http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/21/net_neutrality_a_monkey_hangers_guide/

Yesterday, Westminster eForum staged the first debate in the UK on "Net Neutrality" - chaired by former DTI minister Alun Michaels and Shadow DTI Charles Hendry. El Reg gave a brief presentation. Here it is, with selected highlights, and a collection of external links for further reading.

more monkey hanging

And there was me thinking about changing to Vodafone....I think I'm going to be thinking twice about that after reading this.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/14/vodafone_wont_connect/

Vodafone is still refusing to officially recognise the Connect union, which is so keen to represent its members it has taken Vodafone to the government's Central Arbitration Committee to force recognition.

Over half the 200 people working at Vodafone's "Technology: Regional Operations North" office are already members of Connect, which means recognition can be forced on Vodafone to allow collective bargaining on pay, hours, and holiday.

Connect has been fighting for recognition since November last year, and recently went to ACAS with Vodafone in an attempt to negotiate a deal, without success.

Vodafone does not recognise unions in the UK, though its operations in Germany and Ireland do have representation. Vodafone said in a statement it has elected to "follow the statutory recognition route" - which translates as refusing to recognise any union until the law tells it it has to.

"Vodafone continues to value open and direct communication with its employees" - The key word here being "direct", as in not via collective bargaining.

Union membership in high-technology industries has, traditionally, not been very high - when employees can change jobs every month there seems little cause for collective bargining. But as the industry grows up and consolidation constrains the job market, union membership starts to look more attractive.

Connect is currently recognised by BT, O2 and Kingston Communications, though it has members at most of the comms companies, so we can expect similar disputes over the next few years. ®

Cable, Phone Companies Watch Warily

A coalition of big technology companies wants to bring high-speed Internet access to consumers in a new way: over television airwaves. Key to the project ...   more »

More bright Ideas it says, well I think a bright idea would be to turn off the lights at 3:16am on a Sunday morning and save us all from more light polution.

I think the other Mr King would approve of this story that was found by Damien one of our Dev Guys. He found it on Tom's Hardware Guide. Its a classic case of the geek going too far.


"Using your laptop while driving can be hazardous to your health as one Californian man found out. The 28-year-old man died after his Toyota Corolla slammed head on into a Hummer on Highway 99 north of Sacramento. California Highway Patrol Commander Scott Silsbee told UPI that the man was probably lost control because he was typing on a laptop.

Despite the crash, the laptop was still powered on and was plugged into the cigarette lighter. The occupants of the Hummer were slightly hurt and were treated and released.