Jackson’s death to spark massive spam runs

V3.co.uk reports that just hours after the death of pop star Michael Jackson, security vendors are tracking attempts to cash in on the event by spammers and malware writers.

Social media ‘on a par with office gossip’

Just three per cent of UK office-based workers would use social media to communicate important information to their colleagues – a similar proportion as would tell the office gossip the information to share it across the company. That’s according to new research into the way the UK communicates commissioned by Parity , the IT and business solutions company.

Recession drives re-think of meeting madness

Research has found that UK staff spend the equivalent of eight weeks a year in face-to-face meetings. Those in Scotland and the south-east of England come off worst, spending over six hours a week locked away in meetings. The national average is five hours per week.

Twitter reports death of Jeff Goldblum

Apparently Jeff Goldblum is dead:

The Daddy of All Broadband in Hull

The Fibrestream Blog reports that they have created a strategic partnership called NextGenUs to deploy the Daddy of All Broadband in Hull. This is to provide local residents with a choice of similar offerings available elsewhere such as Virgin Media. Fibrestream aims to deploy 100Mbps fibre to the home with HD television and telephone service in the centre of Hull. 

Job: Digital Inclusion Researcher

• 2 year fixed term, full-time
• Salary range: £22k – £24k

The Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering & Sciences at Sheffield Hallam University is seeking to appoint a KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) Associate in collaboration with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, to be located in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Workshop: First Step to Sustainability

Planning for sustainability – Widening your funding base

This workshop is aimed at voluntary and community groups, to enable them to plan for sustainability, by looking at what they want to do in the short and long term and how this can be funded. It will encourage organisations which might presently rely on limited funding streams such as grants, to consider new funding opportunities e.g. contracts and income generation and look at the pro’s and cons of each.

Poll casts doubt on Digital Britain plans

A poll carried out by V3.co.uk casts doubt on plans put forward in Digital Britain report.

• Over a third of V3.co.uk readers illegally download content from the internet because they believe the cost of buying the content legally is too high, according to a poll.
• Another third of readers would not download the content if they had to pay for it, and do so because it is freely accessible.

Footsey 2009

Date: 22 October 2009
Venue: Doncaster Racecourse

The key fixture of 2009 for the UK social economy and beyond

The Big Lottery Fund unveils new funding strategy

Third Sector today reports that the voluntary sector will receive at least 80 per cent of funds and an extra £45m for the recession.

New website for Regional Forums

The network of forums (or is it fora?) across England – like our own Regional Forum – is setting up a website.

Woman in US gets $1.9m fine for file sharing

vnunet.com report today that The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been awarded a $1.92m (£1.16m) decision against a woman accused of sharing music online.

Google integrates Apps with Microsoft Outlook

vnunet.com reports that Google has launched Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook, which it claims will allow customers to use both applications together seamlessly.

Analysts give early thumbs up to Windows 7

vnunet.com reports that although the formal release of Windows 7 is still months away, the new operating system is already being given the thumbs-up by industry analysts.

BBC Children in Need opens summer grants round

BBC Children in Need has opened a new summer grants round for organisations working with disadvantaged children and young people.

Charities have until 15 July to apply.

South Yorkshire Open Forum – Office Give away

Open to all voluntary & community Groups in South Yorkshire

Date: Thursday 23 July 2009 10.30am—3pm
Venue: Unit 30 Bizspace, Bradmarsh Business Park, Bow Bridge Close, Rotherham S60 1BY

Shift Happens 2.0

Date: Monday 29th – Tuesday 30th June
Venue: The York Theatre Royal

Building on the success of last year’s event Shift Happens 2.0 is an opportunity to look at the next evolution in digital technology and its potential for work.

Social Enterprise Investment Fund

The Social Enterprise Investment Fund, which offers grants and loans to the health and social care sector, is now open for business under the management of Government-backed loan fund Futurebuilders England and  Partnerships UK.

Twitter comes of age in Iran

You may have followed my grumpy outpouring about Twitter over the past months. I had already started to see how useful it is through circumstances arising like Stephen Fry being stuck in the lift and Julie Harris (the South West Regional ICT Champion) being stuck in the snow.

It seemed to me that when ordinary people get stuck in an extraordinary situation and need support, there is a distinct role for it. We seem to have happening to a whole population at the moment in Iran.

Digital Britain

The long-awaited Government report on Digital Britain was published this afternoon, and launched by SW Minister Ben Bradshaw. The Report is one of the central policy commitments in the Government’s Building Britain’s Future plan and draft legislative programme.

SMS provider waives charity text donation fees

 Third Sector Online today reports that  a company that provides charity text donation services is believed to be the first to waive its commission on donations to third sector organisations.

ICT Champions go national. It’s a FAQ!

We ICT Champions now have a national website!

Workshop: Using Microsoft Excel to produce budgets and cashflows

Venue: New computer suite at Voluntary Action Wakefield District
Date: Wednesday 24th June
Time: 10:00 until 1:00

Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox to be digital champion

ComputerWeekly.com  today reports that the government is poised to appoint internet pioneer Martha Lane Fox as a digital champion.

The Regional Electronics Initiative (REI)

Your one stop shop for information and advice on the recycling and refurbishment of IT equipment.

The REI is a network of social enterprises across the North of England who refurbish redundant IT equipment and make it available for reuse in their local communities.

Symantec warns of wireless keyboard security threat

vnunet.com today reports that security firm Symantec has uncovered a new form of attack aimed at users of wireless keyboards.

‘Most people without internet have no interest in getting broadband’

The Guardian today reports that research for Ofcom suggests ’self-excluded’ may be barrier to government aim of getting Britain fully online.

Berners Lee on future of web

BBC Technology has a video of  Sir Tim Berners Lee, the man credited with inventing the world wide web, giving an insight to the future of internet use.

Microsoft’s Bing overtakes Yahoo in search stakes

vnunet.com reports that Microsoft’s Bing has already overtaken Yahoo Search to become the second most used search engine across the globe, according to new figures from US web analysis firm StatCounter.

The Guardian Charity Awards

The Guardian Charity Awards showcase excellence among small and medium-sized charities and try to give a much-needed boost to organisations struggling to get profile and funding to enable them to move forward.

First Step to Sustainability Workshop

Planning for sustainability & Widening your funding base

This workshop is aimed at voluntary and community groups, to enable them to plan for sustainability, by looking at what they want to do in the short and long term and how this can be funded. It will encourage organisations which might presently rely on limited funding streams such as grants, to consider new funding opportunities e.g. contracts and income generation and look at the pro’s and cons of each.

Village SOS: BIG and BBC join forces to inspire UK rural revival

A NEW Big Lottery Fund (BIG) scheme to help six rural villages across the UK to regenerate their communities through new business ventures is launching today in partnership with BBC One.

Real Help for Communities – Modernisation Fund Grants Programme:UPDATE

48 members of local and regional Consortia across England are now acting as Local Delivery Agents for the Modernisation Fund Grants programme.

Palm Pre ‘can challenge iPhone’

BBC Technology has a review of the reviews on the new Palm Pre smartphone which launches in the US at the weekend. It is expected in the UK in August. The rumours are that O2 will be the exclusive carrier and that the iPhone will be available across other networks.

Britons say broadband ‘essential’

BBC Technology today reports that many now see broadband access as a basic right.

Windows 7 release date announced

BBC Technology reports that Windows 7, the next major release of the world’s most popular operating system, will be officially available to the public on 22 October.

Modernisation Fund Grants Programme: Online application now open for £1,000 bursaries

From 1 June to 17 July, frontline organisations with an annual turnover of between £150,000 and £750,000 are invited to apply online for a £1,000 bursary from the Government’s Modernisation Fund Grants Programme which is being delivered by Capacitybuilders.

The funding is focused on helping frontline third sector organisations to increase their impact and become more resilient through working more closely with others. It is targeted at third sector organisations engaged in providing services that meet the needs of people and communities affected by the recession.

Future Jobs Fund

Alex Sobel, the new Chief Executive at Social Enterprise Yorkshire and Humber has doen a post about this fund on the SEYH blog:

Conference: Future Users of Cool Technology

Unsheffield’s : ‘Future Users of Cool Technology’ conference is an opportunity for people with an interest in making technology useful for more people, to come together and share ideas.

Will Google Wave revolutionise email?

According to Google, Wave was designed with one simple thought in mind, namely what would email look like if it was invented now.