Archive for May 2024

iPhone users can now use a version of Google’s “Circle to Search” thanks to Google Lens and iOS Shortcuts. The “Circle to Search” gesture, launched in January (which Google Pixel phone users may already be familiar with) is where users can circle, highlight, scribble or tap any part of an image or text on the…

Warnings have been issued about a new audio call scam on WhatsApp targeting family and friends. The scam involves a fraudster, most likely using a fake profile picture and display name, making an unexpected call, impersonating a member of a WhatsApp group chat. The fraudster tells the victim they’re sending them a one-time passcode (OTP)…

The world’s largest direct air capture (DAC) plant, dubbed ‘Mammoth’ (which can suck polluting carbon from the air to help tackle global warming) has started operating in Iceland. Mammoth  Started on the 28th June 2022 and now completed and operating, Mammoth was designed to remove 36,000 tons of carbon from the air per year –…

This video-update explains how you can add ‘memory’ to ChatGPT to make your experience more personalised and useful … https://videovault.vip/videos/social/2024-May-ChatGPT-memory-features.mp4

Microsoft has agreed to back $10bn in renewable electricity projects by Brookfield Asset Management to help it meet clean-energy commitments and provide its data-centres with the extra energy requirements of cloud and AI. Global Framework Agreement  The deal, which is a five-year agreement called the “global framework agreement” (“the agreement”) is a commitment by Microsoft, working in…

Here we look at the new UK cybersecurity law that will ban device manufacturers from having weak, easily guessable default passwords, thereby providing extra protection against hacking and cyber-attacks. The Problem  With 99 per cent of UK adults owning at least one smart device and UK households owning an average of nine connected devices, but…

In a recent BBC World Service interview, Head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, claimed that tens of millions of people in countries where WhatsApp has been banned continue to use it. Where Is WhatsApp Banned And Why?  WhatsApp is banned Iran and North Korea, has been blocked at times in Syria, Senegal, and Guinea, and recently…

North Yorkshire council has said it’s having to drop apostrophes from its street signs to avoid problems with its computer database! Must Meet BS7666  The reason given for North Yorkshire council for dropping the apostrophes (e.g. in its street name signs), is that including apostrophes can affect geographical databases and that when street names and addresses…

Apple Inc’s Board has just approved a $110 Billion Stock buyback which will be the biggest buyback in US history. Apple is already responsible for the top six of the 10 largest share-repurchase announcements ever made in the US, and this announcement beats its own previous record for the largest buyback value from 2018 when…

Popular San Francisco-based cloud storage provider Dropbox has confirmed that it suffered a data breach from a “threat actor” on April 24. The company says, in what it believes to be an isolated incident, the hacker “accessed Dropbox Sign customer information”. Dropbox says the data accessed included email addresses, usernames, phone numbers and hashed passwords, general account settings and…