Police 'Domestic Incident' was Man waving Gun at PC

PCW tells the story of an armed SWAT team descending on a US flat, evacuating the area and then not arresting an irate computer user.

It describes how officers were called to an apartment block in Boulder, Colorado, by worried tenants who had seen a neighbour waving a handgun around and shouting that he "wanted to kill" the "bitch". A police SWAT team, thus called to what they believed to be a violent domestic row, found the suspect had been shouting at his PC.

'Police immediately called in a SWAT team and evacuated the building. Hundreds of passing cars were diverted from the scene and a large crowd gathered to find out what the rifle-equipped SWAT team was doing in the area. However, police quickly left after establishing that the man had simply been suffering a bad case of PC rage, threatening his computer with a plastic pellet pistol,' reports the magazine.

Deputy police chief Dave Hayes told local reporters that is was alarming and concerning and expensive, but the man's conduct didn't warrant any criminal charges.

Associated Link: PCW: Armed police swoop on PC rage row

Study: Mobile Web sites need Improvement
Source: CNET, 13 October 2008
 
A new study suggests that the usability of many mobile Web sites still needs improvement.

Better Usability makes Online Backup more Appealing
Source: UN, 11 October 2008
 
Repeat after me: "Backup via the Internet is for everybody."

IBM Task Modeler version 6 now Available
Source: Unknown, 10 October 2008
 
The latest release of IBM Task Modeler is now available for download. This includes many new features to support efficient and collaborative task analysis and synthesis.

Caroline's Corner: Design to Read - Designing for People who do not Read easily
Source: Caroline Jarrett, 9 October 2008
 
Reading is a skill many of us take for granted. Chances are that if you’re reading this, you’re one of the lucky ones who read easily.

Bill Buxton to change Microsoft from within
Source: The Register, 8 October 2008
 
"Last year Steve Ballmer said to 85,000 employees 'If you don’t change and you don’t go in this direction, we’re dead, and I don’t want to die.' I wanted to go hug him when he said that."

New Report: Innovative Marketing in the Digital World
Source: E-consultancy, 7 October 2008
 
A new report from E-consultancy provides a distillation of ideas and suggestions provided by digital marketing experts.

Linking Industry with Academia
Source: unknown, 6 October 2008
 
Customer experience research consultancy, fhios, based in London, has just launched an innovative internship programme, aimed primarily at postgraduate students.

Online Travel Booking: What influences Consumers?
Source: Webcredible, 4 October 2008
 
What influences consumers when booking a holiday? How can travel companies offer the best user experience?

Getting the Word out
Source: UN, 3 October 2008
 
I SAID, I'M ON THE TRAIN... Voice recognition technology can now translate all those pesky garbled voicemails into manageable text messages.

Mobile hardware outpaces Software and User Capabilities
Source: ComputerWorld, 2 October 2008
 
The main issue dissuading users from employing all the capabilities of their mobile devices is the complexity involved in operating them.