Don’t Ask Gemini About The Election

Google has outlined how it will restrict the kinds of election-related questions that its Gemini AI chatbot will return responses to.  Why?  With 2024 being an election year for at least 64 countries (including the US, UK, India,…

DMARC Diligence (Part 3) : Implementing and Optimising DMARC for Maximum Security

In this third and final part of our series of ‘DMARC Diligence’ insights, we explore the detailed process of DMARC deployment, its monitoring, optimisation, and preparing businesses for future email security challenges.  Last…
bitcoin

Bogus Bitcoin Boffin

A High Court judge has ruled that Australian computer scientist Dr Craig Wright is not the inventor of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, despite him claiming to be so since 2016. Real Bitcoin Inventor A Secret The challenge with trying to conclusively…
Google
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Chrome’s Real-Time Safe Browsing Change

Google has announced the introduction of real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection to Google Safe Browsing for those using Chrome on desktop or iOS (and Android later this month).  Why?  Google says with attacks constantly…

Apple Pays Norfolk Council £385 Million

Following a class action lawsuit led by Norfolk County Council over the effect of an alleged cover-up by Apple’s boss about iPhone demand in China, Apple has agreed to pay £385m to settle the lawsuit.  The lawsuit related to…

First For Energy-Saving Magnetic Levitation Train

Italian firm IronLev has claimed to have completed the first-ever magnetic levitation (maglev) test on an existing train track.  Energy Saving Potential  The use of maglev technology for trains is particularly valuable because,…

Optimise Power Plans For Your Battery Life

Windows allows users to customise or switch between different power plans based on their current needs, balancing performance with energy consumption. This is especially useful for laptop users who may need to maximise battery life or require…

TikTok Termination?

A recent US congressional vote means that TikTok and its parent company’s alleged ties with the Chinese Communist Party must be severed within six months or the popular TikTok app must be sold, thereby banning it in the US.  The Vote…

DMARC Diligence (Part 2) : The Forgotten Domains : A Hidden Vulnerability

In this second article of the “DMARC Diligence” series, we shift our focus towards securing non-sending or “forgotten” domains and outline a strategy for their protection through DMARC implementation.  Recap Of Part 1  You…
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New Quantum Attack-Proof PCs

At its Annual Partner Conference 2024, HP announced the world’s first business PCs to protect firmware against quantum computer attacks.  This Issue  As highlighted by Global Risk Institute research, 27 per cent of experts…
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Bitcoin Value Hits New High

With the famously volatile Bitcoin cryptocurrency briefly hitting a new all-time high value of $69,000 recently, we look at the reasons why this happened and what could happen next.  Why?  This latest surge in the value of Bitcoin…

Apple Fine and Sideloading

In two recent blows to Apple, it’s just been fined £1.5bn for breaking EU competition laws over music streaming, while its latest iPhone update means allowing developers to offer their own ‘app stores’.  The Fine  Following…

How Cheese Helped Extract Gold From E-Waste

ETH Zurich researchers have reported discovering an effective method for recovering gold from e-waste with the help of by-products from the cheesemaking process.  Protein Fibre Sponge  The group of researchers, led by ETH Professor…

Easy Batch Renaming of Files in File Explorer

Renaming multiple files one by one can be tedious and time-consuming. Windows File Explorer offers a simple way to batch rename files, which can be especially useful for organising documents, photos, or project files efficiently. Here's how…
WhatsApp

WhatsApp Updates

Here we look at some of the latest WhatsApp updates and the value and benefits they deliver to users.  Search Conversations By Date For Android  The first of three new updates of significance for WhatsApp is the “search by date”…
email

DMARC Diligence (Part 1) : The Basics of Email Authentication

In this, the first of a series of three articles explaining DMARC and email authentication, we look at why SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are the key pillars of email authentication.  The Issue  Businesses face numerous cyber threats,…
Copilot

Copilot Gets Plugins And Skills Upgrade

Microsoft has announced that its Windows 11 Copilot AI companion (that’s been embedded into 365’s popular apps) has received an upgrade in the form of new plugins and skills.  Builds On The AI Key  Microsoft says that the new…
Android phone

Brave Android Browser Gets ‘Leo’ Assistant

Brave, the privacy-focused browser, has announced the introduction of Leo, its privacy-preserving AI assistant built into the browser on all Android devices.  Users Can Choose Which Model – The Mixtral LLM & Meta’s Llama 2  Brave…
apple car

End Of The Road For Apple Car

It’s been reported that Apple has ceased work on its Autonomous Electric Vehicle known as “Project Titan”.  The 2,000 employees who were working on the decade-long project (and who reportedly had a say in the decision to stop…
Factory

New £4 Billion EV Battery Factory in Somerset

Tata Group’s global battery business ‘Agratas’ has confirmed previous announcements that it will invest £4bn in a brownfield site near Bridgwater in Somerset to make it the UK’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility.  Somerset…

Access Windows Secret “Send To” Menu for Quick Actions

Windows includes an extended "Send To" menu that offers more options for dealing with files, such as copying them directly to specific locations or sending them to compressed (zipped) folders. Here's how to access it: In Microsoft Windows,…

Try Being Nice To Your AI 

With some research indicating that ‘emotive prompts’ to generative AI chatbots can deliver better outputs, we look at whether ‘being nice’ to a chatbot really does improve its performance.  Not Possible, Surely?  Generative…

Exploring E-Signatures

In this tech-insight, we look at what e-signatures are, their benefits plus some of the main e-signature providers, as well as what to consider when choosing an e-signature service.  Popularity of E-signatures  The initial growth…
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Firm Ordered To Stop Employee Face-Scanning

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ordered Serco Leisure to stop using facial recognition technology (FRT) and fingerprint scanning to monitor employee attendance.   Not Necessary or Proportionate  An…

Google Pauses Gemini AI Over ‘Historical Inaccuracies’

Only a month after its launch, Google has paused its text-to-image AI tool following “inaccuracies” in some of the historical depictions of people produced by the model.  Inaccuracies An example of the inaccuracy issue (as highlighted…

Quantum-Proof iMessage Update

Apple says it’s rolling out an update to its iMessage texting platform that can defend against future encryption-breaking technologies such as decryption by quantum computers.  Apple says its PQ3 “groundbreaking post-quantum…

‘Gasification’ of Waste Tea Powers Factories

The ‘gasification’ of waste tea pruning's is being used to both provide free energy for factories in Kenya and to decarbonise the tea sector.  Gasification  UK-based waste-to-energy company Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS) has…

Make MS Word Spellcheck Uppercase Too

You may not know that Microsoft Word doesn’t spellcheck uppercase words by default so, if you’d like to make sure your entire document (even your uppercase words) is fully spellchecked, here’s how: In Word, click on 'File'. Click…