Alphabet subsidiary X, the Moonshot Factory’s ‘Project Taara’ is claiming 99.9 per cent uptime within the first 20 days of a light beam/laser broadband project. What Is It? Laser-based broadband uses wireless optical communications (WOC), which has been described as “like fibre, but without the cables”. In short, invisible beams of light, about the width of a chopstick, are used…
The inventor, innovator, EV pioneer (with the C5), electronics and tech businessman Sir Clive Sinclair died recently, aged 81. Circuit Design Born in Richmond, Surrey in 1940, and knighted in 1983 for his contributions to the UK’s computer industry, Sir Clive Sinclair started out by designing a circuit for a DIY kit radio (while studying for his A ‘Levels)…
In this article, we look at some of the key issues surrounding the planned 2025 PSTN switch-off, the move to VoIP, and what options businesses have going forward. What’s Happening? Back in April, BT Openreach announced that starting from the end of this year (and finishing in 2025), it will be “switching off the UK telephone network as we know…
With the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 phone being the latest foldable phone in the spotlight, we take a closer look at what foldable phones are, their advantages, their disadvantages, and likely future development. Foldable As the name suggests, foldable phones have either a flexible screen, with a hinge that bisects the handset/device so that the uninterrupted screen can be…
The introduction of the Age Appropriate Design Code (also known as the Children’s Code) by the ICO means that Facebook has decided to ask Instagram users to give their date of birth as part of the login. Age Appropriate Design Code The statutory Children’s Code (‘The Age Appropriate Design Code’), which came into force on 2 September 2020, is…
The results of new research suggest that the comments section for stories on prominent media websites across many western countries are the focus of major Kremlin-based activities to try and influence public opinion. Multiple Outlets, Many Countries The Open Source Communications Analytics Research (OSCAR) programme at Cardiff University’s Crime and Security Research Institute has reported finding evidence that 32…
With Google and Amazon (plus soon-to-be Facebook and Apple) getting into making ‘Smart Glasses’, we take a brief look at what different types are currently being used for, plus we look at the vision for the future of these promising wearables. What Are Smart Glasses? Smart glasses are glasses that incorporate wireless connectivity/Bluetooth and other technology (e.g., a computer…
In this article we look at what doxing is, the legality of it, some examples of doxing, and we consider what we can do to protect ourselves and our businesses from attack. What Is Doxing? Doxing is a term meaning for dropping (personal) dox where ‘dox’ is a slang term for documents. Doxing is a malicious act where a…
If you use certain Windows 10 Microsoft Office programs often, you can pin them to the taskbar and then open them quickly and easily with keyboard shortcuts. Here’s how: – If you have a program open e.g., Word, hover your mouse over it (in the taskbar), right mouse click and select ‘Pin to taskbar’. Do this for any other…
In this article, we look at how a surprisingly large proportion of Internet traffic is made up of bots, how many of these can be ‘bad bots’, and what businesses can do to keep enjoying the benefits of good bots while guarding against the threats of bad bots. Two-Thirds of Internet Traffic is Bots The recent Barracuda Networks ‘Top…
