UK leads online child safety initiative

A virtual identity card designed to improve children`s safety online has been introduced in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, reports BBC News.

The NetIDMe card, which can be exchanged by children online when using chatrooms, instant messaging and social networks, is aimed at making it more difficult for adults to pose as children.

UK businessman Alex Hewitt set up the ID scheme after he discovered his daughter could only verify the age and identity of a third of her 150 online friends.

Intel has released security updates for its Centrino wireless chipset device drivers and its PROSet management software to protect against three security vulnerabilities.

The Register says one of the flaws could allow hackers to inject hostile code into systems running vulnerable versions of Centrino Wireless Device Driver software and spread malware across wireless networks, but no public exploit of this or the other two vulnerabilities have been reported yet.

The article says in the absence of automated tools from PC manufacturers, users will be obliged to install these software updates themselves.

Sony will soon start selling a global positioning system (GPS) unit that can be used to add location information to digital pictures, reports PC World.

Every 15 seconds, the GPS-CS1 unit records the location and the time. Later that data can be matched with the time stamp on the digital images to work out where the picture was taken. This will enable users to browse pictures by location.

Although Sony will only guarantee the GPS system works with its own digital still cameras, the company says it should be compatible with any digital camera that produces JPEG images.

US non-profit organisation Green WiFi aims to bridge the digital divide in developing countries by deploying solar-powered WiFi networks in areas where electrical power is unreliable or nonexistent, reports News.Com.

Green WiFi`s two co-founders have initial funding from the One Laptop Per Child organisation, which aims to build and distribute a $100 laptop for developing countries.

Each node in the Green WiFi network consists of a battery-powered router and a solar panel to charge the battery. The nodes are mounted on rooftops, and the network`s WiFi signals are transferred over a grid using the 802.11g wireless network standard.