In this week’s podcast, we look at the always important issue of online gaming — would you be a dwarf or an orc in World of Warcraft, and is having sex in Second Life weird?

Back in so-called “real life,” we also discuss the Oyster travelcard. Transport for London has signed a new contract to keep the popular ticketing card going, and we’re happy to hear it.

In less positive London news, a virus has hit three hospitals in the capital — and we’re not talking MRSI. The Mytob worm has taken out systems at St Barts and the London NHS trust, and they’re still down. Was it a deliberate attack, or just a worm in the wild that managed to slip through?

And is the BBC’s move to stream its programmes online going to be the end of the license fee? We hope so…

We also discuss our gadget of the week, the Sony Ericsson Xperia. It sure is pretty looking, but Windows Mobile fails to win over our expert reviewers…

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

This week we look at the issue of women in IT and the cultural and career barriers that continue to depress the numbers of women working in the industry.

We also discusshow Nigerian email scammers are using hacked Facebook accounts in an attempt to extract hard-earned money from users duped into thinking they are helping a Facebook buddy get out of a fix. We also discuss Nokia’s new keyboard-based smartphone, 3’s INQ 1, and talk about how the US president-elect used the internet to win the election.

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

This week we look at the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry Bold, RIM’s first touch screen smartphone. We also discuss the end of Google’s advertising relationship with Yahoo and debate whether Microsoft will make a fresh bid for the embattled internet company. The UK ID card scheme takes another step closer with trials taking place at two British airports.

Also - Bletchley park needs your help!

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

This week, we’re joined by PC Pro-er Stu Turton to discuss the launch of Windows 7 at Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference in LA this week. Will the new OS be better than XP and Vista, and has Vista been given a tough ride? And when did Microsoft become the underdog?

As usual, there’s a story about data breaches. According to Information Commissioner Richard “Richie” Thomas, there’ve been some 277 such breaches this year. When’s it going to stop? Probably never, if all Thomas can do is send angry glares as punishment…

Awkwardly moving on, we discuss the T-Mobile G1 Android phone — what’s all the fuss about? Is it worth lining up for?

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

This week’s podcast takes on an unexpected theme of ‘Free Stuff’ as we discuss so-called ‘Free’ laptops with mobile broadband contracts, ‘Free’ computers for low-income families with children, ‘Free’ broadband for small business telephony customers.

We also look at the potential scrapping of Transport for London’s Oyster card system, following the termination of its contract with service provider TranSys. This came about after several technical and securoty problems, including the publishing of details on how to clone Oyster cards, allowing ‘Free’ travel.

To wrap up, we discuss the hacking of French president Sarkozy’s bank account - that will be ‘Free’ money then.

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

This week, we discuss BT’s plans to pilot super-fast Fibre to the Cabinet in Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, South Glamorgan — neither of which are places we live, so we’re all stuck on sluggish connections for the near future.

But if this continues, it could finally make video conferencing a more mainstream option, meaning we can all stay at home rather than take business trips.

In gadget news, we discuss the new aluminium MacBooks from Apple, and ponder if they’ll ever produce a netbook. And, if they do, will it cost 60 per cent more than all the others?

With visions of netbooks still in our heads, we also ponder the new Apricot PicoBook Pro - we haven’t seen the thing, so we’re really just still trying to figure out how to say it…

And finally, we talk about Elbot, the robot AI which scored 25 per cent on the Turing test. We weren’t impressed, but we do share which IT PRO editor can dance a mean robot, so take a listen to find out…

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

In this week’s podcast we look at the operating system that just won’t die, and ask whether Microsoft should even bother trying to wean people off Windows XP.

We also discuss RIM’s first touch screen BlackBerry and give you some insight into how the Storm works compared to a keyboard-based BlackBerry. Apple is set to announce a range of new laptops next week, inline with the predictions we made last month. We discuss the most likely changes to the range along with out wish list for new features and products.

Have you ever sent an email you wish you hadn’t while under the influence? Google is developing a new feature for Gmail that will hopefully stop you sending unfortunate emails after a night in the pub. The IT PRO team explains how.

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

This week, we start off with a discussion of Microsoft’s cloud computing plans… and Steve Ballmer’s on-stage antics. With a man like that at the helm, why isn’t Microsoft more popular?

Next, it’s the full run-down of Nokia’s first touchscreen phone, the 5800 XpressMusic - formerly known as the ‘Tube’. Is it as good as the iPhone? Have Nokia waited too long to jump on the touch bandwagon?

We also discuss the silliness that is MI6 advertising on Facebook, and take a few minutes to rant about mobile phone use on planes… and how annoying people on buses can be. Why can’t they be more like the oh-so-polite Japanese?

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

In this week’s podcast, we discuss the very first mobile handset to feature Google’s Android phone - is it all hype, or does it bring something new to the mobile world?

Joined by Clare Hopping, editor of Know Your Mobile, we also look at Ryanair’s plans to make mobile calls available on their flights, wondering what sort of budget traveller is willing to pay £2 a minute to make a call? And, are we doomed to listen to inane conversations thanks to this latest innovation?

We also chat about the soon to be rolled out ID cards, and to wrap up, we discuss London mayor Boris Johnson’s plans - poorly thought out though they may be - to cover the capital in WiFi coverage.

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.

In this week’s podcast we discuss the fallout from HP’s acquisiton of EDS along with the impact on IT staff and service providers following this week’s financial implosion in the City and Wall Street.

We also look at Orange’s efforts to woo more business customers, another government data loss, the danger of texting while driving and the appearance of Mick Jagger at the EU to discuss ecommerce issues.

You can download the IT PRO Podcast here, or click here to find The IT PRO Podcast on iTunes, or just listen below.