IT & Security News
Buying Cars and Art … and Making CO2
With news of a booming ‘NFT market’ and the acceptance of Bitcoin as payment for Tesla cars, we look at the environmental impact of these and how the technology needs to be improved to be made more sustainable. Robot Painting Collaboration This week there was news that an artwork co-created by a robot called Sophia…
Tech Insight – What Are Zero-Click SERPs?
In this article, we look at what a zero-click searches (SERPs) are, how this has impacted SEO, and what measures can be taken to increase the likelihood of your pages achieving featured snippets. Zero-Click SERPs A zero-click search describes when the search engine query is answered by a snippet of text at the top of…
Live : Teams Transcriptions
Microsoft has announced the launch of an AI-powered live transcription tool for Teams which provides a written record of the spoken text that occurs during a meeting. How It Works The live transcription tool identifies each speaker and automatically captures in real-time what is said by each speaker and makes the transcript available during and…
Notable Notes About … The New £50 Note
Bletchley Park code-breaking hero and wronged computer pioneer Alan Turing is to feature on the UK £50 note from 23rd June. Alan Turing Despite breaking WWII Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine code, allowing enemy messages to be read and thereby shortening World War II and saving countless lives, Alan Turing’s genius and heroism was overshadowed by…
Practice PowerPoint Presentations … Anywhere!
Microsoft has announced that its PowerPoint Presenter Coach is now available on all platforms. Presenter Coach Presenter Coach, first introduced in PowerPoint for the web, helps the user to practice their presentation skills. The app utilises AI to give users useful feedback on their pace, use of monotone pitch, use of filler words, poor grammar,…
Live Captions Expanded To Chrome Web Browser
Google’s real-time Live Captions feature is now available to anyone using a Chrome web browser instead of just for Pixel phone users. Live Captions Live Captions is an accessibility feature that uses machine learning to generate (on-device) real-time captions for videos or audio. The feature enables those in a noisy environment, trying to keep the…
Ransomware Payouts Tripled Last Year
The Ransomware Threat Report 2021 from Unit 42 shows that the average amount paid by ransomware victims tripled from 2019 to 2020. Ransomware Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts the important files on a computer and the user (often a business/organisation) is given a ransom demand, the payment of which should mean that…
Featured Article: How Search Engines Are Dealing With Fake News
Fake news has become pernicious and widespread so in this article, we look at how the search engines are facing up to the enormous challenge of separating the real from the fake. Challenges Those trying to combat the spread of fake news face a common set of challenges, such as those identified by CEO of…
Tech Tip – How To Wipe Your Phone Or Laptop Before Selling It
If you would like to sell a phone, laptop, tablet, or other device, but would like to know how to completely wipe it first, here’s how: Firstly, make sure you’ve backed up things like your photos, other important files, and WhatsApp chats. Next: Windows Laptops – Type “Reset” into the Start search box and select…
Tech Insight: Are Macs Really More Secure Than PCs?
Apple Macs have long had a reputation for being more secure than PCs but where does this idea come from and is it really the case? How Did It Start? Apple itself supported the idea that Macs didn’t get computer viruses until (in 2012) it was noted that the claim was removed from its “Why You’ll…
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