From March, UK users will be able to use the m-pay bill service to buy items priced from ¡ê0.05 to ¡ê5 over the Internet or using a WAP phone. The service will charge the purchases to users' phone bills or deduct the charges from their prepaid accounts.

Vodafone contracted third-party software company iPin to develop the mobile-payment system and will use the company's e-Payment platform.

Payment is authorised by a user name and password for Internet purchases and a personal identification number for WAP purchases. When users make purchases on the Internet, they do not need to have their mobile phones with them, Vodafone said. Vodafone competitor, British Telecommunications announced last month that it is working with iPin to develop its own eWallet for its BTopenworld Internet customers.

Vodafone also announced in January that it had begun trials of a global payment platform, or m-wallet service, over mobile devices in Germany and Italy as well as in the UK. The m-pay service is a "totally separate service from m-wallet" and Vodafone has no plans to offer the m-pay service outside the UK in the near future, Vodafone's Janine Young said.

Items and services that can be bought using the m-pay service include mobile-phone ring tones and icons, entertainment and financial information, online games, location services, music, news, sports information, ticket bookings, travel information and reservations and weather information, Vodafone said.

When Vodafone launches its m-pay service in March it will have competition from Paybox.net, which began in Germany in May 2000 and is now operational in the UK, Austria, Spain and Sweden. In the UK, Paybox charges ¡ê14.99 per year for the service.

According to Paybox's Web site, it has 500,000 registered users and 6,500 merchants across Europe and has the advantage of not being tied to a particular network. One of its merchants is the Circus Restaurant and Bar in London.

All transactions are conducted over a secure GSM network so only a mobile-phone number is entered onto the Web when shopping online, the company said.

When Paybox members use their mobiles to pay for a product or service online or offline, they are contacted with an SMS message. Users then reply to the message with a PIN, which authorises the transaction, and the amount is debited from their bank accounts, Paybox said.

Jenna's father has put his drinking days behind him. President George Bush's daughter, Jenna, has been caught engaged in illegal drinking by Texas police. Nineteen-year-old Jenna Bush was drinking beer in a popular area of the Texas capital, Austin, when she was spotted by a police patrol.

Texas law forbids the drinking of alcohol for those under 21-years-old. Jenna Bush, who was with a friend at the time, was issued with a citation, which means she will have to perform community service or pay a fine.

The offence happened in the early hours of Friday morning. Assistant Police Chief Mike McDonald of the Texas police said Jenna Bush did not appear to be drunk. Two secret service agents protecting her were reported to be stationed outside the bar at the time. "Both girls were very cooperative, as were the Secret Service,", Officer McDonald said. "[The agents] didn't interfere in any way." Jenna 'was not drunk' President Bush's staff refused to talk about the incident, with White House spokesman Scott McLellan commenting, "It's a family matter".

Ms Bush and her twin sister Barbara graduated from high school last May. Jenna is now a student at the University of Texas in Austin. She is due to appear in court on 2 May. Under the terms of the citation, she will either pay a $200 fine or perform community service. Jenna's father had a reputation as a hard drinking party-goer during his university days when he was a member of a fraternity known as the Skull and Bones.

But in 1986 Mr Bush appeared to go through a religious awakening at the time of his 40th birthday. Waking with a hangover, he decided to quit drinking, found God and transformed himself into a man seeking high office. Shortly before last November's presidential election it was revealed that Mr Bush was arrested for drink-driving 25 years ago after drinking several beers in a bar. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge, paid a $150 fine and had his driving licence suspended.

I want to know what is the one foundational key for all success. That is success in all areas of our lives; as individuals on our life's journeys; with our partners and families; and as members of IT teams inside organisations. Would there be one key that would shine through consistently above all others, that might help take the confusion out of personal development, career enhancement and the pursuit in which every human being is engaged- the pursuit of happiness?

When I looked back over the last few years, remembering my experiences as an IT leader, thinking about all of the wonderful, pioneering leaders I have met during that period and all the books I have read, I reached the answer. At first it did not leap out at me. Goals are clearly key - if we do not know where we are going, what chance do we have of getting there? Beliefs are also critical, as are valuing one another, buikding a rapport with everyone we meet and discovering who we really are.

And the answer came to me when I least expected it - at a conference where an IT director was sharing his experiences. He used one phrase that will stay with me forever. He said, "looking back, we made loads of mistakes, we got lots of things wrong, but if we had not done that, we would not be where we are today." And it hit me - the one fundamental for success is action. Ideas, schemes, meetings, e-mails, conversations, thoughts and initiatives will come to nothing if no-one actually does anything.

Action is all, yet how we have discouraged it over the years. "Right first time", "continuous improvement" and "total quality management" have not had a good airing in this column over the years (of the feedback I get, I have never had one letter praising any of these) and one of the reasons for that is they stifle action. They do this because they focus on the avoidance of mistakes, of risk and on dampening the human spirit, on which action depends.

So, know where you are going, know what you have to do to get there and then take action. Keep reviewing your actions to see if you are closer to your goals. If you are, keep doing more of the same - if you are not, do something different. Just keep doing something.

Enough rhetoric, how can we ensure more action in our teams, on our projects and in our companies - fast?

Focus on outcomes from every action - what specially will be delivered?

Every action must have a clear owner.

Ensure that people buy into every action.

Gauge whether the action will be followed through by asking this exact question: What are the chances, on a scale from one to 10, of it being completed."

If you are ever unsure about whether an action is the right one, do not waste time.

When things do not go well, learn from it and rejoice.

As an IT leader, take the blame for everything that goes wrong in your department and ensure that other people are praised when things go well.