Relentless digit tapping, incessant ring-tone recitals and persistent text warfare have become the bain of teachers’ classrooms in recent years. Yet it seems the mobile is to be the latest weapon in the war against bullying. So take up your phone and tell the bullies to ‘text off’.

Text Someone encourages young people to report incidents of bullying, theft, crime or any antisocial behaviour directly to schools. The new initiative allows schools to offer pupils the chance to text, email or call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, to report any problems they may be encountering.

The new technology hopes to eliminate the embarrassment attached to bullying by using technology that children are familiar with and feel confident using. The system also hopes to address the increasing trend of threatening text messages. Research by children’s charity NCH suggested 16% of 11 to 19 year-olds had been subject to such abuse. ‘Text Someone’ allows these unwanted messages to be forwarded onto the school along with details of when the message was received.

With government backing the developers of ‘Text Someone’, Truancy Call Ltd have already successfully launched ‘Truancycall’ . As part of the government’s £11.25m ‘Electronic Registration Project’ in secondary schools, ‘Trunacycall’ allows schools to automatically contacts parents when their children are absent by phone, text message and email.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is holding a live online webchat to help the public beat conmen. As part of Scam Awareness Month, the webchat will be hosted by scam expert Mike Haley, who will take questions on how to avoid being the victim of a scam.

The British public loses £1bn a year to scammers. We’ve all had crude emails urging us to let deposed African dictators rest their money in our accounts, but many people are also caught out by far more sophisticated scams. For example, pyramid investment schemes appear lucrative and can be very hard to identify as fradulent.

The OFT has teamed up with trading standards departments, Citizens’ Advice, the police, charities and neighbourhood watch schemes to publicise the elements most scams have in common. A list of the top ten scams has also been published.

The webchat will take place at 4pm on Friday 18 February. To submit a question in advance email questions@webchats.tv, or log on at 4pm to www.webchats.tv.

A group of internet service providers (ISPs) have got together to form a co-operative. They aim to improve their collective purchasing power and better compete in an increasingly tough market. Under the umbrella of the United Kingdom Internet Forum (UKIF), which represents 70 small and medium-sized ISPs, the co-op will be better placed to pool orders for IT hardware and wholesale broadband, thus earning better discounts from suppliers. So far 17 ISPs have signed up for the scheme.

In a related move, UKIF is also launching an Enterprise Forum aimed at “helping companies across the UK develop their businesses [while] advancing the growth of broadband in the regions”. At present 17 large companies, including BT and NTL, have exclusive rights to bid for public sector contracts to supply broadband. Smaller ISPs, such as UKIF members, are excluded. It is hoped that the group will be able to tap into a niche market by supplying broadband in less commercially viable regions of the UK, which have been overlooked by the larger suppliers.

The Register reported last August that many small ISPs were facing ruin after Ofcom rulings which were seen as increasing the monopoly of the larger suppliers. By teaming up, they will hopefully survive to make the British broadband market more competitive and fairer for businesses and consumers.

A new computer system designed to speed up court cases is now on trial. The £20m XHIBIT – eXchanging Hearing Information By Internet Technology – scheme is designed to save time and money by making criminal trial proceedings more efficient.

Under the scheme, now in use in Avon and Somerset, witnesses can be called instantly by text message to give evidence. It is estimated this alone will save 80,000 days of police time – leaving more time for PC Plod to walk the beat. Interested parties will be able to track court hearings online, and public display screens in the court building will feature the latest case status. The system is linked to the police’s computer system and is therefore expected to speed up the delivery of warrants issued by the courts.

Originally piloted at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London, the system should be rolled out across England and Wales by early 2006. Courts Minister Christopher Leslie commented: “This is a clear example of courts using technology to improve the reality and perception of the criminal justice system. It all adds up to a better deal for victims and witnesses in the court process. It is a practical measure that will help make it easier for victims under great pressure.”

Unfortunately the system is not yet in place at Michael Jackson’s trial in Santa Barbara County Court – so Bubbles will just have to sit around and wait.

The UK’s first virtual school has won overall honours at Liverpool’s first Neighbourhood Renewal Awards. The awards have been designed to recognise the achievements of local projects in significantly improving the services and regeneration of some of the most deprived areas of Liverpool.

The innovative ‘virtual school’ has 800 pupils on its register and has achieved excellent results since its conception two years ago. The online school aims to ensure that all the city’s children in care gain the same educational opportunities as their peers. Pupils have access to their own computer and e-learning packages, which have been tailored to assist pupils and their carers with online study support, information and advice. This distant learning programme, in conjunction with regular school attendance, continues to significantly improve academic results of children in care within Liverpool. The award recognises the technological advance as an opportunity to reduce barriers to learning in an attempt to help students recognise their academic potential.

The school has a virtual board of governors, a virtual headteacher and even virtual parent governors. A million pounds worth of IT equipment has been made available to ensure all children have access to a computer and develop IT skills on par with other students outside the programme.

The people that brought you Fax Your MP have been busy. Yesterday they launched the beta version of Write to Them, which enables you to contact not just your local MP but local Councillors, MEPs, MSPs, and Welsh and London Assembly Members for free. But before anyone is even remotely tempted to use this new tool, or to tell all your friends about the service, there are several sensible points which the designers would like you to bear in mind:

• Do not give people text to paste into their messages.
• Don’t spam people either.
• Don’t supply people with a postcode to use.
• If you’re talking to an international audience, stress that only people living in the UK should use the service.
• If you’re talking to a very large audience, please try to let Write to Them know in advance.
• Be considerate.
• If in doubt, ask them first.

The ongoing saga of the government’s attempt to overhaul NHS IT systems took another twist this weekend, with doctors and MPs criticising the appointment of a top PR firm to promote the £6.2bn project. Porter Novelli was awarded the six-figure contract by the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) to convince the public of the benefits of introducing electronic records.

The appointment is in response to a National Audit Office (NAO) report in January criticising the programme and the government for not engaging with GPs enough. However, the British Medical Association (BMA) branded the move as a “clumsy” attempt to regain the interest of GPs disillusioned with the project. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow called the appointment “a massive waste of taxpayers’ money.” The NPfIT denied the move was a cynical marketing exercise, claiming it was vital to inform patients of the rights they will have under the new system.

The new NHS Care Records Service (CRS) will allow NHS staff to access patient records wherever they are treated, and to make appointments for patients at the hospital most suitable for them. The programme is the biggest civil IT project in the world, but has not had an easy labour. Doubts have been raised over the security of the system, and the government has been forced to allow patients to opt-out.

Last week medical pollsters Medix found widespread disillusion among healthcare professionals, who say they have not been adequately consulted on the changes. Only one in twenty GPs felt they have been adequately consulted on the changes, and just one in five now describe themselves as enthusiastic about the project.

Paul Cundy, chairman of the GPs’ committee on IT at the BMA, said: “It’s increasingly difficult to remain optimistic about NPfIT, given the collapse of enthusiasm for it in the profession. It’s fallen over a cliff edge.” The government will be hoping that Porter Novelli, also responsible for launching Viagra to the Swedish public, can arouse a bit more interest.

Michael Martin MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, today warned that he will eject from the Chamber any Member of Parliament caught using a BlackBerry device, according to the BBC.

The £200 handheld computers can be used as a phone, pager or to send emails. Launched in 2001 by Canadian firm Research in Motion, BlackBerries hit the headlines this week when Alastair Campbell accidentally used his to send a four-letter tirade to a BBC journalist. Labour’s former Director of Communications seems not to have mastered the latest must-have accessory, admitting he was “not very good at this BlackBerry malarkey.”

Some Members have already been caught using them during debates, and Michael Martin seems to be losing patience. He also cautioned MPs against using hidden earpieces. His threats should be taken seriously: he threw Tory MP Henry Bellingham out of the Chamber in 2003 for using a camera phone.

However, it could be that Michael Martin is merely trying to protect MPs from themselves. Doctors at Imperial College London recently warned that overuse of the gadgets has spawned a new repetitive strain injury, dubbed ‘BlackBerry thumb’. In giving BlackBerries the thumbs down, the Speaker may be doing MPs a favour.

Members of the e-gov community were left open-mouthed this week when Tony Blair admitted to Parliament’s Liaison Committee that he had never visited the Directgov website, or even knew its address.

The multi-million pound venture is a key part of the government’s joined-up government policy, and represents one of the biggest IT projects in the EU.

The website boasts of its usefulness: “Directgov is the place to turn to for the latest and widest range of public service information from the UK government. Book a driving test, find a job, get advice about childcare, renew your passport and lots more.”

According to Rt Hon Ruth Kelly’s comments in Hansard on 9 December 2004, Directgov had an operational budget of £4.4 million in 2003/4, before the site launched last April.

However, when Richard Allan MP asked the PM on Tuesday: “Have you ever visited the multi-million pound central government website that you have set up to get us all to use these new electronic government facilities?”

Mr Blair replied: “I think that is a very unfair question. The answer is no.”

This is all the more shocking considering the pressure put on local authorities to integrate services online, and the berating received by those not on-track to meet the end-of-year deadline.

The Liaison Committee, which comprises the chairmen of the 34 select committees, considers general select committee business and advises the House of Commons Commission on which reports to debate in the House, with evidence provided by the Prime Minister. The committee is chaired by Rt Hon Alan Williams.

The response to President Bush’s State of the Union address was immediate. An e-mail was circulated among prominent technology-savvy Iranians. It announced the launch of Iranians for Peace: “a weblog dedicated to the Iranian people who are against a military attack on Iran” (http://nowarforiran.blogspot.com). Here and on similar sites are the thoughts of Iranians, written in English, as they contemplate the latest threats by the US.

“The news of war frightens me. I remember the years that I was a schoolchild, when my country was included in a bloody war with Iraq. Nothing is worse than living in fear,” one Iranian, under the pseudonym “No War”, has written. He goes on to explain Iranians’ complex relationship with the government and their patriotism. “I just want to warn the US or any other country that Iranians are one of the most patriotic nations.” Much as they loathe their current leaders, young Iranians, it seems, do not want Bush to invade.

To read the rest of this article on the New Statesman website, click here

Iranian weblogs which may be of interest:

http://yaserb.blogspot.com
http://nowarforiran.blogspot.com
http://broodingpersian.blogspot.com
http://hoder.com/weblog

Petitions to the UN and George Bush regarding Iran can be found here:

George Bush - http://nowar.21mehr.com
The UN - http://www.petitiononline.com/NWinIran/petition.html