It's not just a British phenomenon, either. Computers are being attacked in offices, homes and hotel rooms around the world. If you smack a machine when the hard drive is spinning, you can kill the hard drive. But some support people said many people have simply become accustomed to abusing machines. It is not uncommon for them to hit their televisions, their scooters and their computers.
Techies smack their machines as often as non-techies do.
Novatech's David Furby said the company was surprised that a full 25 percent of survey respondents confessed to physically attacking their computers. Under a new program being sponsored by a Silicon Valley hospital, some Northern California newborns will get a domain name within minutes of being born. The Silicon Valley hospital is the first in North America to offer free Internet domains and e-mail addresses for babies. According to their claims, by next year passengers will be able to connect to the Internet and their e-mail accounts using laptop computers, watch live television and even tap into their companies' databases during a flight. But don't expect their claims to materialize too quickly.