This is the start of my personal blog

Having built another blog already (this one), it seemed there was an opportunity to create a second one. It is to be found here mypcplug
It is there for personal use to be shared by those who know me or have reason to raise issues away from the main forum of pchelpers. Welcome to the blog (2)!

News:Skype crash: Software bug and server overloads blamed

Server overloads and a bug in Skype for Windows caused the two-day outage for the net phone firm.

Details of what caused the service to be unusable for millions of users prior to Christmas have been posted on the firm's blog.

The two events combined to create a cascade of problems that managed to knock out much of the network underpinning the phone service.

Skype is assessing how its network is built to stop the problem recurring.
more here

News:Earth project aims to 'simulate everything'

By Gareth Morgan Technology reporter
It could be one of the most ambitious computer projects ever conceived.

An international group of scientists are aiming to create a simulator that can replicate everything happening on Earth - from global weather patterns and the spread of diseases to international financial transactions or congestion on Milton Keynes' roads.

Nicknamed the Living Earth Simulator (LES), the project aims to advance the scientific understanding of what is taking place on the planet, encapsulating the human actions that shape societies and the environmental forces that define the physical world.

more here

News:Web attack takes Anonymous activists offline

The notorious message board 4Chan has been taken offline by an overwhelming web attack.

Thanks to the attack, the discussion boards of the site have been hard to reach or offline for almost 24 hours.

The attack might be retaliation for similar attacks that some 4Chan members, as part of the Anonymous group, mounted in support of Wikileaks.

It is not yet clear who is carrying out the attacks and no-one has come forward to claim responsibility.
more here

News:Call for help for self-employed

Self-employed people need more help if they are to expand their businesses and employ others, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The FSB in Scotland said one-to-one support was needed if they were to make a dent in unemployment figures.

Three of Scotland's main business organisations have sent out New Year messages aimed at politicians going into the Holyrood election next May.
more here

News:Trowbridge driver lost for three days

A Wiltshire grandfather spent three days trying to find his way home from Gatwick Airport after becoming disorientated in snowy conditions.

Moroccan-born Mohammed Bellazrak's family reported him missing after he failed to return to Trowbridge after dropping his wife off for a flight.

Police in Oxfordshire eventually flagged down the 72-year-old after his car triggered a camera in Oxford.

They found he had spent from 23 - 25 December driving, trying to get back.

Analysis from number-plate recognition systems showed he had driven around various towns in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire and on the M4.

Mr Bellazrak had no mobile phone with him, and he told newspaper reporters that his sat-nav was not working.more here

News:Toyota pays $10m to fatal Lexus crash family

Toyota has paid $10m (£6.5m) to the family of four people killed in a runaway Lexus car in the US in 2009.

The amount, agreed in September but kept confidential, was released by a lawyer for the dealership that lent the Lexus to the family.

Toyota, which did not admit or deny liability in the settlement, said in a statement it was disappointed the amount had been made public.

The crash triggered a series of recalls involving millions of Toyota models.more here