A load of BullGuard?

Dave reports on why parents are prying and impressarios are investing in the tech world. Oh, and why the internet is like oxygen.

In the most point-missingly sensationalised headline of this (or any other) week, I was shocked to read recently that "the alarmingly high figure" of "one in five parents have been shocked by content on their children's email, text or Facebook account". According to (ahem) "research" from (VESTED INTEREST ALERT!) security firm BullGuard, 61 per cent of mums and dads make a habit of spying on their offspring's texts or online activities.

Less worryingly, a third of these admitted to being consumed by guilt over the snooping. "It's hard enough watching your children 24/7 in the real world, but keeping tabs on their movements online is the real challenge," said BullGuard product management head Alex Balan, just a little creepily. "BullGuard's Identity Protection offers Facebook protection for parents concerned about what their children are being exposed to, such as cyberbullying, social predators or inappropriate content."

Good point, Al. I mean, who cares about the rights and wrongs of invading your child's privacy? The important thing is we don't miss a chance to use serious issues like online abuse and the proliferation of violent and degrading adult content to hawk some software. Kerching!

Texas, Paris

In the most unfortunately timed comment of the week, I was intrigued to hear Michael Dell opine that the internet was "like oxygen" at the firm's recent Technology Camp event in Paris.

Just before the WiFi crashed, leaving delegates and press disappointedly pawing at their tablets and smartphones. (Although, it must be said, not visibly struggling for breath.) The eponymous tech leader explained that cloud computing is at the same point the internet was at in 1995, when everyone was apparently asking ‘what is your internet strategy?'.

"Nobody asks that any more as the internet is kind of like oxygen, and cloud is heading in the same direction - it's just everywhere, a new delivery mechanism; we all do it, and it is just assumed," he said. It's probably safe to say he'd also assumed the vendor's chosen venue - a reet swanky place on the banks of the Seine - would have adequate connectivity.

Gaga for tech start-ups

As a career technologist, I'm always pleased to see new investment flooding into the industry. So I was delighted to learn this week that pop impresario Troy Carter is creating a seeding fund of up to $100m to inject into tech start-ups.

He may have made his name and his money being the manager of Lady Gaga, but Carter has also long been an advocate of tech firms and has invested in companies including Spotify, Dropbox and Summly via his AF Square fund.

The investor plans to take an "opportunistic", rather than targeted approach as he hunts some Little Monsters to plough his wonga into.

Glad to hear you're a fellow techhead, Troy - some of us are Born This Way. If you fancy investing in the hot east London tech scene (and don't mind batting off the Paparazzi at Dagenham Heathway station), why not pick up the Telephone and poke yer face into Dodgi HQ?

Cloudy sums

There was yet more bad news for outdated tin-shifters like yours truly this week, with research revealing that cloud computing skills are the most prized of all for IT pros looking to further their careers.

According to research from recruitment outfit Robert Half Technology, some 39 per cent of IT directors claimed that "cloud computing is the most valuable skill for IT professionals to have". This is apparently ahead of (deep breath) security (37 per cent); project management (33 per cent); virtualisation (29 per cent); network admin and engineering (27 per cent); mobile and application development (27 per cent); database management (24 per cent); C# development (15 per cent); business intelligence (14 per cent); and Java development (13 per cent).

I can only hope that ‘maths' isn't considered quite as important by any prospective employers of the survey compiler, as I can't help but notice that the above answers add up to 258 per cent of respondents.

Although, funnily enough, "giving 258 per cent" is exactly what I demand of all new recruits at Dodgi.