It seems that online poker is the latest way to make a fortune.  Not by playing it, of course, but by owning the websites where people play.  The Guardian reports that the owners of the most popular website (PartyPoker) are going to become billionaires when the company floats. Don’t surprise me – several of my…

I think I overlooked this rather fine rant from Henry a week or so ago.  He is complaining that Internet fraud against banks is only a problem because a small minority ignore all the warnings and click on links that take them to fraudulent websites.  Yet HSBC are now making life more difficult for all…

Why is that so many gadgets are just too damn clever for their own good? I have a Treo 270. If it worked properly it would be a good smartphone (phone + PDA). If it worked properly, which sadly it does not. Charging its battery ought to be as simple as plugging in the power…

I’ve recently received a lot of very helpful emails. I have lost count of the number of emails I have received telling me that my SunTrust account is suspended. I don’t even know what a SunTrust account is! Dear SunTrust client, We recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your Suntrust account may have been…

I get rather irritated with Internet chain letters.  Fortunately I don’t receive many, but when I do I check them against lists of known hoaxes.  Most are stupid or misguided, but some do have an element of truth.  Normally they usually include a warning of some kind, and presumably some people take notice of them…

Is this the worst-designed website of any major organization in Hong Kong? The entry page is bad, but if you select ‘English’ the next screen is even worse. It looks as if an assortment of pictures and links were scattered randomly across the page. Spectacularly awful.

I’m getting rather bored with the latest virus (MyDoom). I have received a few of these email messages containing attachments, and also the follow-ups claiming I have sent out messages containing viruses. I am intrigued by the logic behind this one, which seems to be aimed at people who will open an unexplained attachment from…

I blame the Geeky Kaiser.  He mentioned BlogJet, and so I thought I would try it out.  It’s a useful little program for composing posts, and lets you do more clever formatting than Typepad allows.  Like colors and bullet points.  Unfortunately it seems to be incompatible with the Typepad editor, so if you start with…

Strange story from The Guardian about a guy called Mike Rowe who thought the obvious name for his website was Mike Rowe Soft. A very large software company thought that perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea and asked him to hand over the domain name for $10.

The BBC has asked various well-known people to predict what will happen in 2004. Mostly banal stuff like Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles getting married. A year ago they asked the same thing, and now we can see whether they have come true. Two of the predictions were spot-on: POLITICS – Tony Howard, veteran political…