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The True Cost Of Using Pirated Software

In this article, we look at how the risks to businesses posed by pirated software can far outweigh the benefits of using it, and how you can protect your business from the true costs of pirated software.  Benefits  On the surface,…
Data Center

Data Centres To Use Raw Water?

Thames Water has said that it wants to work with data centres in its jurisdiction to enable them to use raw water rather than drinking quality water for cooling.  Switching To Raw Rather Than Drinking Quality Water  Just as the…
Microchip

What Are The Reasons For The Chip Shortage?

With the world facing a considerable semiconductor microchip shortage, we take a look at the causes and effects of the shortage plus some potential solutions.  Why Is This Important?  Microchips are now included in virtually everything…
Google device
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Google To Run Fake News Information Adverts

Following an experiment by Bristol and Cambridge Universities, Google has announced that it plans to run adverts on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook, educating users about how to spot disinformation and misinformation.  ‘Pre-Bunking’…
Train
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World-First All-Hydrogen Train Just Emits … Water!

French company Alstom has announced a renewable energy world-first by operating a 100 percent hydrogen train which only emits steam and condensed water while operating with a low level of noise.  Replacing Diesel Trains  The train…

Tech Tip – Stay Organised With Microsoft To Do’s ‘My Day’ 

If you’d like to improve your productivity and focus on daily tasks, but in a way that works with your existing behaviour patterns, and doesn’t create ever-longer to-do lists, ‘My Day’ in Microsoft's ‘To Do’ cross-platform app may…
laptop worker

Protect Yourself From Job Phishing Scams

In this article, we look at what ‘job phishing’ is, how it works, and how you can protect yourself from this type of fraud.  What Is Job Phishing?  Job phishing refers to recruitment/employment scams where fraudsters pose as…
Calendly

Calendly Vs Microsoft Bookings

In this insight, we take a brief look at Calendy contrasted against Microsoft Bookings and highlight some of the pros and cons of each.  Calendy  Founded in 2013, Calendy is a SaaS meeting and event scheduling app for website, Chrome…
Office on phone
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Excel Collaboration Now Easier

Microsoft Excel’s new @mentions feature allows users to create, assign, and track tasks in a workbook, thereby making collaboration in Excel easier.  Added To Roadmap 2020  The @mentions feature, which was added to Excel for the…
Data Center

Climate Change Affecting Data Centres

A Google data centre going offline in July due to a cooling related failure is just one of a slew of challenges posed by climate change that the big tech companies are facing.  Heatwave Knocks London Data Centre Offline  The heatwave…
quadcopter
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Last-Mile Drone Deliveries Offers Sustainability Benefits

Researchers from US Carnegie Mellon University have concluded that quadcopter drones produce much less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional alternatives for last-mile delivery.  The Problem  The point of the research was to…
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Tech Tip – How To Use Notepad To Test Your Antivirus

Here’s a simple tip using Notepad to check if your antivirus is working as it should: Open Notepad.Type X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H* into notepad.Save the file as either e.g., test.exe or test.bat…
Microsoft
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What Is Microsoft Azure?

In this insight, we look at what Microsoft Azure is, plus what it offers businesses.  Azure  Microsoft Azure (formerly Windows Azure) is Microsoft’s public cloud computing platform. Public cloud refers to cloud computing services…
matrix
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Major NHS Supplier Hit By Ransomware Attack

Advanced, an IT supplier to the NHS, has been hit by a ransomware attack that could take a month to recover from.  What Happened?  Birmingham-based ‘Advance’ provides digital services to the NHS such as patient check-in and…
WhatsApp
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New WhatsApp Feature : Leave Silently

New privacy features being rolled out this month mean that WhatsApp users can now leave group chats silently.   Three New Privacy Features  WhatsApp has announced the introduction of three new privacy features: Leave Groups…
voip call

Ofcom Investigates Whether 999 Calls Work (Via VoIP) During Emergencies

Communications regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation to make sure that telecoms providers are complying with rules to ensure that there is always uninterrupted access to 999 calls.  Investigation Into Compliance With General…
Phone
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All iPhones To Be Powered By Renewable Energy By 2030

Apple’s Vice President of the environment, Lisa Jackson, has announced that all iPhones will be powered by renewable energy by 2030.  Acquiring Renewable Energy From Wind Farms  The announcement was made in Australia while celebrating…
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Tech Tip – How To Backup Your WhatsApp Conversations

With so many of us using WhatsApp for important business matters, it makes sense to backup chats either on Google Drive or iCloud Drive. Here’s how: To make a Google Drive backup: Open WhatsApp and Tap More options (the three dots).Select…
phone wallet

Most People To Have Digital Wallets by 2026

While some people are busy asking whether we’re seeing the death of cryptocurrencies, a new report says 60 percent of us will be using digital wallets by 2026.  Digital Wallet Usage Driven By ‘Superapps’  A Juniper Research…
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Pros and Cons of Weakening Encryption

With the Online Safety Bill threatening to undermine end-to-end encryption, we look at the strengths and weaknesses of this security trade-off.  Encryption  Encryption comes from the science of cryptography. In today’s digital…
Google device

Google Improves ‘Quoted Search’

Google has made it easier to do quoted searches by adding snippets to search results to help users save time in locating a phrase in a web page.  Quoted Searches  Quoted Searches are searches where the search term is placed within…
GitHub

What is GitHub, GitLab Etc?

In this insight, we take a look at what GitHub and GitLab are, and why they are important in the world of software development.  GitHub, from GitHub Inc., is a not-for-profit website and cloud-based hosting service for open-source development…
Graphene

Sustainability-In-Tech : Graphene For Greener Business?

In this article, we look at how super-strong Graphene can be used to make projects and products more environmentally friendly.  What is Graphene?  Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional…
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Tech Tip – How To Send WhatsApp Voice Messages 

If you need to instantly deliver important and time-sensitive information to contacts and groups in WhatsApp, you could use ‘voice messages.’ Here’s how to use this feature:  To send a voice message Open an individual or group…
Amazon

Spotting Fake Reviews And Dubious Ratings On Amazon

Following Amazon suing the admins of more than 10,000 Facebook groups over an alleged co-ordinated fake reviews campaign, we look at how to spot fake reviews and dubious ratings on Amazon.  Why Use Fake Reviews?  On the site of…
Apple

1976 Apple Expected to Fetch $500,000

A 1976 Apple-1 prototype, believed to have been owned by Steve Jobs and hand-soldered by Steve Wozniak is being auctioned and is expected to fetch around $500,000.  At $400,000+ Already!  The prototype is essentially a broken circuit…
video games

Playing Video Games For Long Periods Isn’t Bad For You

A new Oxford University study involving 38,935 video-game players overs six weeks has concluded that there is little to no evidence for a causal connection between game play and well-being.  Why Do We Believe Spending Time Playing Video…
Chrome
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Chrome Cookie Removal – Delayed

Google has announced that due to the need for more time to evaluate alternatives, it is delaying (by nine months) its plans to rid Chrome of third-party tracking cookies.  Third-Party Cookies  A cookie is a piece of code (used for…
cement

Algae-Grown ‘Limestone’ For Cement Could Be Sustainable Solution

Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder have developed a net carbon neutral (or even carbon negative) method of producing Portland cement by substituting quarried limestone with limestone produced by microalgae.  The…

Tech Tip – How Group Tabs In Chrome To Keep Related Pages Together

One way to get more organised when using Google Chrome is to group open website tabs together with a click to keep related pages together in one workspace. Chrome’s ‘Group tabs’ lets your give the groups a label/name and colour. Here’s…