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It has been revealed that an incident with a third-party contractor has seriously damaged part of the BT broadband network in East London. As a consequence, many broadband customers have been without their Internet link for a couple of days and while BT is urgently trying to re-connect customers in the area, there are problems.

The tunnel which holds the wires that have been damaged is a full 32 m underground and it will take at least a couple of days for the system to be fully repaired and back in working order. Slowly, some broadband customers in the region are being reconnected but the company is unable to give a definitive timescale for resolving the issue in full. This further highlights the growing dependence we all have upon the Internet and broadband networks across UK – and the problems this can cause when networks are damaged.

While there is no doubt that some short-term damage to the reputation of British Telecom is inevitable, the fact is that the UK as a whole has a very clean and impressive track record with regards to broadband connectivity. There have been, and there will continue to be, sporadic issues of connection problems although, on the whole, broadband services throughout the UK have improved dramatically over the last few years. Backup systems such as mobile broadband have also come into play and offer further support for those who depend on the Internet for their business and social activities.

In a move which has again attracted significant criticism from all areas of the UK population, it has been revealed that police in Manchester are trialling two cars which look very similar to the infamous Google streetcars. A 360° camera located on the top of a telescopic pole jutting out of the police cars is being used to catch motorists using mobile phones, eating at the wheel and applying make-up to name but a few distractions which are commonplace on UK roads.

However, there are serious suggestions that the cars themselves, which look very different from your average police car, are causing significant distractions for motorists in themselves and could be dangerous. Even though the various weaknesses to the system have been pointed out it appears that police chiefs are looking to roll them out into other areas of the UK if the Manchester trials prove successful.

It is very difficult to find a balance between monitoring driving habits and appreciating the privacy of those on UK roads. Whether telescopic cameras, which can monitor your every move as they pass you, are the answer is again very much open to debate. For those who believe Big Brother does not exist, think again!

The cheers from within Google were audible all around the world yesterday with the news that Jimmy Wales, founder of the Wikipedia venture, has closed the doors on his Wikia Search project. The project was announced last year in a blaze of glory as a community led search engine targeting the likes of Google, Yahoo and MSN.

However, the indications are that the project has not gone as well as planned and users have yet to take on board the newfound approach. The system depends upon users being proactive and suggesting which searches are relevant and which are less helpful with the results then used to produce a more user friendly and helpful search engine. There was also a suggestion that the ongoing recession has affected the amount of money set aside for investment in the business and ultimately called the deathknell for Wikia Search.

The likes of Google, Yahoo and MSN have dominated the search engine market for some time although Google is far and away the most influential website on the Internet. Challengers have come and gone, changes have been made yet customers keep returning to the giant which is Google and nobody yet has been able to removes the crown.

It has been revealed Apple has filed a number of identification patents around the world with the suggestion that some may be incorporated in the next-generation iPhone. Of the specific patent's registered the most intriguing are using the ear canal to identify a user, body odour, DNA and a new take on fingerprint identification.

While a number of these patent's are more likely to be used with Apple laptops than the iPhone, the ear canal identifier and the fingerprint identification method would appear to be targeted at the iPhone. Can you imagine picking up your iPhone, answering a phone call, and having your ID checked without actually knowing it?

The company has also been looking into fingerprint identification for those using Mac laptops with a suggestion that the system will identify the person typing and restrict access if their fingerprints, palm prints or knuckle prints do not tally with identification records on file. There is no doubt that more security will be introduced to a vast array of technology in the future, much of it going on without the user's knowledge, but offering a higher degree of security.

Researchers in Japan are currently developing a system which can match the movement of your eyes, as opposed to identifying your retina, to check who is using a particular product!

As if to prove that the Internet has not only brought serious issues to the forefront but also an array of hoaxes and jokes, a website which advertised itself as offering a revolutionary new online tanning service, has received around 1 million hits. Computertan.com was set up by a Nottingham based skin cancer charity by the name of Skcin. The charity was created in memory of Karen Clifford who was a local resident that died from skin cancer in 2005.

Those who logged on to the website were treated to a mock skin analysis via a one-off download at which point a number of sunbed tubes then appeared on screen. The indication was that the sunbed tubes on the screen would give users an "all year round tan" without the risk of UV exposure. While there was an inclination that the website was something of a hoax with a final message being "Don't be fooled, UV exposure can kill", many people failed to see the relevance.

This is just the latest in a long stream of hoaxes and jokes on the Internet which have gone viral in a very short space of time. The 1 million hits for the computer tanning site were achieved in just two months and the figure will have moved higher with this ongoing publicity.

A survey by the Alliance to Save Energy Group has revealed that a massive œ300 million a year is wasted on energy charges relating to office PCs which are left on overnight. While this figure is seriously damaging to the UK business sector it is actually a massive increase on a similar survey in 2007. The survey today showed that in 2008 up to 30% of PCs in the workplace were left switched on overnight and over the weekend, which is a significant reduction from the 50% figure in the 2007 report.

Bizarrely, while the UK government has been trying to get UK consumers to save energy and save money, it is well known that the public services sector is one of the worst offenders, keeping machinery and PCs on overnight on a regular basis. When breaking down the figures it is estimated that by keeping a PC on overnight and over the weekend the energy charge per PC per annum is increased by œ17. When you times this œ17 additional cost by the number of PCs in the UK business market the figures soon begin to mount up.

Saving the environment and saving energy cost for your business is not difficult!

The Egyptian government has been dragged into a rather bizarre situation in the country concerning a "killer SMS". Apparently there is a text message doing the rounds in Egypt from "unknown foreign quarters" which is rumoured to have killed those who have received it. However, such is the concern across the country that the Egyptian health and interior ministries have been forced to comment upon the SMS and confirm there is no truth in the rumours.

The Egyptian Gazette covered a story of a man in Mallawi, south of Cairo, who is said to have received the suspicious text and died vomiting blood followed by a stroke. This is said to have happened immediately after he read the text which is apparently made up of numbers and symbols. The government has also forced to deny media reports that those receiving the SMS receive "splitting headaches followed by a brain haemorrhage that leads to death".

While there is no scientific truth in any of the rumours doing the rounds this has not stopped the story from spreading to all areas of the country. In a separate development it was also revealed that the Egyptian interior ministry has arrested three workers from an oil company who are accused of starting the vicious rumours. The workers in question are being interrogated by the Egyptian authorities and we await the outcome of these discussions.