The week in review: Sobig, broadband and Ratbots

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The week started pretty well for some who are attached to the tech industry in one way or another. Take Phillip Adams, who made £27.5m for helping HP out of a tight spot... while down at our local takeaway, thieves helped themselves to a few bags of chips from a tight spot.
HP accused of 'improper tactics' in disk drive probe
£6m in PC chips stolen at Heathrow
Not everyone had it so easy, as in arrivals another virus turned up with its own SMTP engine continuing the trend toward bypassing Outlook. And Kazaa was the recipient of some bad news; the US government may abhor the idea of an international criminal court, but that does not stop its own legal system extending its reach ever further abroad.
Sobig worm stomps on PCs
Judge: Kazaa can be sued in US Twelve months from now, you maybe able to surf at broadband speeds while travelling on a plane. Boeing and Lufthansa began a trial this week of a service that allows passengers to share a 20Mbps connection while in the air -- making Wi-Fi in the sky a reality. If Boeing can get broadband working at 30,000 feet, it makes you wonder what's stopping certain telcos from rolling it out a bit more aggressively on the ground. And firmly back on the ground, if there's a bandwagon rolling past, Virgin can always be counted on to jump on it.
Broadband joins the Mile-High Club
Virgin cuts broadband prices Elsewhere the concept of linking wireless networks like lily pads was floated, but we think its more likely to sink. At least the ratbots will have a fighting chance. Now we're not sure what the analysts have been on over Christmas, but they have come back from the break with some pretty wacky predictions.
Tech's future -- smart dust and ratbots One of Europe's top providers of algorithmic, non-commercial search results has teamed with the region's top commercial listings provider. Is this what they call Googlewhacking?
European search partners fight US threat Talking of Europe, you can now find out how European countries stack up where it comes to technology -- or at least how they think they compare. Why is it that over half of Italians think they know all about their technology products, yet only 26 percent can get a PC running?
Europe embraces the digital lifestyle And finally here's a cautionary tale; one man's trash is another man's treasure, or corporate data, or credit card numbers. The lesson is, be careful what you throw away.
Old hard drives yield data bonanza

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BrownieBoy

> I'm told it's somewhat annoying when people have their Macs stolen > and Apple stores treat the thief as the owner, but there you go. Ouch,...

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@BrownieBoy > Works really well for thieves.... >> Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally >> irrelevant, even...

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