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HMRC Self Assessment Scam Warning

HMRC has issued a warning to those completing Self Assessment tax returns for 31 January not to be caught out by SMS messages and email scams purporting to be from HMRC. Bogus An upturn in scams using HMRC’s name has meant that in the…
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Apple to Pay £85 Million For ‘Batterygate’ Scandal

Apple is to pay $113m (£85m) to put an end to the 'Batterygate' scandal, where the company was accused of deliberately slowing down iPhone batteries to prompt users into buying a new iPhone. What Happened? Back in 2017, some iPhone users…
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The Difference Between Cloud Backup and Cloud Storage

This article looks at the difference between cloud backup and cloud storage and how each contributes to daily business life; business continuity and disaster recovery. The Need For Storage Businesses not only have limited hard drive space,…
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Carbon Pollution From Your Emails

A Financial Times report based on work by Tim Berners-Lee has highlighted how sending fewer emails could help tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions. Emails and Carbon Production The idea from Tim Berners-Lee, referenced also…

Tech Tips – Windows 10 Emoji/Kaomoji Keyboard

If you would like a fast and easy way to include emojis in your writing or get access to a free resource of extra graphics when using Windows 10, you may not know that Windows 10 now has an integrated emoji and Kaomoji keyboard. Here’s how…
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Google Accused of Stealing Android Data

Google is being sued for (allegedly) secretly using Android users’ cellular data allowances without user consent, to perform “passive” information transfers. Passive Information Transfers The lawsuit was filed by Taylor et al v.…
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Data Breaches : The Fallout

Data Breaches A personal data breach, as defined by the UK’s data watchdog and regulator, The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), is “a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration,…
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Vanish Mode For Messenger and Instagram Chats

Only a week after its WhatsApp announcement for the “disappearing messages” feature, Facebook has announced “Vanish Mode” for Messenger and Instagram to allow the sending of messages that disappear automatically. Privacy and Secrecy Facebook…
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Retail Adapting To Pandemic Christmas and Beyond

With the UK facing different rules and lockdowns, there’s evidence that retailers are trying to overcome their significant challenges by becoming more agile and adapting where possible. High Street Decline Prior to the pandemic, those…

Tech Tips – Sending Delayed Emails

In Microsoft Outlook you can delay the delivery of an individual message or you can use rules to delay the delivery of all messages by having them held in the Outbox for a specified time after you click Send.  Here’s…
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WhatsApp Launches Self-Destruct Messages

From the end of November, Facebook’s WhatsApp users will have the option to automatically delete chats between the sender and recipient after 7 days. Disappearing Messages The new “disappearing messages” feature is not going to…
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Scammer Accidentally Calls Cyber-Crime Squad

A hapless scammer pretending to be from a broadband network got more than he bargained for when he accidentally called (and tried to work his scam) on the cyber-crime squad of an Australian police force. Claimed To Be From Broadband Network The…
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Language Used Reveals Societal Pandemic Anxiety

An AI study of the language used on social media platform Reddit has revealed increasing levels of anxiety since the beginning of the pandemic. Study The study, by MIT and Harvard University researchers, sought to leverage natural language…
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Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

In this article, we look at why bring your own device (BYOD) is still popular and we look at some of the risks businesses face by allowing BYOD. BYOD BYOD has been around since 2004 and essentially allows employees to bring in their personally…

Tech Tips – Jump Lists

In Windows 10, if you would like to return quickly and easily to a location that you have recently visited, the ‘Jump List’ feature in the taskbar can help. Here’s how it works: Jump list works for browsers, folders, and other programs…
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AI COVID Cough Detector

MIT research has used an AI model trained on cough sounds to detect an early stage COVID cough. Identifies Cough Pattern Those who catch COVID-19 but remain largely or completely asymptomatic (and therefore do not get a test) are proving…
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How Do You Know If Your Website Has Been Hacked?

Hacking of websites, as well as devices and accounts, is all too common and this article looks at some of the tell-tale signs that your website may have been hacked, and what to do about it. Signs The kinds of signs that alert website…
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Huge Demand for Employee Monitoring Software

The move to home working has prompted more businesses to invest in more digital, online staff-monitoring tools to help with transparency and productivity. Home Working Working at home because of the pandemic has led to companies wanting…
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Disposable Email Addresses For Office 365 Users

Microsoft is making its plus addressing, custom email feature available to all Office 365 users by adding it to Exchange Online. What Is Plus Addressing? Plus addressing allows a user to create their own custom, disposable return email…

Tech Tips – Cloud Download PC Reset

If you are using Windows 10 and you need to do a clean install on a PC/reset a PC, Microsoft’s ‘Cloud Download’ feature as part of the new Windows update makes it easy. This feature means that there is no need to gather files from…

Tech Tips – Windows Switch

If you like to save time while you are working with Windows 10, here is a tip to help you quickly and easily open up windows from your taskbar using ‘Windows Switch’: Hold down the Windows key + 1 and this opens the first item that’s…
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Password Security and The Road Ahead

The fact that websites continue to be hacked and passwords are frequently stolen (and that a computer recently set a record by guessing 100 billion passwords per second) calls in to question how passwords can still be used safely and what lies…
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Sanctions Hurt Huawei

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.’s 9.9 per cent revenue increase in its figures for the first three quarters of 2020 shows a significant slowing in growth compared to the 24.4 per cent increase for the corresponding period of 2019. Impact Financial…
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PayPal To Support Cryptocurrencies

It has been reported that US-based payments giant PayPal is ready to allow its users to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin BTC and other cryptocurrencies. Millions of Merchants The decision by PayPal will also mean that 26 million merchants…

Which? Reveals Truth About EV Battery Life

A recent (Which?) survey of 1,016 electric vehicle (EV) owners has revealed that worries about battery degradation should not be an issue for potential EV buyers. The Survey The survey by consumer champion Which? was conducted from December…