Archive for January 2024

With newly expanded Google and Yahoo guidelines for high-volume emailers coming into force from the 1st of February, we look at what needs to be done to comply. Why? As Google says about the reason for the new guidelines: “we’ll require bulk senders to authenticate their emails, allow for easy unsubscription and stay under a reported…

Following Microsoft’s recent announcement that it is expanding its Copilot product line-up to appeal to a larger range of businesses, we take a look at what this means and some of the stand-out pros and cons. Copilot  In November last year, Microsoft, a major investor in AI through its partnership with OpenAI (ChatGPT’s creators) announced…

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have reported making a two-legged “biohybrid robot” after combining an artificial skeleton with biological muscle, which can walk and pivot underwater. Biohybrid  Whereas ‘typical’ biohybrid robots can only move in straight lines or perform large turns (making them unsuitable for use in areas with many obstacles), the Tokyo University biohybrid robot…

Included in a recent major update to Google’s Gmail on Android (for now), a new feature can help users to declutter and remove annoying spam from their inbox. Select All Option The new feature (currently being rolled out) enables users to use a “Select all” tick box that appears above (top left) in the inbox (on the…

To keep its App Store appealing to developers after they gain the right to distribute apps through their own channels when the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into force, Apple is introducing a pilot test of “contingent pricing.” This means that developers can bundle subscriptions for two apps at a discounted price in the…

Security researchers, Arctic Wolf Labs, have reported that victims of Royal and Akira ransomware are being targeted in follow-on extortion attacks. In these follow-on attacks (starting in October 2023), two of which were documented by Arctic Wolf Labs, the threat actors falsely claimed they were trying to help victim organisations. They even claimed they would…

A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that almost one-third of electricity demand in Ireland is expected to come from data-centres by 2026. Doubling Of Electricity Demand  The IEA’s ‘Electricity 2024 – Analysis and forecast to 2026’ highlights how having one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the EU (12.5 per cent)…

Following many legal challenges to AI companies about copyrighted content being scraped and used to train their AI models (without consent or payment), a new certification for copyright-compliant AI has been launched. The Issue  As highlighted in the recent case of the New York Times suing OpenAI over the alleged training of its AI on…

New research from Gartner has predicted that global IT spending this year will reach $5 trillion and IT spending growth will be more than double that of 2023. A First – Spending More On IT Than Communications  In its IT spending forecast, Gartner predicts that the massive $5 trillion global spend means that spending on IT…

Work has started on Google’s first UK data centre which will cost $1 billion (£790m), will add to Google’s 27 data centres worldwide, and will support its move into AI. Crucial Compute Capacity  The data centre is being built on a 33-acre site at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. In addition to the construction and technical jobs…