will come and take their place. there s only one number one spot and it s lonely up there  but it s got the best view.  in the year that has seen andrew murray emerge as britain s great new hope  connors rejected suggestions that the scot might be put under too much pressure too soon.  tim henman has a whole country on his shoulder   said connors.  i don t know that pressure  but if you like that it can be a certain push to get on to the next level.  someone s going to have to come and take over from him (henman). if i was andrew murray  i d embrace that. that s what we play for.  despite the emphasis on hard work  training and preparation  connors does admit that the desire required of a champion has to come from within.  the passion i had  i don t know if you can find that   he admitted.  i was also nuts. i say that because there was nothing better for me than to compete on the tennis court.  it was the most important thing in the world for me  and to do that something s got to be not right with you. there was nothing better for me ever than to play tennis in front of 25 000 people.  what i had when i played tennis is what i am. you have to have that  you can t be moulded.


consumer spending lifts us growth us economic growth accelerated in the third quarter  helped by strong consumer spending  official figures have shown.  the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.7% in the july to september period  the commerce department said. the figure marked an increase on the 3.3% growth recorded in the second quarter  but fell short of the 4.2% rate pencilled in by forecasters. the increase reflected the biggest jump in consumer spending in a year.  it was a little softer than the consensus  but not a real surprise   said gary thayer  an economist at ag edwards & sons. friday s growth estimate is one of the last significant pieces of economic data before the 2 november presidential election.  democrat challenger john kerry has criticised president george w bush s handling of the economy  pointing to a net loss of over 800 000 jobs since mr bush took office. analysts said the economy was still not growing fast enough to stimulate large-scale job creation.  it s a pretty good growth rate  but it may not be good enough to create enough jobs   said robert brusca  chief economist at fact and opinion economics in new york. however  president bush is expected to point to commerce department figures showing that consumer spending grew at 4.6% in the third quarter  up from just 1.6% in the second  as evidence that his policies are generating solid growth. consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of all economic activity in the us.  the weaker than expected growth figure makes it less likely that the us federal reserve will raise interest rates next month  economists said.  the economy regained some traction in the third quarter  but the growth is not robust   ag edwards  thayer.  i think that means the fed can take its time raising rates. we ll probably see one more rate hike before the end of the year.  in an effort to pre-empt rising inflation  the federal reserve has pushed through three quarter-point rate rises since june this year  taking borrowing costs to 1.75%. on the financial markets  the dollar fell slightly against the euro and the yen  while the dow jones index of leading us shares was little changed.


britons fed up with net service a survey conducted by pc pro magazine has revealed that many britons are unhappy with their internet service.  they are fed up with slow speeds  high prices and the level of customer service they receive. 17% of readers have switched suppliers and a further 16% are considering changing in the near future. it is particularly bad news for bt  the uk s biggest internet supplier  with almost three times as many people trying to leave as joining.  a third of the 2 000 broadband users interviewed were fed up with their current providers but this could be just the tip of the iceberg thinks tim danton  editor of pc pro magazine.  we expect these figures to leap in 2005. every month the prices drop  and more and more people are trying to switch   he said. the survey found that bt and tiscali have been actively dissuading customers from leaving by offering them a lower price when they phone up to cancel their subscription. some readers were offered a price drop just 25p more expensive than that offered by an alternative operator  making it hardly worth while swapping.  other found themselves tied into 12-month contracts. broadband has become hugely competitive and providers are desperate to hold on to customers. 12% of those surveyed found themselves unable to swap at all.  we discovered a huge variety of problems  but one of the biggest issues is the current supplier withholding the information that people need to give to their new supplier   said tim danton  editor of pc pro.  this breaks the code of practice  but because that code is voluntary there s nothing we or ofcom can do to help   he said. there is a vast choice of internet service providers in the uk now and an often bewildering array of broadband packages. with prices set to drop even further in coming months mr danton advises everyone to shop around carefully.  if you just stick with your current connection then there s every chance you re being ripped off   he warned.


o gara revels in ireland victory ireland fly-half ronan o gara hailed his side s 19-13 victory over england as a  special  win.  the munster number 10 kicked a total of 14 points  including two drop goals  to help keep alive their grand slam hopes. he told bbc sport:  we made hard work of it but it s still special to beat england.  i had three chances to win the game but didn t. we have work to do after this but we never take a victory over england lightly.  ireland hooker shane byrne echoed o gara s comments but admitted the game had been england s best outing in the six nations. byrne said:  it was a really  really hard game but from one to 15 in our team we worked really  really hard.  we just had to stick to our defensive pattern  trust ourselves and trust those around us. all round it was fantastic.  ireland captain brian o driscoll  who scored his side s only try  said:  we are delighted  we felt if we performed well then we would win but with england also having played very well it makes it all the sweeter.  we did get the bounce of the ball and some days that happens and you ve just got to jump on the back of it.   ireland coach eddie o sullivan was surprised that england coach andy robinson said he was certain mark cueto was onside for a disallowed try just before the break.  andy was sitting two yards from me and i couldn t see whether he was offside or not so i don t know how andy could have known   said o sullivan.   what i do know is that england played well and when that happens it makes a very good victory for us.  we had to defend for long periods and that is all good for the confidence of the team.  i think our try was very well worked  it was a gem  as good a try as we have scored for a while.  o sullivan also rejected robinson s contention england dominated the forward play.  i think we lost one lineout and they lost four or five so i don t know how that adds up to domination   he said. o driscoll also insisted ireland were happy to handle the pressure of being considered favourites to win the six nations title.  this season for the first time we have been able to play with the favourites  tag   he said.  hopefully we have proved that today and can continue to keep doing so.  as for my try it was a move we had worked on all week. there was a bit of magic from geordan murphy and it was a great break from denis hickie.


software watching while you work software that can not only monitor every keystroke and action performed at a pc but also be used as legally binding evidence of wrong-doing has been unveiled.  worries about cyber-crime and sabotage have prompted many employers to consider monitoring employees. the developers behind the system claim it is a break-through in the way data is monitored and stored. but privacy advocates are concerned by the invasive nature of such software.  the system is a joint venture between security firm 3ami and storage specialists bridgehead software. they have joined forces to create a system which can monitor computer activity  store it and retrieve disputed files within minutes. more and more firms are finding themselves in deep water as a result of data misuse. sabotage and data theft are most commonly committed from within an organisation according to the national hi-tech crime unit (nhtcu) a survey conducted on its behalf by nop found evidence that more than 80% of medium and large companies have been victims of some form of cyber-crime. bridgehead software has come up with techniques to prove  to a legal standard  that any stored file on a pc has not been tampered with. ironically the impetus for developing the system came as a result of the freedom of information act  which requires companies to store all data for a certain amount of time.  the storage system has been incorporated into an application developed by security firm 3ami which allows every action on a computer to be logged. potentially it could help employers to follow the trail of stolen files and pinpoint whether they had been emailed to a third party  copied  printed  deleted or saved to cd  floppy disk  memory stick or flash card. other activities the system can monitor include the downloading of pornography  the use of racist or bullying language or the copying of applications for personal use. increasingly organisations that handle sensitive data  such as governments  are using biometric log-ins such as fingerprinting to provide conclusive proof of who was using a particular machine at any given time. privacy advocates are concerned that monitoring at work is not only damaging to employee s privacy but also to the relationship between employers and their staff.  that is not the case   said tim ellsmore  managing director of 3ami.  it is not about replacing dialogue but there are issues that you can talk through but you still need proof   he said.  people need to recognise that you are using a pc as a representative of a company and that employers have a legal requirement to store data   he added.


industrial output falls in japan japanese industrial output fell in october while unemployment rose  casting further doubt on the strength of the country s economic recovery.  production dropped 1.6% in october  reflecting a decline in exports  while unemployment levels edged up 0.1% to 4.7%  slightly higher than forecast. the economy has grown for six quarters but growth slowed dramatically in the last quarter amid weaker global demand. japan s government remains optimistic due to strong domestic demand.  analysts had been forecasting a 0.1% rise in month on month industrial output.  according to figures from the ministry of economy  trade and industry (meti)  the decline was led by a fall in demand for electronic parts for mobile phones and digital televisions. although inventories fell 0.7% month on month  they were 36% higher than a year ago.  it s a sign that the economy s adjustment phase is stronger than expected   said takashi yamanaka  an economist with ufj bank. japan downgraded its overall economic assessment earlier this month for the first time in a year.  growth slowed to 0.3% in the quarter ending september 30  down from 6.3% in the first quarter of 2004. experts believe the economy -which stagnated for most of the 1990s -may be entering a softer patch on the back of rising oil prices and the falling dollar. japanese government officials played down the latest data  arguing that domestic consumer demand was still resilient.  the outlook for november is positive so i don t think one can say that conditions have worsened just because of the fall in october   said a meti official. despite the rise in unemployment  jobless figures are still some way below historical highs of recent years. the comparatively weak economic date preyed on shares with the nikkei down 1% in afternoon trade.


cebit opens to mobile music tune cebit  the world s largest hi-tech fair  has opened its doors in hanover for a look at the latest technologies for homes and businesses.  there are more than 6 000 exhibitors registered and about 500 000 visitors are expected to pass through the doors. third generation mobiles  the digital home and broadband are key themes at the show. camera phones will get better resolutions as vendors set out to prove that bigger is definitely better. samsung is set to steal some initial limelight with the launch of a 7-megapixel phone on the opening day.  the sch-v770 has some of the features of high-end digital single lens reflex cameras such as manual focus and the ability to attach a telephoto or wide-angle lens. camera phones are likely to prove an interesting battle ground at the show  said ben wood  principal analyst at research firm gartner.  it is firmly established that cameras are an integral part of phones and now the technology arms race is on in terms of megapixels. there will be a certain amount of  look how big mine is    he said. there will also be increasing focus on music-enabled mobiles.  at 3gsm in cannes everyone went music mad and music is going to be a big theme for all the vendors at cebit   said mr wood. sony ericsson will use the fair to show off the w800 - its recently unveiled walkman branded phone - and there is speculation that motorola may unveil its rokr handset  widely tipped as the first to carry apple s itunes music software. apple and motorola announced they were getting together at the end of last year as a result of a long-standing friendship between motorola s chief executive ed zander and steve jobs.  some analysts think motorola may save the launch for ctia  a wireless show in america the following week  which could be a telling sign about how operators are coming to view the german tech fair.   one of the interesting things is that cebit is clearly a show in decline   said mr wood.  a lot of the big players  such as nokia  are pulling back saying it is hard to justify a big presence at all of the shows. it could be the last big year for cebit   he said. other themes include tv-enabled mobiles which are bound to create a buzz in the halls as vodafone unveils a prototype handset that can show live digital television. there has been a glut of recent headlines about mobile tv - french operators are teaming up  o2 is trialling a system in oxford  uk  and nokia begins trialling a system in finland with the finnish broadcasting company  yle tv and commercial tv channels. cebit could become the battleground for the two competing methods for getting tv on to mobiles  and is also likely to provide a stage for a technology slated to compete with 3g. hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) has been described as  3g on steroids  and could offer consumers much faster download times. for instance  a song which currently takes one and a half minutes to download to a phone could be done in 10 seconds. korean giants lg electronics and samsung will show off hsdpa handsets at the show and the technology is set to be rolled out in the us  europe and korea next year. broadband will continue to be a key theme at the show with internet telephony proving this year s killer application.  germany s largest online service provider  t-online  is tipped to reveal software for low-cost net telephony which would see it competing with its parent company deutsche telekom. cebit is used by many to unveil cutting edge products and in the mobile sphere this is likely to mean a lot of bright  colourful handsets as fashion continues to compete with technology when it comes to the device everyone has in their pockets. rainbow-coloured phones  influenced by handsets from japan  are just one example of how asian companies will stamp their mark on this year s show  at which they will have their biggest ever presence. cebit organisers have created a digital home in hall 25 of the 27 hangar-like buildings that will house the show.  the digital home will be a hyped theme at the show. the house will be totally wired and full of things that can be used for home entertainment   said cebit organiser gabriele dorries.


tokyo says deflation  controlled  the japanese government has forecast that the country s economic growth will slow to 1.6% in the next fiscal year starting in april 2005.  while it predicts this fall from the current 2.1% level  it said it was making progress on ending deflation. the figures were given by economics minister heizo takenaka who said the economy would grow by 2% in 2006/07. he said the consumer price index (cpi) would rise 0.1% in the next fiscal year  the first gain since 2000/01.  we are attempting to make real economic conditions better and to overcome deflation. i think we are on track   said mr takenaka. deflation - or falling consumer prices - has plagued japan for more than five years. to ease the problem the bank of japan has regularly flooded the money market with excess cash to keep short term interest rates at 0% in an attempt to spur economic activity.


ba to suspend two saudi services british airways is to halt its flights from london heathrow to jeddah and riyadh in saudi arabia from 27 march.  the airline said the decision was a commercial one due to reduced passenger demand for the services. ba currently operates four flights per week from heathrow to jeddah  and three weekly journeys to riyadh. it suspended flights to saudi arabia for three weeks in autumn 2003 after a government warning about a  threat to uk aviation interests in saudi arabia .  ba will now suspend the saudi flights - which it says will remain  under constant review  - from 27 march.  the decision to suspend flights between the uk and saudi arabia is a difficult one to make as we have enjoyed a long history of flying between the two countries   said ba director of commercial planning  robert boyle.  however  the routes don t currently make a profitable contribution to our business and we are unable to sustain them while this remains the case.  passengers with flights booked after the suspension date will be contacted by ba for alternative arrangements to be made.


nintendo adds media playing to ds nintendo is releasing an adapter for its ds handheld console so it can play music and video.  the add-on for the ds means people can download tv programmes  film clips or mp3 files to the adaptor and then play them back while on the move. the release of the media add-on is an attempt by the japanese games giant to protect its dominance of the handheld gaming market. nintendo said the media adapter will be available from february in japan.  the nintendo ds is the successor to the hugely successful gameboy handheld game console and went on sale in japan on 2 december. the ds has two screens  one of which is touch sensitive  and also has on-board a short-range wireless link that lets people play against each other.  the launch of the media adapter  and the attempt to broaden the appeal of the device  is widely seen as a response to the unveiling of the sony psp which was built as a multi-purpose media player and game gadget from the start. sony is thought to be preparing pre-packaged movies and music for the psp. the add-on will also work with the gameboy advance sp. nintendo dominates the handheld gaming console world thanks to successive versions of the gameboy. more than 28 million gameboy advance handhelds have been sold around the world. the dual-screen ds is also thought to be selling well with more than 2.5 million expected to be sold by the end of 2004. nintendo said it had no plans to sell the media adapter outside japan. when it goes on sale the adapter is expected to cost about 5000 yen (£25)  roughly the difference in price between the ds and the higher-priced sony psp.


deadline nears for fiat-gm deal fiat and general motors (gm) have until midnight on 1 february to settle a disagreement over a potential takeover.  the deadline marks the point at which fiat will gain the right to sell its car division to gm  part of an alliance agreed in 2000. gm  whose own european operations are losing money  no longer wants to own the unprofitable fiat unit. reports of deadlocked talks sent fiat shares down 1.2% on tuesday  after monday s 4% gain on hopes of a payoff. the us firm is thought to be offering about $2bn (£1.06bn) to extricate itself from the arrangement. it has argued the deal was voided by fiat s decision to sell off fiat s finance arm and halve gm s stake via a capital-raising effort.  the 2000 deal resulted from a race between gm and daimlerchrysler to ally with fiat. the german firm wanted to buy fiat outright. but gianni agnelli  the godfather of the group  wanted to keep control  and preferred gm s offer to buy a 20% stake and give fiat the right to sell in the future  known as a  put option . since then  however  fiat cars have lost market share and the firm has piled up losses  while a plan to raise new money in 2003 cut gm s stake in half to 10%. for its part  gm s european units opel and saab have both had trouble  with opel management threatening to cut 12 000 jobs.  the last thing they need is additional production capacity in europe   said patrick juchemich  auto analyst at sal oppenheim bank.


wilkinson return  unlikely  jonny wilkinson looks set to miss the whole of the 2005 rbs six nations.  england s world cup-winning fly-half said last week he was hoping to recover from his latest injury in time to play some role in the championship. but rob andrew  coach of wilkinson s club side newcastle  said that with only two games left to play wilkinson was unlikely to be fit in time.  it would be irresponsible to put him straight into a test match   andrew told the times. wilkinson is recovering from a knee injury which followed long-term neck and arm injuries. he has not played for england since the world cup final in november 2003  since when the stuttering world champions have lost nine of their 14 matches. wilkinson is aiming to make his third start to the season in the zurich premiership match against harlequins on 13 march.  that game is the day after england play italy in the six nations and six days before their final match of the championship against scotland.  we are hoping jonny will be ready in a fortnight  but it is touch and go   said andrew.  his recovery is going very well and the key now is how he is reintroduced to playing and with it goal-kicking.  he will probably have to come off the bench to start and it would be ridiculous and irresponsible to put him straight back into a test match.  we can t afford to get it wrong with a knee injury. we are in touch with england and they are relaxed about it.  despite not playing for england  wilkinson is still hoping to make the lions tour to new zealand this summer. lions coach sir clive woodward has not set a deadline for when wilkinson has to start playing again in order to be considered for selection.


uefa approves fake grass uefa says it will allow european matches to be played on artificial pitches from the start of next season.  european football s governing body made the decision at a meeting of its executive committee on wednesday. uefa explained that the move  follows comprehensive studies into the sporting and medical aspects of using artificial playing surfaces.  they can be used subject to complying with uefa quality criteria but there use will not be made obligatory. luton  preston  queens park rangers and other clubs used to have plastic pitches during the the 1980s but  after a two-year study  uefa insists the surfaces have moved on. international matches can also be played on such pitches  although games at major tournaments have to be contested on grass. uefa spokesman rob faulkner said:  people in england have bad memories of the artificial pitches of luton and qpr in the 1980s  but the latest generation are completely different and are much more like grass.  we have sanctioned its use from the start of next season but only as long as it is the latest generation of artificial turf and meets a whole series of standards.  several leading clubs from scandinavia  russia and eastern europe - especially those who only play champions league or uefa cup matches in winter - are now expected to instal artificial pitches.


fuming robinson blasts officials england coach andy robinson said he was  livid  after his side were denied two tries in sunday s 19-13 six nations loss to ireland in dublin.  mark cueto s first-half effort was ruled out for offside before the referee spurned tv replays when england crashed over in the dying minutes.  [i m] absolutely spitting. i m livid. there s two tries we ve been cost   robinson told bbc sport.  we ve got to go back to technology. i don t know why we didn t.  south african referee jonathan kaplan ruled that cueto was ahead of charlie hodgson when the fly-half hoisted his cross-field kick for the sale wing to gather.  kaplan then declined the chance to consult the fourth official when josh lewsey took the ball over the irish line under a pile of bodies for what could have been the game-winning try.  i think mark cueto scored a perfectly legal try and i think he should have gone to the video referee on josh lewsey   said robinson.  it is how we use the technology. it is there  and it should be used.   i am still trying to work out the cueto try. i have looked at both  and they both looked tries.  we are very disappointed  and this will hurt  there is no doubt about that.  we are upset now  but the referee is in charge and he has called it his way and we have got to be able to cope with that.   we did everything we could have done to win the game. i am very proud of my players and  with a couple of decisions  this could have been a very famous victory.  i thought we dominated. matt stevens had an awesome game at tighthead prop  while the likes of charlie hodgson  martin corry and lewis moody all came through well.  josh lewsey was awesome  and every one of the forwards stood up out there. given the pressure we were under  credit must go to all the players.  we have done everything but win a game of rugby  but ireland are a good side. they defended magnificently and they ve got every chance of winning this six nations.  england have lost their first three matches in this year s six nations and four out of their six games since robinson took over from sir clive woodward in september.


madagascar completes currency switch madagascar has completed the replacement of its malagasy franc with a new currency  the ariary.  from monday  all prices and contracts will have to be quoted in the ariary  which was trading at 1 893 to the us dollar. the malagasy franc  which lost almost half its value in 2004  is no longer legal tender but will remain exchangeable at banks until 2009. the phasing out of the franc  begun in july 2003  was intended to distance the country from its past under french colonial rule and address the problem of the large amount of counterfeit francs in circulation.  it s above all a question of sovereignty   reuters quoted a central bank official as saying.  it is symbolic of our independence from the old colonial ways. since we left the french monetary zone in 1973 we should have our own currency with its own name.  the ariary was the name of a pre-colonial currency in the indian ocean island state.


german business confidence slides german business confidence fell in february knocking hopes of a speedy recovery in europe s largest economy.  munich-based research institute ifo said that its confidence index fell to 95.5 in february from 97.5 in january  its first decline in three months. the study found that the outlook in both the manufacturing and retail sectors had worsened. observers had been hoping that a more confident business sector would signal that economic activity was picking up.   we re surprised that the ifo index has taken such a knock   said dz bank economist bernd weidensteiner.  the main reason is probably that the domestic economy is still weak  particularly in the retail trade.  economy and labour minister wolfgang clement called the dip in february s ifo confidence figure  a very mild decline . he said that despite the retreat  the index remained at a relatively high level and that he expected  a modest economic upswing  to continue.  germany s economy grew 1.6% last year after shrinking in 2003. however  the economy contracted by 0.2% during the last three months of 2004  mainly due to the reluctance of consumers to spend. latest indications are that growth is still proving elusive and ifo president hans-werner sinn said any improvement in german domestic demand was sluggish. exports had kept things going during the first half of 2004  but demand for exports was then hit as the value of the euro hit record levels making german products less competitive overseas. on top of that  the unemployment rate has been stuck at close to 10% and manufacturing firms  including daimlerchrysler  siemens and volkswagen  have been negotiating with unions over cost cutting measures. analysts said that the ifo figures and germany s continuing problems may delay an interest rate rise by the european central bank. eurozone interest rates are at 2%  but comments from senior officials have recently focused on the threat of inflation  prompting fears that interest rates may rise.


what price for  trusted pc security   you can now buy  trusted computers   but can we really trust the pc vendors  asks technology analyst bill thompson.  if you have recently bought an ibm thinkvantage computer  a dell optiplex  or one of a whole range of laptops from toshiba  hp/compaq or samsung then you may have got more for your money than you realised. inside your shiny new pc is an extra chip called the trusted platform module (tpm) that can be used for a range of hardware-based security features. eventually the tpm will be built into the main processor itself  and if the trusted computing group has its way then you will find one in every piece of hardware you own  from mobile phones to tv set top boxes to children s toys. but for the moment it is a separate piece of hardware  providing enhanced security features to programs that know how to use them. and as part of a well-designed network system  it can provide a lot more security than we enjoy today. a big advantage of the tpm is that it is hardware-based.  at the moment most of us rely on software to keep our information safe and secure. it might be password-protected user accounts  data encryption programs or a firewall  but it all relies on program code running on an inherently insecure processor.  hardware security is less common  even if it is a lot safer. this is partly because it is more expensive to give someone a smartcard than a password  but also because its more work for users  systems administrators and managers. as a result we settle for second best. so when it comes to computer security  trusted systems could be a major step forward. after all  if you have a laptop that will only run programs that have been digitally signed then it will be a lot harder for virus writers to get their malicious code to run. and if all your files are locked automatically then even if you get your computer stolen your personal data will be safeguarded. at the moment support for trusted hardware is not built into major operating systems. instead you have to use special software  like hp s protecttools or wave systems  embassy. this provides file encryption  password management and identity protection  usually for business users who connect to company networks. full support for the trusted computing specification will not be available from microsoft until the next release of windows   longhorn . this will include what microsoft  in a typical act of obscurantism  calls the  next generation secure computing base   and it will give user-level programs access to the trusted computing hardware. when that happens we can expect to see a lot of publicity around the new capabilities  and no doubt the windows security centre will encourage users to turn on their trusted computing capability just as they turn on their firewall. however there is a downside to the increased security from viruses  spyware and data theft that this will provide.  because the trusted computing base is also used to make digital rights management (drm) systems more secure  this will give content providers a lot more control over what we can do with music  movies and books that we have bought from them. we have seen recently how allowing digital rights management services into our lives can lead to unwelcome consequences. users of apple s itunes used to be able to stream the music they had brought to up to five other itunes users  a great way of letting your mates discover your music collection.  but the latest version of itunes limits this capability  just as an earlier upgrade reduced the number of times you could burn a selected playlist of purchased songs to a cd. another took away the ability to play songs downloaded from real s harmony service on your ipod. apple can do this because they wrote the software and they control the rights management. once it is embedded in trusted hardware it will be even harder for dedicated programmers to find their way around these restrictions and give us back the fair use rights that should be guaranteed under copyright law. similarly  users of tivo digital video recorders have found that they cannot record some shows  and other programmes that they have recorded are automatically deleted after a day. this happens because of changes that tivo have made to their software  and the users cannot control it. one wonders whether hardware-based drm will work for those who believe that locking-down digital content is a bad idea  and that the flexibility of copyright law is something that should be embraced and not taken away. it will not work because of the fundamental flaw at the heart of the system: in order for the purchaser to view the content it has to be unlocked. once it is unlocked then someone  somewhere  will figure out a way to make a copy of the unlocked version. and once an unlocked version leaks onto the network it will be uncontrollable. the efforts going into drm would be much better spent building efficient distribution services  finding business models that are based on trusting your customers  and offering high quality downloads at fair prices. what we want is not so much a trusted computing platform as a trusted customer platform. the record companies and the film industry need to recognise that most of us  most of the time  will pay a reasonable amount for good quality material. they will benefit more by building a market in which i can share songs with my friends  record shows i want to watch later  and burn cds for my kids; a market which respects the spirit of copyright law and does not seek to replace it by restrictive contracts or end user agreements. we need to ensure that trusted computing remains under the control of the users and is not used to take away the freedoms we enjoy today.  bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.


eu  too slow  on economic reforms most eu countries have failed to put in place policies aimed at making europe the world s most competitive economy by the end of the decade  a report says.  the study  undertaken by the european commission  sought to assess how far the eu has moved towards meeting its economic targets. in 2000  eu leaders at a summit in lisbon pledged the european economy would outstrip that of the us by 2010. their economic targets became known as the lisbon agenda. but the commission report says that  in most eu countries  the pace of economic reform has been too slow  and fulfilling the lisbon ambitions will be difficult - if not impossible.  only the uk  finland  belgium  denmark  ireland and the netherlands have actually followed up policy recommendations. among the biggest laggards  according to the report  are greece and italy. the lisbon agenda set out to increase the number of people employed in europe by encouraging more older people and women to stay in the workforce. it also set out to raise the amount the private sector spends on research and development  while bringing about greater discipline over public spending and debt levels. combined with high environmental standards and efforts to level the playing field for businesses throughout the eu  the plan was for europe to become the world s most dynamic economy by 2010. next week  the commission will present revised proposals to meet the lisbon goals. many people expect the 2010 target to be quietly dropped.


capriati out of australian open jennifer capriati has become the third leading lady to withdraw from the australian open because of injury.  the organisers of the first grand slam of 2005  which begins on 17 january  said the american has a problem with her right shoulder. it comes as a blow to the women s draw as last year s champion  justin henin-hardenne  and runner-up  kim clijsters  will also be absent. capriati is a two-time champion in melbourne with wins in 2001 and 2002. she is believed to have picked up the injury at the advanta championships at philadelphia in november and had to pull out of an exhibition match with wimbledon champion maria sharapova on 17 december. capriati also decided against competing in the australian open warm-up event  the sydney international.


england 17-18 france england suffered an eighth defeat in 11 tests as scrum-half dimitri yachvili booted france to victory at twickenham.  two converted tries from olly barkley and josh lewsey helped the world champions to a 17-6 half-time lead. but charlie hodgson and barkley missed six penalties between them  while yachvili landed six for france to put the visitors in front. england could have won the game with three minutes left  but hodgson pushed an easy drop goal opportunity wide. it was a dismal defeat for england  coming hard on the heels of an opening six nations loss in wales. they should have put the game well beyond france s reach  but remarkably remained scoreless for the entire second half. a scrappy opening quarter saw both sides betray the lack of confidence engendered by poor opening displays against wales and scotland respectively. hodgson had an early opportunity to settle english nerves but pushed a straightforward penalty attempt wide. but a probing kick from france centre damien traille saw mark cueto penalised for holding on to the ball in the tackle  yachvili giving france the lead with a kick from wide out.  france twice turned over england ball at the breakdown early on as the home side struggled to generate forward momentum  one ben kay charge apart. a spell of tit-for-tat kicking emphasised the caution on both sides  until england refused a possible three points to kick a penalty to the corner  only to botch the subsequent line-out. but england made the breakthrough after 19 minutes  when a faltering move off the back of a scrum led to the opening try. jamie noon took a short pass from barkley and ran a good angle to plough through yann delaigue s flimsy tackle before sending his centre partner through to score at the posts.  hodgson converted and added a penalty after one of several french infringements on the floor for a 10-3 lead. the fly-half failed to dispense punishment though with a scuffed attempt after france full-back pepito elhorga  scragged by lewsey  threw the ball into touch. barkley also missed two longer-range efforts as the first half drew to a close  but by then england had scored a second converted try. after a series of phases lock danny grewcock ran hard at the french defence and off-loaded out of sylvain marconnet s tackle to lewsey. the industrious wing cut back in on an angle and handed off hooker sebastien bruno to sprint over. after a dire opening to the second half  france threw on three forward replacements in an attempt to rectify the situation  wing jimmy marlu having already departed injured. yachvili nibbled away at the lead with a third penalty after 51 minutes.  and when lewis moody was twice penalised - for handling in a ruck and then straying offside - the scrum-half s unerring left boot cut the deficit to two points. barkley then missed his third long-range effort to increase the tension. and after seeing another attempt drop just short  yachvili put france ahead with his sixth penalty with 11 minutes left.  england sent on ben cohen and matt dawson  and after barkley s kick saw christophe dominici take the ball over his own line  the stage was set for a victory platform. but even after a poor scrummage  hodgson had the chance to seal victory but pushed his drop-goal attempt wide. england threw everything at the french in the final frantic moments  but the visitors held on for their first win at twickenham since 1997.  j robinson (capt); m cueto  j noon  o barkley  j lewsey; c hodgson  h ellis; g rowntree  s thompson  p vickery; d grewcock  b kay; j worsley  l moody  m corry.  a titterrell  a sheridan  s borthwick  a hazell  m dawson  h paul  b cohen.  p elhorga; c dominici  b liebenberg  d traille  j marlu; y delaigue  d yachvili; s marconnet  s bruno  n mas; f pelous (capt)  j thion  s betsen  j bonnaire  s chabal.  w servat  j milloud  g lamboley  y nyanga  p mignoni  f michalak  j-p grandclaude.  paddy o brien (new zealand)


england coach faces rap after row england coach andy robinson is facing disciplinary action after criticising referee jonathan kaplan in his side s six nations defeat to ireland.  the rugby football union (rfu) will investigate robinson after deciding not to lodge a complaint against kaplan. robinson may even have to apologise for his comments in order to avoid sanction from the international rugby board. robinson had said he was  livid  about kaplan s decisions on saturday to disallow two england  tries.  the england coach went on to claim that  only one side was refereed .  after reviewing tapes of the match  the rfu decided not to formally complain to the irb over the standard of kaplan s refereeing. instead the rfu said in a statement they would   set out any concerns the england team management may have in a confidential manner .  an irb spokesman said on the matter:  we take all breaches of the code very seriously.  should the rfu resolve the issue to our satisfaction  as happened last month when the scotland coach matt williams apologised for remarks made  it would be the end of the matter.   kaplan has vigorously defended his performance in england s 19-13 defeat at landsdowne road and admitted he was  very disappointed  with robinson s remarks. and the south african has been appointed to take charge of scotland s match against wales on 13 march.  the rfu recently fined northampton coach budge pountney £2 000 and imposed a six-week ban for his criticism of referee steve lander after a premiership match.


how to make a gigapixel picture the largest digital panoramic photo in the world has been created by researchers in the netherlands.  the finished image is 2.5 billion pixels in size - making it about 500 times the resolution of images produced by good consumer digital cameras. the huge image of delft was created by stitching together 600 single snaps of the dutch city taken at a fixed spot. if printed out in standard 300 dots per inch resolution  the picture would be 2.5m high and 6m long.  the researchers have put the image on a website which lets viewers explore the wealth of detail that it captures. tools on the page let viewers zoom in on the city and its surroundings in great detail. the website is already proving popular and currently has more than 200 000 visitors every day.  the image was created by imaging experts from the dutch research and technology laboratory tno which created the 2.5 gigapixel photo as a summer time challenge.  the goal of the project was to be one of the first groups to make gigapixel images. the first image of such a size was manually constructed by us photographer max lyons in november 2003. that image portrayed bryce canyon national park  in utah  and was made up of 196 separate photographs. the panorama of delft is a little staid in contrast to the dramatic rockscape captured in mr lyons  image.  he did it all by hand  which was an enormous effort  and we got the idea that if you use automatic techniques  it would be feasible to build a larger image   said jurgen den hartog  one of the tno researchers behind the project.  we were not competing with mr lyons  but it started as a lunchtime bet.   the dutch team used already available technologies  although it had to upgrade them to be able to handle the high-resolution image.   we had to rewrite almost all the tools   me den hartog told the bbc news website.  all standard windows viewers available would not be able to load such a large image  so we had to develop one ourselves.  the 600 component pictures were taken on july 2004 by a computer-controlled camera with a 400 mm lens. each image was made to slightly overlap so they could be accurately arranged into a composite. the stitching process was also done automatically using five powerful pcs over three days. following the success of this project  and with promises of help from others  the tno team is considering creating a full 360-degree panoramic view of another dutch city  with even higher resolution.


o sullivan quick to hail italians ireland coach eddie o sullivan heaped praise on italy after seeing his side stutter to a 28-17 victory in rome.   it was a hell of a tough game   said o sullivan.  we struggled in the first half because we hadn t the football.  italy played really well. they handled the ball well in terms of kicking it  if that s not an oxymoron.  we said before the game that it might take until 10 minutes from the end for this game to be won  and that s how it turned out.  ireland struggled to cope with italy s fierce start and were indebted to skipper brian o driscoll  who set up tries for geordan murphy and peter stringer.  we had our first attack in the italian half after 22 minutes   said o sullivan.  we had a good return  with three first-half possessions in their half and we scored twice.  the second half was about spending more time in their half.  scrum-half peter stringer was also glad that ireland escaped wtih a victory.  all credit to them   he told bbc sport.  we knew it would be tough coming to rome. they always give us a tough game here and they showed a lot of spirit.  they had a lot of ball in the first half but we got a few scores when we got into their 22.


screensaver tackles spam websites net users are getting the chance to fight back against spam websites  internet portal lycos has made a screensaver that endlessly requests data from sites that sell the goods and services mentioned in spam e-mail. lycos hopes it will make the monthly bandwidth bills of spammers soar by keeping their servers running flat out. the net firm estimates that if enough people sign up and download the tool  spammers could end up paying to send out terabytes of data.   we ve never really solved the big problem of spam which is that its so damn cheap and easy to do   said malte pollmann  spokesman for lycos europe.  in the past we have built up the spam filtering systems for our users   he said   but now we are going to go one step further.    we ve found a way to make it much higher cost for spammers by putting a load on their servers.  by getting thousands of people to download and use the screensaver  lycos hopes to get spamming websites constantly running at almost full capacity. mr pollmann said there was no intention to stop the spam websites working by subjecting them with too much data to cope with. he said the screensaver had been carefully written to ensure that the amount of traffic it generated from each user did not overload the web.  every single user will contribute three to four megabytes per day   he said   about one mp3 file.  but  he said  if enough people sign up spamming websites could be force to pay for gigabytes of traffic every single day. lycos did not want to use e-mail to fight back  said mr pollmann.  that would be fighting one bad thing with another bad thing   he said.  the sites being targeted are those mentioned in spam e-mail messages and which sell the goods and services on offer.  typically these sites are different to those that used to send out spam e-mail and they typically only get a few thousand visitors per day. the list of sites that the screensaver will target is taken from real-time blacklists generated by organisations such as spamcop. to limit the chance of mistakes being made  lycos is using people to ensure that the sites are selling spam goods. as these sites rarely use advertising to offset hosting costs  the burden of high-bandwidth bills could make spam too expensive  said mr pollmann. sites will also slow down under the weight of data requests. early results show that response times of some sites have deteriorated by up to 85%. users do not have to be registered users of lycos to download and use the screensaver. while working  the screensaver shows the websites that are being bothered with requests for data. the screensaver is due to be launched across europe on 1 december and before now has only been trialled in sweden. despite the soft launch  mr pollmann said that the screensaver had been downloaded more than 20 000 times in the last four days.  there s a huge user demand to not only filter spam day-by-day but to do something more   he said  before now users have never had the chance to be a bit more offensive.


cactus diet deal for phytopharm a slimming aid made from a southern african cactus is set to be developed by uk firm phytopharm and unilever.  anglo-dutch food giant unilever will help the pharmaceutical firm develop the snacks containing hoodia extract. phytopharm shares jumped 10.7% on the news  with analysts saying sales of $600m (£309m) a year were possible. the plant  licensed to phytopharm in 1997  has been used for thousands of years by the sans bushmen of the kalahari desert to stave off hunger. studies have reportedly shown the plant curbs appetite instead of reducing calorific intake like many existing products.  phytopharm will receive an initial fee of £6.5m from unilever - out of a potential total of £21m - as well as future royalties on product sales. under the deal  production of the hoodia cactus at phytopharm s nursery in south africa will also rise from eight million plants to potentially hundreds of millions  said phytopharm chief executive richard dixey. the firm had initially hoped to market a slimming drug from hoodia with pfizer. but the research collaboration came to an end in 2003. analysts said unilever could launch the new products in 2007.  this deal goes a long way to restoring the market faith in phytopharm s pipeline after the pfizer exit   said analyst erling refsum at nomura.


slow start to speedy net services faster broadband in the uk is becoming a reality as more internet providers offer super-fast services.  some lucky britons can already take advantage of uk online s 8 megabits per second service  which was launched in november 2004. bt retail has announced that it will trial the same speed service  with a national rollout by year end. other service providers are expected to follow suit and a glut of new voice and video services will follow.   if the bandwidth is there then isps will buy it   said jill finger  a research director at analyst firm idc. others will be watching bt retail s trials  which is initially for employees and later in the summer for customers  with interest. for bt retail  she said  the super-fast service could be a way of differentiating it from other players.  it has been losing market share and this could be one way of gaining some of that back   said ms finger. wanadoo is set to trial an 8mbps service in the summer and also plans to roll out unbundled services - which means it takes over the network from bt - which will provide speeds of up to 15mbps. there is no timetable for this at the moment. cable firms ntl and telewest are also bound to increase bandwidth at some time in the future and  according to an ntl spokesman  are in a better position than bt in the long term.  bt s network is limited compared to that of cable. with all the other services coming on stream such as video on demand  the question is will 8mbps be enough   he asked.


budget aston takes on porsche british car maker aston martin has gone head-to-head with porsche s 911 sports cars with the launch of its cheapest model yet.  with a price tag under £80 000  the v8 vantage is tens of thousands of pounds cheaper than existing aston models. the vantage is  the most important car in the history of our company   said aston s chief executive ulrich bez. aston - whose cars were famously used by james bond - will unveil the vantage at the geneva motor show on thursday. mr bez - himself a former executive at rival porsche - said the new car was the company s  most affordable car ever and makes the brand accessible . this in turn would make aston martin  globally visible  but still very  very exclusive   he added.  first shown as a concept car at the 2003 north american international auto show in detroit  the v8 vantage will be available in the uk in late summer. development costs for the vantage have been kept low by sharing a platform with aston s db9  which mr bez described as  the previous most important car for our company . there is currently an 18 months waiting list for the db9  mr bez said. the vantage will be built at the new aston factory in gaydon  near warwick  and should more than double aston s total output from about 2 000 presently.


musical future for phones analyst bill thompson has seen the future and it is in his son s hands.  i bought my son max a 3g phone  partly because they are so cheap and he needed a phone  and partly because i am supposed to know about the latest technology and thought i should see how they work in real life. after using it for a while i am not at all tempted to get rid of my sonyericsson p800 smart phone. that has a relatively large screen  even if it does only have slower gprs access to the network. i can read my e-mail  surf the web using a proper browser and write stuff using the stylus on its touch screen. last week someone e-mailed me a document that had been compressed into a zip file  and i was pleasantly surprised to discover that my phone even knew how to decompress it for me. by contrast the confusing menus  complicated keyboard and truly irritating user interface of max s 3g phone simply get in the way  and i did not see much value in the paid-for services  especially the limited web access. the videos of entertainment news  horoscopes and the latest celebrity gossip did not appeal  and i did not see how the small screen could be useful for any sort of image  never mind micro-tv.  but then max started playing  and i realised i was missing the point entirely.  it is certainly not a great overall experience  but that is largely due to the poor menu system and the phone layout: the video content itself is compelling. the quality was at least as good as the video streaming from the bbc website  and the image is about the same size. max was completely captivated  and i was intrigued to discover that i had nearly missed the next stage of the network revolution. it is easy to be dismissive of small screens  and indeed anyone of my generation  with failing eyesight and the view that  there s never anything worth watching on tv   is hardly going to embrace these phones. but just as the world wide web was the  killer application  that drove internet adoption  music videos are going to drive 3g adoption. with vodafone now pushing its own 3g service  and 3 already established in the uk  video on the phone is clearly going to become a must-have for kids sitting on the school bus  adults waiting outside clubs and anyone who has time to kill and a group of friends to impress.  this will please the network operators  who are looking for some revenue from their expensively acquired 3g licences. but it goes deeper than that: playing music videos on a phone marks the beginning of a move away from the  download and play  model we have all accepted for our ipods and mp3 players. after all  why should i want to carry 60gb of music and pictures around with me in my pocket when i can simply listen to anything i want  whenever i want  streamed to my phone  oh - and of course you can always use the phone to make voice calls and send texts  something which ensures that it is always in someone s pocket or handbag  available for other uses too. i have never really approved of using the internet protocol (ip)  to do either audio or video streaming  and i think that technically it is a disaster to make phone calls over the net using  voice over ip .  but i have to acknowledge that the net  at least here in the developed western countries  is fast and reliable enough to do both.  i stream radio to my computer while i work  and enjoy hearing the bizarre stations from around the world that i can find online but nowhere else. i am even playing with internet telephony  despite my reservations  and i appear on go digital on the world service  streamed over the web each week. but 3g networks have been designed to do this sort of streaming  both for voice and video  which gives them an edge over net-based ip services. the 3g services aren t quite there yet  and there is a lot to be sorted out when it comes to web access and data charges. vodafone will let you access its services on vodafone live! as part of your subscription cost but it makes you pay by the megabyte to download from other sites - this one  for example. this will not matter to business users  but will distort the consumer market and keep people within the phone company s collection of partner sites  something that should perhaps be worrying telecoms regulator ofcom. but we should not see these new phones simply as cut-down network terminals. if i want fast access to my e-mail i can get a 3g card for my laptop or hook up to a wireless network. the phone is a lot more  and it is as a combination of mini-tv  personal communications device and music/video player that it really works. there is certainly room in the technology ecosystem for many different sorts of devices  accessing a wide range of services over different networks. 3g phones and ipods can co-exist  at least for a while  but if i had to bet on the long term i would go for content on demand over carrying gigabytes in my pocket. or perhaps some enterprising manufacturer will offer me both. an mp3g player  anyone   bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.


broadband in the uk growing fast high-speed net connections in the uk are proving more popular than ever.  bt reports that more people signed up for broadband in the last three months than in any other quarter. the 600 000 connections take the total number of people in the uk signing up for broadband from bt to almost 3.3 million. nationally more than 5 million browse the net via broadband. britain now has among the highest number of broadband connections throughout the whole of europe.  according to figures gathered by industry watchdog  ofcom  the growth means that the uk has now surpassed germany in terms of broadband users per 100 people. the uk total of 5.3 million translates into 7.5 connections per 100 people  compared to 6.7 in germany and 15.8 in the netherlands. the numbers of people signing up to broadband include those that get their service direct from bt or via the many companies that re-sell bt lines under their own name. part of the surge in people signing up was due to bt stretching the reach of adsl - the uk s most widely used way of getting broadband - beyond 6km.  asymmetric digital subscriber line technology lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. the standard speed is 512kbps  though faster connections are available.  this breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas   said paul reynolds  chief executive of bt wholesale which provides phone lines that other firms re-sell. bt retail  which sells net services under its own name  also had a good quarter and provided about 30% of the new broadband customers. this was a slight increase on the previous three months. despite the good news about growth in broadband  figures from telecommunications regulator ofcom show that bt faces increasing competition  and dwindling influence  in other sectors. local loop unbundling  (llu)  in which bt rivals install their hardware in exchanges and take over the line to a customer s home or office  is growing steadily. cable & wireless and ntl have announced that they are investing millions to start offering llu services. by the end of september more than 4.2 million phone lines were using so-called carrier pre-section (cps) services  such as talktalk and one.tel  which route phone calls across non-bt networks from a local exchange. there are now more than 300 different firms offering cps services and the percentage of people using bt lines for voice calls has shrunk to 55.4%.


roddick to face saulnier in final andy roddick will play cyril saulnier in the final of the sap open in san jose on sunday.  the american top seed and defending champion overcame germany s tommy haas  the third seed  7-6 (7-3) 6-3.  i was feeling horrible earlier in the week   roddick said.  i thought tonight was a step in the right direction.  saulnier battled to a 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-3 win over seventh seed jurgen melzer  who twisted his ankle early in the second set. roddick won the last four points of the first-set tie-break before being broken at the start of the second set. but he broke straight back and then broke haas again to lead 4-2.  it s extremely frustrating when you have chances against a top-five player and don t do anything with them   admitted haas.  i rushed a few backhands and he took advantage.  saulnier will move into the world s top 50 for the first time after his passage through to the final.  it s taken a lot of work and a lot of fighting in my mind   he revealed.  sometimes i didn t believe i could get to a final and now i am here. i ve stayed mentally strong.  i m on the way. i ll keep fighting and work a lot and i ll be up there.


ebbers denies worldcom fraud former worldcom chief bernie ebbers has denied claims that he knew accountants were doctoring the books at the firm.  speaking in court  mr ebbers rejected allegations he pressured ex-chief financial officer scott sullivan to falsify company financial statements. mr sullivan  made accounting decisions   he told the federal court  saying his finance chief had  a keen command of the numbers . mr ebbers has denied charges of fraud and conspiracy. during his second day of questioning in the new york trial mr ebbers played down his working relationship with mr sullivan and denied he frequently met him to discuss company business when questioned by the prosecution.   in a lot of weeks  we would speak ... three or four times   mr ebbers said  adding that conversations about finances were rarely one-on-one and were usually discussed by a  group of people  instead.  mr ebbers relationship to mr sullivan is key to the case surrounding financial corruption that led to the collapse of the firm in 2002 following the discovery of an $11bn accounting fraud. the prosecution s star witness is mr sullivan  one of six worldcom executives indicted in the case  he has pleaded guilty to fraud and appeared as a prosecution witness as part of an agreement with prosecutors. during his time on the witness stand mr sullivan repeatedly told jurors he met frequently with mr ebbers  told him about changes made to worldcom s accounts to hide costs and had warned him such practises were improper. however during the case on tuesday mr ebbers denied the allegations.  i wasn t advised by scott sullivan of anything ever being wrong   he told the court.  he s never told me he made an entry that wasn t right. if he had  we wouldn t be here today.  mr ebbers could face a jail sentence of up to 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing. shareholders lost about $180bn in worldcom s collapse  20 000 workers lost their jobs and the company went bankrupt. the company emerged from bankruptcy last year and is now known as mci.


china now top trader with japan china overtook the us to become japan s biggest trading partner in 2004  according to numbers released by japan s finance ministry on wednesday.  china accounted for 20.1% of japan s trade in 2004  compared with 18.6% for the us. in 2003  the us was ahead with 20.5% and china came second with 19.2%. the change highlights china s growing importance as an economic powerhouse. in 2004  japan s imports from and exports to china (and hong kong) added up to 22 201bn yen ($214.6bn;£114.5bn). this is the highest figure for japanese trade with china since records began in 1947. it compares with 20 479.5bn yen in trade with the us.  trade with the us during 2004 was hurt by one-off factors  including a 13-month ban on us beef imports following the discovery of a cow infected with mad cow disease (bse) in the us. however  economists predict china will become an even more important japanese trading partner in the coming years. on tuesday  figures showed china s economy grew by 9.5% in 2004 and experts say the overall growth picture remains strong. analysts see two spurs to future growth as being china s membership of the world trade organisation and lower trade tariffs. during 2004  japan s trade surplus grew 17.9% to 12.011 trillion yen  with more than half the surplus  6.962 trillion yen  accounted for by its trade with the us. in december  the surplus grew 1.8% on a year ago to 1.14 trillion yen thanks to stronger-than-expected exports.


downing injury mars uefa victory middlesbrough boss steve mcclaren hopes that stewart downing did not seriously damage his hamstring during the 2-1 uefa cup win over graz ak.  the winger was carried off on a stretcher in the closing stages as boro booked their place in the last 16. mcclaren said:  stewart has tweaked a hamstring  which is a blow for us. we will assess it in the morning.  but i m delighted with the match result. they say in sport you can win ugly - and we certainly did.  mcclaren was relieved to make it through after a tough encounter at the riverside.   to be fair to graz  they had a gameplan - they knocked the ball forward  especially in the first half  and we struggled to deal with it.  in the second half we were better but it was frustrating because we got the goal - but one slip and they were back in it.  boro face sporting lisbon for a place in the quarter-finals after the portuguese side saw off feyenoord on thursday. and mcclaren added:  sporting are technically very good - portuguese sides always are.  but the journey goes on for us and we will now go to their magnificent stadium - after the first game here - we ll look forward to it.  goalscorer jimmy floyd hasselbaink added:  it wasn t a particularly beautiful match to watch - but they made it difficult for us.  we didn t play well at all. but you need a little bit of luck and i think we got that when my shot went through the legs of their goalkeeper.  i would have liked to play in holland - that would have been a little bit special to me.  but so is going back to portugal - i ll be playing against some lads i played with at boavista.


web radio takes spanish rap global spin the radio dial in the us and you are likely to find plenty of spanish-language music. but what you will not find is much spanish-language hip-hop.  hip-hop and rap are actually quite popular in the spanish-speaking world  but local artists are having trouble marketing their work abroad. but now  a us company is bringing rap and hip-hop en espanol to computer users everywhere. los caballeros de plan g are one of mexico s hottest hip-hop acts. they have a devoted fan base in their native monterrey. but most mexican hip-hop fans  not to mention fans in most of the spanish-speaking world  rarely get a chance to hear the group s tracks on the radio.   you can t really just go on the radio and listen to hip-hop in spanish... it s just not accessible   says manuel millan  a native of san diego  california.  it s really hard for the spanish hip-hop scene to get into mainstream radio. you usually have a very commercialised sound and the groups are not really known around the country or around the world.  millan and two friends set out to change that - they wanted to make groups like los caballeros de plan g accessible to fans globally.  mainstream radio stations were not going to play this kind of music  and starting their own broadcast station was economically impossible. so  millan and his friends launched a website called latinohiphopradio.com. the name says it all: it is web-based radio  devoted to the hottest spanish language rap and hip-hop tracks. the site  which is in both in english and spanish  is meant to be easy to navigate. all the user has to do is download a media player. there are no djs. it is just music streamed over the net for free. suddenly  with the help of the website  los caballeros de plan g are producing  export quality  rap.  the web might be just the right medium for spanish language hip-hop right now. the genre is in what millan calls its  infant stage . but the production values are improving  and artists such as argentina s mustafa yoda are pushing to make it better and better. mustafa yoda is currently one of the hottest tracks on latinohiphopradio.com.  he s considered the eminem of argentina  and the latin american hip-hop scene   millan says.  he really hasn t had that much exposure as far as anywhere in the world  but he s definitely the one to look out for as far as becoming the next big thing in the spanish-speaking world.  currently  the chilean group makisa is also in latinohiphopradio.com s top 10  as is cuban artist papo record.  every country s got it s own cultural differences and they try to put those into their own songs   millan says. latinohiphopradio.com has been up and running for a couple of months now. the site has listeners from across the spanish speaking world. right now  mexico leads the way  accounting for about 50% of listeners. but web surfers in spain are logging in as well - about 25% of the web station s traffic comes from there. that is not surprising as many consider spain to be the leader in spanish-language rap and hip-hop. millan says that spain is actually just behind the united states and france in terms of overall rap and hip-hop production. that might be changing  though  as more and more latin american artists are finding audiences.  but one spaniard is still firmly in latinohiphopradio.com s top 10. his name is tote king and manuel millan says that he is the hip-hop leader in spain. on his track uno contra veinte emcees  or one against 20 emcees  tote king shows he is well aware of that fact.  it s basically him bragging that he s one of the best emcees in spain right now   millan says.  and it s pretty much true. he has the tightest productions  and his rap flow is impeccable  it s amazing.  latinohiphopradio.com is hoping to expand in the coming year. millan says they want to include more music and more news from the world of spanish language hip-hop and rap.  clark boyd is technology correspondent for the world  a bbc world service and wgbh-boston co-production.


apple unveils low-cost  mac mini  apple has unveiled a new  low-cost macintosh computer for the masses  billed as the mac mini.  chief executive steve jobs showed off the new machine at his annual macworld speech  in san francisco. the $499 macintosh  sold for £339 in the uk  was described by jobs as the  most important mac  made by apple. mr jobs also unveiled the ipod shuffle  a new music player using cheaper flash memory rather than hard drives  which are used in more expensive ipods.  the new computer shifts the company into new territory - traditionally  the firm is known as a design and innovation-led firm rather than as a mass-market manufacturer. the mac mini comes without a monitor  keyboard and mouse  and a second version with a larger hard drive will also be sold for $599.  the machine - which will be available from 22 january - was described by jobs as  byodkm... bring your own display  keyboard  and mouse . in an attempt to win over windows pc customers  mr jobs said it would appeal to people thinking of changing operating systems.  people who are thinking of switching will have no more excuses   he said.  it s the newest and most affordable mac ever.  the new computer has been the subject of speculation for several weeks and while few people will be surprised by the announcement many analysts had already said it was a sensible move. in january  apple sued a website after it published what it said were specifications for the new computer. ian harris  deputy editor of uk magazine mac format  said the machine would appeal to pc-owning consumers who had purchased an ipod.   they want a further taste of mac because they like what they have seen with ipod.  harris added:  everybody thought that apple was happy to remain a niche maker of luxury computers  and moving into a market dominated by low margin manufacturers like dell is a bold move.  but it shows that apple is keen to capitalise on the mass market success it s had with the ipod. the mac mini will appeal to pc users looking for an attractive   no fuss  computer.  the new ipod shuffle comes in two versions - one offering 512mb of storage for $99 (£69 in the uk) and a second with one gigabyte of storage for $149 (£99) - and went on sale tuesday. the music player has no display and will play songs either consecutively or shuffled. the smaller ipod will hold about 120 songs  said mr jobs. mr jobs told the delegates at macworld that ipod already had a 65% market share of all digital music players.


slim playstation triples sales sony playstation 2 s slimmer shape has proved popular with uk gamers  with 50 000 sold in its first week on sale.  sales have tripled since launch  outstripping microsoft s xbox  said market analysts chart-track. the numbers were also boosted by the release of the ps2-only game grand theft auto: san andreas. the title broke the uk sales record for video games in its first weekend of release. latest figures suggest it has sold more than 677 000 copies.   it is obviously very  very encouraging for sony because microsoft briefly outsold them last week   john houlihan  editor of computerandvideogames.com told bbc news.  and with halo 2 [for xbox] out next week  it really is a head-to-head contest between them and xbox.   although xbox sales over the last week also climbed  ps2 sales were more than double that. the figures mean sony is reaching the seven million barrier for uk sales of the console. edinburgh-based developer  rockstar  which is behind the gta titles  has seen san andreas pull in an estimated £24m in gross revenues over the weekend. in comparison  blockbuster films like harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban took £11.5m in its first three days at the uk box office. the lord of the rings: the return of the king took nearly £10m over its opening weekend  although games titles are four to five times more expensive than cinema tickets.  gangster-themed gta san andreas is the sequel to grand theft auto vice city which previously held the record for the fastest-selling video game ever. the xbox game halo 2  released on 11 november in the uk  is also widely tipped to be one of the best-selling games of the year. the original title won universal acclaim in 2001  and sold more than four million copies.  mr houlihan added that sony had done well with the ps2  but it definitely helped that the release of san andreas coincided with the slimline ps2 hitting the shelves. the run-up to christmas is a huge battlefield for games consoles and titles. microsoft s xbox had been winning the race up until last week in sales. the sales figures also suggest that it may be a largely adult audience driving demand  since gta san andreas has an 18 certificate. sony and microsoft have both reduced console prices recently and are preparing the way for the launches of their next generation consoles in 2005.  both have hit crucial price points at around £100 and that really does open up new consoles to new audience  plus the release of two really important games in terms of development are also driving those sales   said mr houlihan.


hantuchova in dubai last eight daniela hantuchova moved into the quarter-finals of the dubai open  after beating elene likhotseva of russia 7-5 6-4  and now faces serena williams.  australian open champion williams survived an early scare to beat russia s elena bovina 1-6 6-1 6-4. world number one lindsay davenport and anastasia myskina also progressed. davenport defeated china s jie zheng 6-2 7-5  while french open champion myskina sailed through after her opponent marion bartoli retired hurt. american davenport will now face fellow former wimbledon champion  conchita martinez of spain  who ousted seventh-seeded nathalie dechy of france 6-1 6-2. myskina will face eighth-seed patty schnyder from switzerland  who defeated china s li na 6-3 7-6 (10-8). the other quarter final pits wild card sania mirza of india against jelena jankovic of serbia and montenegro  who both won on tuesday.  before her meeting with martinez  davenport believes there is some room for improvement in her game.  i started well and finished well  but played some so-so games in the middle   she said. williams was also far from content.  i don t know what i was doing there   she said.  it was really windy and i hadn t played in the wind. all my shots were going out of here.  but hantuchova is in upbeat mood ahead of her clash with the younger williams sister  who was handed a first-round bye.  i feel i have an advantage (over serena) because i have already played two matches on these courts   she said.  it is a difficult court to play on. very fast and sometimes you feel you have no control over the ball.


france telecom gets orange boost strong growth in subscriptions to mobile phone network orange has helped boost profits at owner france telecom.  orange added more than five million new customers in 2004  leading to a 10% increase in its revenues. increased take-up of broadband telecoms services also boosted france telecom s profits  which showed a 5.5% rise to 18.3bn euros ($23.4bn; £12.5bn). france telecom is to spend 578m euros on buying out minority shareholders in data services provider equant.  france telecom  one of the world s largest telecoms and internet service providers  saw its full-year sales rise 2.2% to 47.2bn euros in 2004.  orange enjoyed strong growth outside france and the united kingdom - its core markets - swelling its subscriber base to 5.4 million. france telecom s broadband customers also increased  rising to 5.1 million across europe by the end of the year. the firm said it had met its main strategic objectives of growing its individual businesses and further reducing its large debt. an ill-fated expansion drive in the late 1990s saw france telecom s debt soar to 72bn euros by 2002. however  this has now been reduced to 43.9bn euros.  our results for 2004 allow us to improve our financial structure while focusing on the innovation that drives our strategy   said chief executive thierry breton.  looking ahead  the company forecast like-for-like sales growth of between 3% and 5% over the next three years. france telecom is consolidating its interest in equant  which provides telecoms and data services to businesses. subject to approval by shareholders of the two firms  it will buy the shares in equant it does not already own. france telecom said it would fund the deal by selling an 8% stake in telephone directory company pagesjaunes.