Security Stop Press : ConnectWise LockBit Alert
Just days after it was announced that the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the FBI, and Europol had taken down the Russian LockBit ransomware gang’s website, it’s been reported that LockBit ransomware is still being deployed via flaws in a popular remote access tool. Researchers at cybersecurity companies Huntress and Sophos have highlighted how two […]
Sustainability-in-Tech : ‘Gasification’ of Waste Tea Powers Factories
The ‘gasification’ of waste tea prunings 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 developed a ‘gasification’ process which can convert biomass and other feedstocks into synthesis gas (syngas), which can be used to generate heat […]
Tech Tip – 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 on ‘Options’. Click on ‘Proofing’. Un-check ‘Ignore words in UPPERCASE’ and click ‘Save’.
Featured Article : 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 AI Chatbots, including advanced ones, don’t possess real ‘intelligence’ in the way we as humans understand it. For example, they don’t have […]
Tech Insight : 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 of e-signatures happened in the early 2000s, due to the passage of laws such as the US Electronic Signatures in […]
Tech News : OpenAI’s Video Gamechanger
OpenAI’s new ‘Sora’ AI-powered text-to-video tool is so good that its outputs could easily be mistaken for real videos, prompting deepfake fears in a year of important global elections. Sora Open AI says that its new Sora text-to-video model can generate realistic videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and adherence to […]
Tech News : Google Waits On Hold For You Until A Human Answers
Google’s new “Talk to a Live Representative” feature will call a business for you, wait on hold for you, and call you when a human representative is available. Being Tested Similar to Google Pixel’s existing “Hold for Me” feature, “Talk to a Live Representative” is currently in testing in the US by Google’s Search Labs […]
An Apple Byte : Instagram and Facebook Ads ‘Apple Tax’
Meta has announced that it will be passing on Apple’s 30 per cent service charge (often referred to as the “Apple tax”) to advertisers who pay to boost posts on Facebook and Instagram through the iOS app. This move is a response to Apple’s in-app purchase fees, which apply to digital transactions within apps available on the […]
Security Stop Press : Google Launches AI Cyber Defence Initiative
In a bid to “tilt the cybersecurity balance from attackers to cyber defenders,” Google has announced the launch of its AI Cyber Defence Initiative. The initiative involves the introduction of: – Secure AI Framework (SAIF) – a conceptual framework for secure AI systems, to help collaboratively secure AI technology. – $2 million in research grants and strategic […]
Sustainability-in-Tech : Dirt-Powered ‘Forever’ Fuel Cell
Researchers at Northwestern University in the US have created a fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in soil so that it can potentially last forever (or as long as there are soil microbes). Why? As Bill Yen (who led the research) suggests, the value may lie in its ability to supply power to […]