homeworker

How Many People Are Homeworking Now?

With an ONS survey showing that from October to December 2019 and January to March 2022, homeworking in the UK more than doubled from 4.7 million to 9.9 million people, we take a closer look at the figures and what’s behind them.  COVID…
newspaper

Where Do People Get Their News From?

With young people now unlikely to read newspapers or watch the TV news, and following the latest Ofcom report, we look at which channels people get their news from.  Decline of Printed Newspapers  Newspaper readership has been declining…
google
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Google Sacks Engineer Who Said AI Chatbot Was Sentient

Google has sacked senior software engineer Blake Lemoine, who made the news after saying that Google’s LaMDA chatbot’s responses to questions showed that it was a sentient being.  What Happened?  Back in June, Google engineer…
windows

Windows Overflow Added To Taskbar

For those who have so many apps open that they run out of space on the taskbar, Microsoft is adding an overflow button where the excess ones can be accessed.  Overflow – Button With Three Dots   For those who need it (i.e. those…
sand

Sand Battery For Year-Round Heat

Finnish engineers, Markku Ylönen and Tommi Eronen have made a giant battery which stores heat from green energy within sand that can be used as an all-year-round energy supply.  Sand Battery  The Finnish engineers’ company, Polar…

Tech Tip – An Easy Way To Copy Web Data To Excel  

Save both time and effort with this ever-so-easy way to copy web data into excel. Instead of copying and pasting chunks of data at a time, e.g. from a table on web page, simply copy the URL of the page you’d like to get the data from. Here’s…
server room

Hot Weather & Hardware

In this tech-insight, we look how extreme heat can affect IT hardware and what measures you can take to keep the equipment cool and prevent damage.  High Temperatures  Hot weather UK-style is not normally a problem. With an average…
BMW seats

Heated Seats ‘as a Service’.

BMW UK is now offering ConnectedDrive owners Front Seat Heating for a £15 per month or £150 per year subscription.  BMW ConnectedDrive Services  BMW ConnectedDrive Services use the smart / Internet connected element of the car…
underground train
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Subway Surfing : Tube Talk

Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 have announced that their customers will be joining both Three and EE’s customers in having access to high-speed mobile connectivity on London’s Tube network, including within the tunnels.  Joined BAI  As…
eye

Avoid Eyestrain

In this article, we look at what eyestrain is, what causes it, and the many measures you can take to prevent it.  What Is Eyestrain?  Eyestrain is eye fatigue, caused by intensely focusing the eyes during a task, such as staring…
escooter

EScooter Rentals – Not Everything They’re Touted To Be?

Nipping along the road on an EScooter sounds like a perfect way to get around which is touted as being easily-accessible, cheap and pollution-free. So, it should be a no-brainer, right? However, with some research now showing that rental Escooters…

Tech Tip – Instant Google Search From Highlighted Text

If you are reading a web page or blog in Google Chrome and come across a term you’d like to know about, Google has a built-in way to search for that term simply as a result of when you highlight the text with your mouse. Here’s how it works: In…
Alexa
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How To Fake Someone’s Voice

Following recent security concerns about Amazon’s plans to enable Alexa to mimic voices, we look at how easy it is to do, what the benefits are, and what risks it poses.  Alexa The Mimic  Recently, Amazon announced that it was…
Idea light bulb

Why AI Systems Can’t Patent Inventions …Yet

Following a recent Intellectual Property Office (IPO) consultation, it has been decided that AI will not be allowed to patent inventions.  What’s The Issue?  As highlighted by a legal battle dating back to 2018, some people believe…
bitcoin

Dramatic Decrease in Crypto Consumption of Power

Rising electricity prices, energy-hungry crypto mining operations and falling cryptocurrency prices are thought to be behind a significant decrease in the amount of electricity being used for crypto mining.   What Is Crypto Mining?  Crypto…
office on phone
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Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365

In this article, we take a brief look at the relative merits of Office 365 compared to Google Workspace and how Google’s recent introduction of features and greater integration have been aimed at challenging Microsoft 365’s dominant position.  Google…
co2

UK’s Largest Carbon Capture Facility Opens In Cheshire

Tata Chemicals Europe has opened the UK’s largest industrial-scale carbon capture facility at its chemical plant in Cheshire to convert carbon dioxide into food and pharmaceutical-grade sodium bicarbonate.  Capturing 10% Of The Carbon…

Tech Tip – Avoid Speeding Tickets With Google Maps Feature 

If you’re off on your holidays and days out to enjoy the warm weather, there’s an audible speed trap feature in Google Maps can help you monitor your speed and avoid a getting a ticket. Here’s how to use it: In Google Maps, tap on…
windows logo

New Windows Feature Displays Which Apps Have Been Listening-In

The new Privacy Auditing feature in Windows 11 allows users to see a list of which apps have accessed their microphone or camera recently, plus details of any other suspicious activity.  See Which Apps Have Accessed Your Microphone…
facial recognition
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Age Check Face Scan For Instagram

Social media app Instagram has announced that it is testing new methods for age verification of users, including the use of a video selfie.  What Are The Issues?  This latest announcement by Meta’s (Facebook) Instagram is an extension…
photo

How Can You Protect Yourself From ‘Identity Theft’?

With identity theft and the resulting identity fraud becoming more widespread, we look at how to spot the signs that you may be a victim, the effects on victims, plus how to reduce the risk of having your identity stolen and used for fraud.  What…
wifi
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What Are Wi-Fi 5 And 6 … And What’s The Difference?

In this tech-insight, we look at what Wi-Fi 5 And 6 are including their differences plus the improvements that Wi-Fi 6 offers.  Wi-Fi Standards  Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 are the names of the most recent Wi-Fi standards. Wi-Fi standards…
water

New Ultrafast Saltwater Purification Device

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a device that can desalinate water at least one thousand times faster than existing methods.  A Membrane Made From Tiny Fluorine-Based Nanoscopic Rings  Scientists…

Tech Tip – How To Colour Code Your Outlook Calendar

If you’d like to get more at-a-glance organisation and track all items related to a project or task in your Microsoft Outlook calendar, colour-coding can help. Here’s how to add it: From the main calendar view, right click on an appointment,…
laptop
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Fewer Cookie Pop-Ups – But At What Cost?

A government Bill has laid out a new UK data protection regime (which diverges from EU regulations) and which the government says will ease the burden of compliance on businesses.  Data Reform Bill  The government says that the…
mobile

Regulations Dictate More Action Needed On Fake Content

A Strengthened EU ‘Code of Practice on Disinformation’ will require big tech companies to take more action to ensure that purveyors of disinformation do not benefit from advertising revenues.  Broader Range Of Commitments  The…
data

What Is ‘Data Gravity’ ?

In this insight, we look at what ‘data gravity’ is, what challenges it creates, and some ways in which businesses can tackle data gravity challenges.  What Is Data Gravity?  Working with (larger) datasets means the need to collect,…
IE
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Internet Explorer is Dead. Long Live The King?

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser has been retired after 27 years and here we take a brief look back over its history and why it fell behind competitors before being succeeded by Microsoft Edge.  It Came From ‘Mosaic’  Microsoft…
cement

Sustainability-in-Tech : Renewable Cement Made Entirely From Waste Materials

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have created renewable, sustainable ‘biocement’ made entirely from waste materials, making it a greener and more sustainable alternative to regular cement.  How?  The…

Tech Tip – Sending WhatsApp ‘View Once’ Messages

If you want to add an extra layer of privacy to sending a photo or video in WhatsApp (e.g. a photo of a password), adding a “view once” designation before sending the message means that the photo or video will disappear as soon as the recipient…