Michael Jackson's death roils Wikipedia

As news organisations reported Michael Jackson's hospitalisation, Wikipedia editors were wrestling with the problem of whether to allow an unverified report of the singer's death to appear on the online encyclopaedia, says cnet.

The entertainment site TMZ.com reported that: "We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back."

Some Wikipedians repeatedly deleted references to Jackson's alleged demise, saying in separate comments that "This is not yet verified", "He's not dead", "Premature edits" and "once again, he is not dead, just stop".

Facebook moved to give its users more control over who can see their postings on the site, states Computer World.

The social networking powerhouse unveiled a beta version of its updated Facebook Publisher tool, which adds a privacy control feature designed to let users pick and choose who can see their posts.

"You may have some posts you want to share with a wide audience, such as whom you voted for or how great the weather is today," Olaoluwa Okelola, a Facebook engineer, said in a blog post.

Hewlett-Packard is offering customers who buy an HP desktop or laptop an upgrade to Windows 7 at no charge, once the operating system becomes available, reports Information Week.

The offer comes under Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Option.

HP certainly won't be the only major computer maker joining Microsoft's upgrade programme.

Nearly two years after acquiring Grand Central, Google is accepting some new users to its Google Voice service, states PC World.

Based on Grand Central's technology, Google Voice gives users one phone number that will ring phones at work, home and mobile devices.

Additionally, it includes a central voicemail box that is accessible online, where users can search through transcripts of messages.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has introduced the UK's first national strategy for cyber-security, aiming to increase protection against cyber-crime and build on the opportunities introduced by the “Digital Britain” report, says Computing.co.uk.

The plan is part of the wider national security strategy, first published last year, but the cyber aspects are part of a "re-thought" framework that attempts to address the challenges posed by the modern age.

A national cyber-security office will be created to provide strategic leadership for government departments and businesses through a shared view and intelligence on threats and attacks.

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