BBC executives dumbed down by Blackberry mush

Siemens Business Services (SBS) uses Vodafone's network, to provide the BBC with a service for 300 “power” users (i.e. corporation's executives who spend the most time out of their head the office ) of Canadian company RIM Blackberry devices.
Last week users started receiving fragments of other people's e-mails so the BBC has shut down its BlackBerry mobile email service. (Cue for Armando Ionucci Radio 4 comedy program)

A flaw in the BlackBerry Enterprise Server has been identified by RIM who say that the bug that plagued the BBC was a "rare conjunction of circumstances" which only occurs in a single service pack for BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

In a statement RIM said: "We have developed and tested a fix for an obscure bug identified in a specific service pack release for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The bug was isolated to version 4.02 and does not exist in version 4.03 or other earlier versions. RIM is aware of a single reported incident of the bug and responded promptly with a fix."

RIM, who recently announced a joint venture with Microsoft, Verizon and Palm for the new Treo 650e mobile in the US claims more than 3 Mn suers worldwide any errant messages resulting from the flaw, did not make it beyond the corporate firewall and "the bug did not generate any external risk". It says here.

In 2002, the BBC banned any of its staff from using devices not based on a Microsoft operating system.

Keen students of the technical capacity of Mr Blair’s surging crowd of sharp suited PR johnnies still relish the day in January when uber spinmeister Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's former chief of communications, mistakenly sent an email from his BlackBerry apparently intended for a party official, suggesting they should get Trevor Beattie, TBWA's Ad agency boss, to issue a statement re the pre-election flying pigs poster and anti-semitic demionising of “Fagin” Michael Howard.

In it, he said:

"Just spoke to trev. think tbwa shd give statement to newsnight saying party and agency work together well and nobody here has spoken to standard. Posters done by by tbwa according to political brief. Now fuck off and cover something important you twats!"

The e-mail was sent by mistake to Newsnight journalist Andrew McFadyen.
Apologising later he said ....

"Not very good at this e-mail Blackberry malarkey.
"Never known such a silly fuss since the last silly fuss but there we go. Must look forward not back."

That’ll be the e-commerce based knowledge economy that leads to the UK’s core competitive business core business competition strategy then…. matching academic innovation to entrepreneurial skills …developing initiatives to promote technology clusters, ….identify the capacity of firms to innovate….. promoting technology transfer…..zzzzz…zzzzz ((c) T Blair Cambridge Silicon Fen 1999)

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