The silicon.com Weekly Round-Up: 07.02.03

Do you have the kind of boss who wishes the internet had never been invented so all his or her plucky little helpers can spend very second of every waking day focused on the job in hand instead of devoting a harmless five minutes here and there to FriendsReunited or the latest pictures of Britney Spears (or whatever rocks your boat)? Then stick this in their pipes and tell them to smoke it.

A study has found that employees with net access in the office may well waste some time surfing on the job (as it were) - but they tend to make up for it by working from home in what should be their 'personal time'.

The National Technology Readiness Survey, conducted by the University of Maryland's Robert H Smith School of Business, along with marketing company Rockbridge Associates, polled 501 people in December last year and discovered people with web access at home and at work spend an average of 3.7 hours per week surfing sites for personal use while in the office. But they spend more time - 5.9 hours per week - logging on from home to carry out work-related tasks.

The wonderfully named Roland Rust, director of the business school's Centre for e-Service, said: "The survey suggests companies should accept some personal use of the internet at work not only as inevitable but as positive to the organisation. Totally segregating work from personal activities might result in a net decline in work performed, not to mention lower workplace morale."

So there you go. Please boss, can the company pay for me to have internet access at home...? (Well, it's worth asking...)

Latest Archers plot: Virus disaster strikes Ambridge! Well, to be more precise, virus disaster strikes subscribers to the BBC's Archers newsletter... Yep, Auntie Beeb managed to send out the Sobig worm to the thousands of fans of the long-running radio soap who have signed-up for regular Ambridge email updates. The cock-up shouldn't have done too much damage as most anti-virus vendors have updated their software to block the worm following its first appearance in mid-January. But the BBC was suitably repentant. A spokeswoman said: "Despite the BBC's stringent anti-virus protocols, a virus was erroneously sent out to the Archers' mailing list. Immediately we knew this happened, an email was sent out apologising for the error and offering advice on deleting the virus. An internal investigation is currently taking place to ensure a similar incident does not happen in the future."

In a slightly strange 'life imitates art' kind of way, a current Archers storyline has Jolene showing Joe Grundy how to send emails in the new cybercafé set up in The Bull, Ambridge's local boozer. It's non-stop action in The Archers you know...

Is your boss on the fiddle? If he or she has recently been promoted, then watch out. An Ernst and Young survey of 400 companies around the world found half of all frauds are committed by managers who have been in their jobs for less than a year. Indeed, 85 per cent of corporate frauds are committed by people on the payroll: that's 55 per cent by management, and 30 per cent by 'normal' employees. Six per cent of frauds are perpetrated by organised crime syndicates, five per cent by clients and just four per cent by suppliers. So if your boss is new and won't give you net access at home, try telling them you know their dirty little secret - it's a long shot but it might just work...

You may have read recently about the latest threat facing PC users. It's not viruses, or stress, or RSI, or Big Brother bosses. It is in fact deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Research published in the European Respiratory Journal last week reported that a young man in New Zealand nearly died after developing DVT following extended periods of PC use. What was thought to be the first recorded case of 'e-thrombosis' occurred after the man spent up to 18 hours a day using a computer. He developed a large blood clot in his leg which broke off and moved to his lungs. Dr Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, which led the research, said: "It may be similar to the situation with the risk of blood clots with long distance air travel. It was not until there was publicity with individual cases that the real extent of the problem was recognised."

Absolutely. We received an email this week from a silicon.com reader who said: "I can confirm the risks of DVT in those working for extended periods with computers, having suffered a DVT out of the blue in 2001 when I was 59. I work from home, normally spending eight or nine hours a day on the computer, and sometimes another two or three hours in the evening. I had a 'silent' DVT - ie no symptoms apart from a swelling of my calf - and had to have eight months treatment with anticoagulants. I now ensure that I exercise periodically when at the machine, and have hard physical exercise at least once a week."

We've said it before and we'll probably say it again: computers can seriously damage your health...

But here's one that can save your life. Mitsubishi has unveiled its latest robot, which is rather clever. It is designed to give the elderly or infirm a bit of company, and has face and voice recognition built in. It can even contact emergency services if the owner shows signs of serious illness. A report on Ananova states: "Japan has long had a fascination for robot technology, especially machines with humanoid features." Right. That fascination with humanoid features would explain why this thing is bright yellow and resembles a duck who's just run beak-first into a brick wall. Clever it may be, pretty it is not. See http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_747030.html?menu=news.technology

Are you male, single and free on 15 February? Don't worry, the Round-Up's not going to ask you out on a date. It's far too shy. But you may like to know that 1,500 laydees will be waiting for you to whisk them off their feet and show them your DHTML skills (or even a good time) a week on Saturday. The Red Cross is organising its second Desperate and Dateless Ball at the SE One Club in London, and is looking for eligible IT bachelors to go along. So far it's received more enquiries from women than men, making this (in its words) an "unprecedented opportunity for love-hungry men to meet single women". Fancy it? Tickets cost £55 (booze comes free) and are available at http://www.dndball.com or from 0191 512 2276.

And while we're doing our bit for charity, Computer Aid International is still looking for old Pentium PCs. Since its latest campaign was launched last June, 5,000 machines have been donated to the charity, which strips them of all data, refurbishes them and ships them off to developing countries. When you consider that around 1.5 million working Pentium PCs are thrown away in landfill sites in the UK every year, and that 99 per cent of children in the developing world leave school without having touched a computer, you can see why this is a damned good idea. The organisation wants to generate 15,000 donations before 2003 is out. And we think you should do your bit. For more information, see http://www.computer-aid.org, email info@computer-aid.org or call 020 7281 0091.

The Round-Up will be back next Friday. Until then, here are some headlines for your perusal...