Web Round-Up – W/E 13/03/98

A crew of media pranksters and saboteurs have set up their own website under the name of ŽTMark at http://www.paranoia.com/~rtmark/homereg.html. The group’s objective is specifically to engage in the “sabotage of mass-produced items” and has previously orchestrated the work of the Barbie Liberation Organisation. ŽTMark is currently promoting the USA Phone In Sick Day which is planned for 6 April.

It seems that the group’s desire to create as much media and workplace chaos as possible has led it to become involved in the numerous hacking attacks on the Pentagon’s computer system. The ŽTMark site contains a disclaimer which states that it will not comment on any speculation regarding its alleged role or any others involved in the hacking incidents. It says the matter is now closed as far as ŽTMark is concerned. Guilty as hell.

…The ongoing worry for authorities caused by pornographic material on the internet has taken a couple of developments recently. Firstly, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has ‘seized’ over 2000 images of child pornography in the last year according to the Department of Trade and Industry. Although the IWF is set up to cater for internet complaints of any nature, an overwhelming 85% of complaints received in the last year were concerning child pornography.

The majority of the offending material originated in the US (63%), although a sizable proportion of porn images also came from Japan and Europe. The IWF is currently working on creating software which will be able to detect any illegal content. The IWF’s website can be found at http://www.iwf.org.uk .

…On a slightly less sordid note, football on the web may soon provide fans with a live ‘representation’ of top football games. As modem links or PCs are generally too slow to receive full motion video coverage of events, Israeli company Orad Hi Tec Systems had the idea of showing simplified ‘cartoon’ versions of the players and pitch. Whilst the players may all look like polygon men, their movements will be relayed directly from the actual players’ movements on pitch via small electronic tags sown into their kits.

Some NetBites:

• Last month America Online (http://www.aol.com) announced that it had attracted its millionth European customer just two years after it was launched. The company also recently took over the European division of CompuServe.
• Art has entered cyberspace with the launch of the Tate Gallery’s website. The creators plan on ultimately putting the Gallery’s entire collection online. The site is at http://www.tate.org.uk/.
• Finally, a daily guide to funnies on the Net has been provided by the people at http://www.whatsfunny.farfan.com. I haven’t checked this out so I cannot vouch for its comedy calibre.