Usually the kind of crystal ball rubbing industry predictions that start arriving at this time of year are fairly upbeat affairs. Not so when it comes to the batch announced at the telecoms and media Industry Outlook event in London which, to be honest, were pretty depressing on the whole.

Heck, you know it’s not going to be a fun ride when the press release includes in the strap line “2010: a year of slow recovery” and mentions “cost control” in the same breath.

The organisers of the annual Industry Outlook event, Informa Telecom & Media, and specifically the Chief Research Officer Mark Newman who, speaking at the event, insisted that it had “selected the most compelling and critical predictions from across all our research areas”. Mark if these are the most compelling then I recommend anyone working in these sectors put up the barricades, make sure they have enough tins of baked beans to last a year, and take 2010 off.

If you are feeling just a little too happy for a freezing cold, grey and dismally wet Sunday lunchtime, read on and prepare to be brought back down to a suitably depressing level.

Let’s start with: Mobile LTE commercial launches will slip to 2013/2014 but LTE’s role as a provider of rural broadband connectivity will gain momentum. Apparently, 2010 will be a “year of further LTE trials” but “progress towards commercial services is likely to be slow”.

Or how about: Operator app stores will struggle to compete with handset-manufacturer initiatives. Informa predicts that operators will be “unable in most cases to compete with Apple and other vendors in global reach, brand coolness and agility”.

This one is a bundle of joy as well: Mobile operators will make small steps towards a de facto functional separation in order to position themselves to address the demand for 3rd party connected devices and applications. The use of the words ’small steps’ in a prediction is always a giveaway that things are not good, as they are often used in place of phrases such as ‘going down the pan’ or ‘missing the boat’ in my experience. Informa says that unless operators “give full autonomy to wholesale units, we believe they will be too slow to succeed in shifting internal mindsets”.

I also liked: Fixed broadband operators will experiment with new business models in a bid to end the “arms race” of increasing speeds and declining prices. As Informa notes, operators have to address the need to grow revenues in saturated markets, pointing out that a major effect of declining prices and increasing bandwidth has been “the emergence of mass markets for the consumption of on-line video and music, which other players are now better placed to profit from”.

There was some good news in the predictions though, such as the continued importance of widgets in harnessing the power of the mobile web, open Internet apps being embraced by IPTV operators and an extension of coverage and reduction of costs through network sharing and outsourcing being on the cards.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and cheer myself up by reading some Kafka while listening to Radiohead…

With a relentless stream of tricky trouble tickets, hi-tech hiccups and mission-critical crunch, it’s not going to be easy. So starts IT Manager III: Unseen Forces, the IT manager simulation game from Intel. In what is the most bizarre Intel related press release to hit my desk since one informing me women prefer the Internet to sex, Intel has let me know that it’s just launched a new online simulation game which lets you take the role of a hard working but lowly IT manager of a small business and try to work your way up to global enterprise CTO greatness. Or something like that.

But, and it’s as big a but as you will find on the average opera singer, trying to tempt an IT manager into playing a game by using the line “You are the IT manager of a small company with big ambitions. You must master and deploy the technology your company needs” strikes me as being on a hiding to nothing.

Unless coming home from being a real IT manager and immediately immersing yourself in a virtual fantasy world where you take the role of an, err, IT manager gives you tingles in all the wring places that is. In which case I suggest you don’t need a game but therapy.

Intel insists that the simulation game “brings to light the benefits of Intel technologies to IT decision makers, while entertaining them at the same time” which may well be true but the press release spoils the illusion of seriousness by adding that players might “want to unwind after a long day of office frustrations” and “see if they have what it takes to be an IT superhero”.

It gets better: “The aim of the game is for players to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a fictitious company by applying special powers to a fleet of PCs, laptops and servers. At the same time, players must keep on top of a never-ending stream of high-tech hiccups that threaten their business’s bottom line. Successful players will find their IT department and company both expand, leading to even greater challenges”.

Great. How about putting your energies into the real world task of being an IT manager and guess what? Yep, I reckon you will probably already know if Intel technologies will benefit your business. What’s more, if you spend time doing the job rather than playing at it, you might even get that promotion and rise through the ranks. Just a thought.

Still, if you really want to test your IT knowledge, deploy the latest technology, keep the office running smoothly, create the ultimate IT network, build a global IT empire and be recognised for your achievements all while not getting paid and neglecting your real career, feel free to give it a go. You can find IT Manager III: Unseen Forces here - Or why not really piss off your real world boss and play the Facebook application version at work instead.

Talking of which, I am meant to be in the middle of a consultancy job at the moment and I guess writing about fantasy IT games is as bad as actually playing them while ‘on the clock’ so I had better leave it there.

I was on a break! OK.

If like some 40% or so of Internet users you are still using Internet Explorer 6 or 7, now might be a good time to upgrade following news of the publication of some nasty exploit code over the weekend.

According to Symantec, which has quickly tested the exploit code that appeared on the Bugtraq list at insecure.org, the code as it stands is not 100% reliable but the security researchers expect that a “fully-functional reliable exploit will be available in the near future”. And that means exploit code that will enable websites to be infected, and any IE6 and 7 users with JavaScript enabled to be compromised.

The code, as is and however unreliable, has already been shown to work on IE6 and 7 running under Windows XP SP3, although there are no reports of exploits in the wild as of yet. My hunch is that will all change this week as the bad guys will no doubt be working hard over the weekend to rush out attacks before all the security vendors have updated signatures rolled out. Microsoft will, I imagine, be reactive rather than proactive with a patch only being prioritised after such attacks become widespread.

The code posted exploits a vulnerability in CSS handling in Internet Explorer 6 and 7, and Symantec advises IE users to only visit trusted sites and disable JavaScript until a Microsoft fix appears. Some might suggest switching to Firefox, but given the number of flaws reported lately upgrading to IE 8 might be a better idea.

Rather surprisingly, tomorrow is World Toilet Day. Once you’ve stopped sniggering there is a serious reason behind this: 40% of the world’s population have nowhere safe to go the loo, and 4000 children die every year as a result. But how the heck can an iPhone app help?

I wondered the same thing, to be honest, but as I needed to pee and could possibly save some kids from an unpleasant sounding death at the same time I gave it a go. The free to use app in question, Toilet Finder UK, uses the GPS functionality built into the iPhone 3GS to hook into a database of public toilets and direct you to the nearest one. Which is handy, assuming that you are in an area where there are lots of public toilets on that database that is. Users can add toilet locations by reporting missing ones as they find them (which takes some dedication to the cause) but outside of large cities they proved few and very far between.

That’s the trouble with user generated content driven apps, they need to reach a certain critical mass of users before they become really useful and if they are not really useful from the get go they never reach a critical mass of users. To add to the problems I had, my iPhone insisted I was many miles from my actual location. OK, it was kicking up a storm at the time and the sky was black, but when you are busting for a pee and it is pouring with rain, well that’s just about the time when you need an app like this to work. The combination of my iPhone thinking I was more than 10 miles from my actual location, and Toilet Finder thinking the nearest available loo was another couple of miles away from there, I gave up and had a pee against a tree which didn’t seem to mind. Thankfully the rural B-road I was on didn’t see much traffic, so nobody saw me!

I know, you are still wondering how this can possibly save the life of some toilet-deprived kid on the other side of the planet aren’t you? The clue can be found by the fact that the developer of the Toliet Finder app is the WaterAid charity which is on a mission to “transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities”. So when you fire the app up you get a nag screen that offers to take you to the WaterAid website instead of finding you a toilet. Depending upon your level of desperation you might take the website option where you can discover more about the global sanitation crisis.

“For us, trying to find a loo is an inconvenience, but for someone living in the developing world, not having a toilet can be a matter of life or death. We hope that by using the ToiletFinder UK App the British public will think about how lucky they are to have a loo” says WaterAid’s Amy Faulkner.

I wish them luck with this as it is for a good cause. In the meantime I have invested in an empty plastic pop bottle in the boot of the car, and I don’t need an app to find that!

Having been a member of Twitter (@happygeek) since Feb 2007 I’m not convinced there is a such a thing as a typical Twitter user. InSites Consulting begs to differ, however.

According to the Ultimate Twitter Study, which analysed some 50,000 Tweets around the globe using qualitative, quantitative and observational research methods the typical Twitter user is a man in his late twenties or early thirties who is tech savvy and works in IT, media/advertising or consulting.

The interesting thing with this profile being that it bears more than a passing resemblance to the profile of a typical early adopter of the Internet itself, says a twenty something tech savvy media type at the time. That’s where the resemblance ends though, as the Ultimate Twitter Study reckons that your average Twitterer is pretty influential offline courtesy of being an industry expert, journalist or blogger for example.

Looking beyond the personal profile the study reveals, if that’s the right word, how people tend to use Twitter as “a social network of friends and/or business contacts enabling them to share and discover interesting, exciting, inspiring or funny news or hyperlinks in a very fast way” - can I say well duh at this point?

Tom De Ruyck, a Senior Research Consultant at InSites Consulting, reckons that “Twitter is a conversation hive” and one with a real value for “brands to tap into it and learn from what consumers are saying about them”. I feel another ‘duh’ coming on.

“People often send tweets in the heat of the moment: when they experience something positive or negative with a product. This immediacy is never seen before” De Ruyck continues, obviously having never heard of Usenet, Internet Forums or Blogs.

He could be on to something, though, when he argues that personal blogs in general are being diluted in value courtesy of the amount of time it takes to maintain them. While De Ruyck admits that big blogs run by teams of professional journalists will continue, he says that the individual blogs are “disappearing one by one” and the Twitter-style “micro-blogging is the new, more efficient version of the amateur blog”.

In the UK if you mention the phrase Boot Camp to most teenagers they will immediately think of Simon Cowell and the X-Factor talent show. For Chinese geeks it has a whole different meaning.

China was one of the first countries to officially classify Internet addiction as being a mental disorder and one that was to be dealt with by sending the patient to a boot camp for treatment. Following that decision a year ago, numerous teenage geeks have had to endure the physical regime that these treatment centres across China dished out. There are, according to some estimates, as many as 400 Internet rehabilitation clinics operating in China.

According to some opponents of the process these involved rigorous physical exercise, including corporal punishment and beatings of the kids involved. Indeed, there have been leaked reports of injuries and even a death. 15 year old Deng Senshan died within 24 hours of being sent to the Qihang Salvation Training camp for example. Some camps have stood accused of using electro-shock treatment, even though this was officially banned by the Chinese authorities during the Summer.

Now the Chinese Health Ministry has gone further in banning beatings as well. A statement on the Ministry website urges restraint in the treatment of Internet addiction and confirms that “intervention methods that restrict personal freedom are strictly forbidden” along with corporal punishment. The statement informs both parents and teachers that they have a duty to “analyse the causes and not arbitrarily condemn, hit or scold youths”.

I’m not convinced, however, that this will be enough to protect the geeks. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the director of Internet addiction clinic at the Beijing Military Command General Hospital reckons that Internet addiction remains a disease albeit one that cannot be cured by “military training or physical punishment”. I guess that’s a start, but actually accepting that people who enjoy using the Internet, and those who play World of Warcraft for that matter, are not evil and are not ill might be a better route to solving the ‘problem’ don’t you think?

It was inevitable that the iPhone would eventually fall victim to the bad guys, and that inevitability has been realised as users of Jailbroken iPhones are starting to report being infected with an iRickRolling worm.

The ‘ikee’ worm was first spotted over the weekend in Australia, with users posting to online forums that their Jailbroken 3GS iPhones had changed from the default wallpaper to pictures of 80’s pop singer Rick Astley, he of ‘Never Gonna give You Up’ fame and the very same man who was the focus of the RickRolling Internet meme that started in 2007 and spread like wildfire during 2008.

One iPhone user reported that the wallpaper was actually accompanied by the text: “ikee is never going to give you up”.

Although there are, as of yet, no confirmed reports of the worm spreading outside of Australia, security researchers are sure it is perfectly capable of spreading to any Jailbroken iPhone as long as the default password has not been changed after installing SSH to the device.

Graham Cluley of Sophos says “Once in place, the worm appears to attempt to find other iPhones on the mobile phone network that are similarly vulnerable, and installs itself again”.

Unfortunately, analysis by researchers at Sophos Labs would suggest that there at least four variants of the worm code so far, the latest looking to hide behind a filepath which might suggest it is connected to the Cydia application.

Nothing about the worm suggests it has been written with malice in mind, and comments in the worm code itself tend to support this, and the whole Rick Astley thing is annoying rather than malicious. However, it must not be forgotten that this worm is accessing a device without permission and changing data upon it without permission, and breaking the law in many countries as a result.

It should also not be forgotten that as code variants continue to appear it is only a matter of time, and probably not that much of it, before a malicious party uses it to deliver a payload that is a whole lot more troublesome than Rick Astley.

There is no danger to iPhone users who have not Jailbroken their devices, nor to those who have changed the password from the SSH default of Alpine.

According to one leading security research lab, Windows 7 is vulnerable to an astonishing 8 out of 10 viruses it was exposed to during testing. But wait a minute, just how astonishing is this, really?

Sophos loaded a retail release copy of Windows 7 onto a clean PC, configured it to the system default as far as the User Account Control process was concerned, and failed to install any anti-virus software. OK, so this might be a little unfair you would think, but it does represent the actions of many a person new to the new OS. Microsoft insists it is the most secure version of Windows yet, and ‘ordinary users’ will take the company at its word.

What Sophos did next was less typical, instead of connecting the machine to the Internet and clicking every link under the sun until it was infected up the wazoo, it instead “grabbed the next 10 unique samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of Windows and UAC held up” says researcher Chet Wisniewski.

Unsurprisingly, Windows 7 didn’t do too well in fighting off these new threats. Indeed, it only managed to prevent 2 out of those 10 from operating correctly. Wisniewski insists that this just goes to show that his pre-launch warning that the UAC is not fit to protect a PC from malware was indeed correct. While I actually agree with him on this point I’d also argue that any machine that is not running an up to date anti-virus solution is asking for trouble no matter what version of Windows is installed.

I’d be more interested to see that same test performed on the same Windows 7 PC but running different AV solutions, including the new and free Microsoft Security Essentials to be honest. I wonder how far and how many of those 10 viruses would get then?

I wonder if Microsoft will come out fighting against Sophos this time, like it did when XP Mode security came under attack in the summer?