Aardvark Daily aardvark (ard'-vark) a controversial animal with a long probing nose used for sniffing out the facts and stimulating thought and discussion.

NZ's leading source of Net-Industry news and commentary since 1995
Australasia's "New Economy" News And Commentary Site
Headlines | XML feed | Contact | New Sites | Press Bin | Job Centre | MARKETPLACE | For Sale
Note: This column represents the opinions of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
Lighten Up 8 March 2002 Edition
Previous Edition

Million $ Ideas
At last, the contents of Aardvark's "million-dollar ideas" notebook are revealed for all to see!
Click To See
I'm running low on suggestions for the Lighten Up section again so keep sending in those crazy, funny or plain weird links.

The Turbo Fridge Defroster
Here's some home-grown Kiwi craziness from a guy who really knows how to save time when defrosting his fridge.

The Fish Bonker
No, we're not talking about another fish of the opposite gender -- this is a fisherman's friend.

When Good Tennants Go Bad
If you're the house-proud type then you probably don't want to look at these pictures -- they're bad, really bad.

Aardvark's Web-site Survey Service
If you're launching a new website, upgrading an existing one, or just frustrated that your web-presence isn't peforming as it should then maybe you need an Aardvark Site Survey. Read more...

We Are Half a Billion Strong
The online population has now hit half a billion people world-wide.

That's one awfully big crowd and, as I'm sure the spamware vendors will soon start telling us, a huge market for products and services sold online.

The surprising thing is however, that this half-billion figure is just eight percent of the world's total population. This must surely highlight the massive digital divide that has opened up between the haves and have-nots.

One statistic I'd like to see published is just what percentage of the world's total wealth is owned or controlled by that eight percent of the population. I'm sure this figure would send marketing executives all over the world into spasms of delight.

Readers Say
(updated hourly)
Nothing Yet
Have Your Say

Do You Need Two ISPs?
Most of us know (some learning from bitter experience) that when it comes to computers and data, it is not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.

It's a fact of life that software has bugs and hardware breaks -- so we usually protect ourselves by backing up our data onto CD or tape and making sure that the computers we buy can be readily repaired.

But what about our Internet connectivity? How many of those who rely on the Net for important business communications have gone to the trouble of organising backup connectivity I wonder?

Of course this week has provided a couple of timely reminders that no matter how big an ISP is, they can still suffer irritating outages. Telecom's DSL outages seemed to affect XTRA customers more than others and IHUG's little "oops" yesterday knocked thousands offline for several hours.

I suspect quite a few business now realise that it's well worthwhile to organise a backup account with another ISP "just in case." If a low-cost metered account is used then it might cost just a few cents a day to have alternative connectivity ready to go if your main supplier has an outage.

Don't forget that the phone service itself can (and from time to time) does fail -- so organising a data-connection for that flash new cellphone can be another great way of saving your bacon in an emergency.

Remember, the key to effective disaster recovery is to organise the backup systems *before* you need them.

Have your say.

Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or page?

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!

Latest
Security Alerts
Microsoft offers patch for Java software (CNet - 06/03/2002)

CERT Warns of Flaws In RADIUS Implementations (InternetNews - 6/03/2002)

Webmasters Urged To Plug PHP Security Hole NewsBytes - 27/02/2002)

MP3 Files Not Always Safe With Top Media Players (NewsBytes - 25/02/2002)

MS server bugs open the door to hackers (ZDNet - 12/02/2002)

Latest
Virus Alerts
Gibe worm poses as a Microsoft update (ZDNet - 6/03/2002)

German worm makes PCs kaput (The Reg - 20/02/2002)

New MSN Messenger Worm (NewsBytes - 14/02/2002)

Bookmark This Page Now!

 

MORE NEWS
NZL Sites
IDG.Net.nz
NZ Netguide
NZ Herald Tech
PC World NZ
Scoop
NZOOM Technology WordWorx

AUS Sites
Fairfax IT
Australian IT
AFR Tech
AUS Netguide
NineMSN Tech
APC Magazine

USA Sites
Wired.com
CNet
CNNfn Tech
TechWeb
Yahoo Tech
ZDNet Tech
USA Today Tech
7am.com SciTech

UK Sites
The Register
BBC SciTech

 

The Day's Top News
Open in New Window = open in new window
New Zealand

Open in New Window Ihug knocked out by hardware fault
Internet service provider ihug says it has fixed an intermittent hardware fault that disrupted its email, web and phone services for over 24 hours...
NZ Herald

Open in New Window JetStream users seek refunds over service problems
Disgruntled Telecom customers are lining up looking for a refund for their JetStream accounts, some of which have been out for up to a day at a time...
IDG

Other

Open in New Window Global Net Population At Half-Billion
A half-billion people worldwide have Internet access at home, with North America showing the greatest number of Net surfers but the slowest growth rate of all, Nielsen//NetRatings reported today...
NewsBytes

Open in New Window Netscape Navigator Browser Snoops On Web Searches
Netscape unit is snooping on searches performed by users of its latest Navigator browser at Google...
NewsBytes

Open in New Window Java phones to go mega this year?
Japan's number three mobile phone company, J-Phone, has claimed another 370,600 users for its 'picture phone' service in the last month, bringing the total up to just under 4 million, or a third of its total users...
The Register

Open in New Window MS Trial: Over? Did You Say Over?
The Justice Department wants it settled. Microsoft wants it settled. Both came together in front of the judge Wednesday to ask for it...
Wired

Open in New Window House Rep's Rap: Unshackle the CD
Anyone who's ever bought a CD only to discover it only plays on certain machines knows the problem with anti-copying technology. A Congressman wants to put an end to the practice...
Wired

Australia

Open in New Window Online pirates strike ARIA as record sales climb
The Australian Record Industry Association has continued to complain about online piracy, despite reporting unit sales increases of 12.8 percent in 2001...
ZDNet

Open in New Window Australian stores run out of new iMac
Australian demand for the new iMac is outstripping supply, and orders keep coming in...
ZDNet

Other

Open in New Window Java-based Passport: Contender or pretender?
An Australian software company has entered into the authentication-systems battle between Sun and Microsoft, claiming to have released the world's first Java-interface to Microsoft.NET My Services...
ZDNet

Open in New Window Boost for digital TV
Jupiter MMXI believes that by 2006 more households across Europe will be watching digital TV than using the internet...
BBC

Open in New Window Invasion of the "Porn Nappers"
Beware: Smut-site owners are waiting to grab your URL if you allow your registration for it to lapse...
BusinessWeek

Open in New Window Microsoft addresses Japan Xbox gripes
Microsoft stepped up its efforts Thursday to deal with an increasing number of customer complaints in Japan about scratched discs in its Xbox video game machine, offering to repair or replace any defective products...
CNet

Open in New Window Sony's PlayStation 2 Goes Online in Beta
Sony has announced that it plans to enable its U.S. users to play games online starting in August 2002. Company sources went on to say that Sony's PlayStation division has already commenced beta testing on the service...
NewsFactor


Looking For More News or Information?

Google
Search WWW Search Aardvark

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2001, Bruce Simpson, republication rights available on request

jet engine page