freeware

Rampant piracy threatens PC games

Piracy is threatening the future of the PC games industry, says a leading games developer.

UK bank details sold in Nigeria

The bank details of Britons are being accessed from old PCs sent to Nigeria, the BBC's Real Story programme discovers.

Tech guru O'Reilly mashes it up

Technology guru Tim O'Reilly explains to Bill Thompson how web turning into a collaborative mash-up.

Blind gamers get their own titles

Blind gamers are playing a growing range of games which rely on the use of ambient effects like sound.

Pretenders for Microsoft's media crown

As Brussels seeks to erode Microsoft's dominance of the media-player market, BBC News Online looks at rival systems.

Veteran games inspire artists

Artists showing their games-influenced work at London's ICA seem to be living the past, argues Daniel Etherington of BBCi Collective.

Pop-ups chase eyeballs

Pop-ups have become the favourite weapons of advertisers on the web and they are getting more and more sophisticated.

Do you trust your computer?

Locking up your computer against viruses and spam sounds like a good idea, but needs to be handled well, argues computer consultant Bill Thompson.

Sayonara Psion era

So it's farewell to the Psion organiser. The company which pioneered handheld organisers is giving up making them. How different things could have been.

Internet security boon

The US government eases restrictions on exports of popular e-mail security software, paving the way for safer global e-commerce.

'Trojan horse' program steals passwords

A free e-mail program is stealing users' passwords and may be the most widely distributed "trojan horse" virus ever.

Hats off to Linux!

Intel and Netscape announce they are investing in Red Hat, a developer of the Linux operating system which is seen as a long-term threat to Microsoft.