Brussels

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Forgot to mention went to Brussels, Belgium last week, never been before. Went to visit my team there. Usual trip, flight in, Taxi, office block and then reverse. But did see the NATO HQ, least I think it was with all the barbed wire.

NSA

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I've not been keeping too close an eye on this, but it's starting to sound interesting. First picked this up..

This morning, USA Today reported that three telecommunications companies – AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth – provided “phone call records of tens of millions of Americans” to the National Security Agency. Such conduct appears to be illegal and could make the telco firms liable for tens of billions of dollars. [via]

And then picked this up today;

Claiming that Verizon Communications Incorporated violated privacy laws by turning over phone records to the National Security Agency for a secretive government surveillance program, two public interest lawyers sued the phone carrier for $5 Billion on Friday. [via] 

We'll just have to see how far they get.

Mobile operators face wi-fi challenge

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The UK’s mobile phone networks will come under attack today as wireless internet provider The Cloud announces a low-cost tariff for unlimited web access, making it easier for people to make free calls through the web from big cities, rather than use their mobile phones.The Cloud is Europe’s biggest operator of wireless technology, commonly called wi-fi, and its network is used by companies including BT, O2 and Nintendo. It is offering an £11.99 a month “all you can eat” internet deal covering 7,000 hotspots in Britain.

That’s pretty interesting, but it’s calls on VoIP, via Skype etc. I can’t see it forming much of a threat until the wi-fi/gsm phones come on stream. But it’s a great deal if you’re a travelling business person, still not as good as my current deal where for 5 pounds I get 3000minutes access to BT Openzone and T-Mobile hotspots. [via]